Which Oil For 57 Plate Prius

[osaf]

hi just bought a 57 plate T4 and joined the forum my car has done 136,000 miles has a full toyota history, was serviced in april 2011 at 126,000 this was a major service i am getting conflicting advice on which oil to use? Should it be 5W-30 fully synthetic or 10W-40 please advise Halfords has an offer on Castrol GTX 5W-30 fully synthetic for £17.99

thanks

[Mistermena]

hi just bought a 57 plate T4 and joined the forum my car has done 136,000 miles has a full toyota history, was serviced in april 2011 at 126,000 this was a major service i am getting conflicting advice on which oil to use? Should it be 5W-30 fully synthetic or 10W-40 please advise halfords has an offer on castrol GTX 5W-30 fully synthetic for £17.99

thanks

Take a look on the Opie Oils website ar they have a sale on atm. Also there you can find the correct oil for your car with there search for oils.

[sushd]

The gen2 uses 5w-30

[Jan&tone]

The gen2 uses 5w-30

Correct. I would also respectfully suggest that you follow the previous owners and have the car serviced by a Toyota dealer. They have done it proud for over 136k why change now!

[timberwolf]

I'm just a layman when comes to these things, and when I bought my own oil in a previous year it was certainly confusing as to what one I should get.

As well as the oil SAE grade of 5W-30, you should also check that the oil meets or exceeds one of the fuel efficient/economy specifications, these are covered by various different specification scheme i.e. the ACEA specification of A1 or A5 for petrol engines (I think A5 is better than A1).

If you are talking about Castrol (GTX) Magnatec 5W-30 then it probably meets the minimum specification (not that you'd be able to tell that from the Halfords web-site), so I would check the label and small print. I've bought the Castrol Magnatec 5W-30 A1 for my car on a previous service.

Some of large supermarket stores seem to occasionally have the same Castrol Magnatec on special offer for 10 quid for 4l. I wonder what it really costs, and what that might say about the quality of the oil? If I recall there was also a whole can of worms to be found in what could be labeled Fully Synthetic!

As in all things, you may want to pay more for what appears on paper to be a better product. So again from Halfords if you are willing to spend an extra 12 quid, you could go for the Mobil Super 3000 Formula FE 5W-30. The Salisbury dealer used Mobil Super 3000 5W-30 P in my Prius on the last service, I am guessing it is the same stuff as sold retail but to trade?

PS Don't let Halfords change your oil.

[Ancient Nerd]

PS Don't let Halfords change your oil.

I agree with that completely. It is seriously risky to let a non-Toyota dealer change the oil.

There have been a fair few cases where the person doing the oil change has checked that the engine is not running and drained the oil. Unfortunately, the hybrid system was still on, the engine restarts itself, and bang goes the engine.

It is just not worth it for the few pounds you save. In any case, Servicing for the Prius is very cheap by main dealer standards, especially if you provide your own oil. I had one service where the oil cost more than the rest of the service.

Non-engine, non-hybrid jobs are probably OK. I'd happily let a good garage do a wheel bearing replacement for example.

There is a lot of information about all this sort of thin on priuschat.com, as the US guys are a lot more into DIY and third party servicing.

Enjoy the car.

[osaf]

Thanks everybody for your advice, I have been quoted £115 by Toyota Coventry for the service will ring them tomorrow and ask about what oil will they use. I will take your advice and let the dealer do the interim service and ask whether I can bring my own oil i.e.mobil 1 see what they say !

[Mistermena]

Thanks everybody for your advice, I have been quoted £115 by Toyota Coventry for the service will ring them tomorrow and ask about what oil will they use. I will take your advice and let the dealer do the interim service and ask whether I can bring my own oil i.e.mobil 1 see what they say !

There is no reason why you cant take your own oil to a service as long as it meets the manufactures specs for your car. You'll be able to get the price off the oil that they would have use but now using yours. I'd contact them for a breakdwon of the parts that they'd use so you know where you're upto. I've done this many times with Volvo's and Merc's services ect.

If they wont or can't do this then I'd vote with my feet and go to a dealer that would.

Hope all goes well for you.

[Habu]

Thanks everybody for your advice, I have been quoted £115 by Toyota Coventry for the service will ring them tomorrow and ask about what oil will they use. I will take your advice and let the dealer do the interim service and ask whether I can bring my own oil i.e.mobil 1 see what they say !

That's a very good price, I presume, for an intermediate service? Do you really think you'd get a service for much cheaper? Round my way the independents charge around the same as Mr T. Suffice to say I'd still go to my local toyota centre even if they were a lot more money as they know Prius idiosyncrasies very well such as hybrid power on status, oil, regenerative braking, 650v power cables to an inverter et al.

[johalareewi]

Thanks everybody for your advice, I have been quoted £115 by Toyota Coventry for the service will ring them tomorrow and ask about what oil will they use. I will take your advice and let the dealer do the interim service and ask whether I can bring my own oil i.e.mobil 1 see what they say !

That sounds a bit low. The proper 0w20 oil costs around £50 plus VAT and is usually half the cost of the first service. Definitely worth double checking which oil they plan to use for that price.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

That sounds a bit low. The proper 0w20 oil costs around £50 plus VAT and is usually half the cost of the first service. Definitely worth double checking which oil they plan to use for that price.

He's got the gen2 which uses the much cheaper 5w30

[Mkuk0]

My company god bless em, instruct us to use the Local Halfords to service ALL our vehicles, including my Prius! Touch wood they ain't broke it yet, but my god, I get nervous every time it goes in :(

Ok it's their car, their problem, but if it gets buggered, its muggins here gets a toy car as a replacement while my lovely Prius gets fixed.

[Chris Dance]

My company god bless em, instruct us to use the Local Halfords to service ALL our vehicles, including my Prius! Touch wood they ain't broke it yet, but my god, I get nervous every time it goes in :(

Ok it's their car, their problem, but if it gets buggered, its muggins here gets a toy car as a replacement while my lovely Prius gets fixed.

Who in your company made this decision? I would think it needs challenging I would not trust Halfords to repair a bike let alone a Prius. There is a saying "SAVE PENCE AND WASTE POUNDS".

[johalareewi]

He's got the gen2 which uses the much cheaper 5w30

Doh!

[Mkuk0]

My company god bless em, instruct us to use the Local Halfords to service ALL our vehicles, including my Prius! Touch wood they ain't broke it yet, but my god, I get nervous every time it goes in :(

Ok it's their car, their problem, but if it gets buggered, its muggins here gets a toy car as a replacement while my lovely Prius gets fixed.

Who in your company made this decision? I would think it needs challenging I would not trust Halfords to repair a bike let alone a Prius. There is a saying "SAVE PENCE AND WASTE POUNDS".

This company is run by bean counters nowadays, it seems they are quite happy to save the pennies, and take the chance of the occasional big bill :(

[r04drunner1]

This company is run by bean counters nowadays, it seems they are quite happy to save the pennies, and take the chance of the occasional big bill :(

A common scenario. I've heard it said about such, "They know all about cost but very little about value."

[Grumpy Cabbie]

This company is run by bean counters nowadays, it seems they are quite happy to save the pennies, and take the chance of the occasional big bill :(

A common scenario. I've heard it said about such, "They know all about cost but very little about value."

Or as my grannie would say "Pennywise and Pound foolish". There is another saying "Buy cheap, buy twice".

[wass]

My company god bless em, instruct us to use the Local Halfords to service ALL our vehicles, including my Prius! Touch wood they ain't broke it yet, but my god, I get nervous every time it goes in :(

Ok it's their car, their problem, but if it gets buggered, its muggins here gets a toy car as a replacement while my lovely Prius gets fixed.

Who in your company made this decision? I would think it needs challenging I would not trust Halfords to repair a bike let alone a Prius. There is a saying "SAVE PENCE AND WASTE POUNDS".

This company is run by bean counters nowadays, it seems they are quite happy to save the pennies, and take the chance of the occasional big bill :(

As an engineer, I have become accustomed to bean counters taking decisions which effect the engineering integrity of systems. Its really interesting to observe the way they shirk responsibility when it comes to can carrying.It inevitably boils down to the tried and tested " I just manage the finances, all engineering decisions are taken by our engineering can carrying department" and of course when the financial chiselling into sound engineering is successful, the bean counters take the credit and take a large bonus which we are all familliar with in the banking sector. Hence to be an engineer is a no win situation.

I wouldnt worry too much about it, just send a covering email which highlights the pitfalls of risking thousand of pounds to save pennies. This may seem rather cruel but when a car engine detonates just ask yourself how easy it would be to point the finger at the driver rather than the cheap servicing. :) appologies to bean counters if you are upset but you keep counting the beans and I'll try my best to carry on with my engineering :D

[osaf]

Hi folks,

I rang coventry Toyota they said they use 0W-20 which is the recommended oil i am taking it in next saturday 3rd of December.

[osaf]

I rang toyota coventry today and they confirmed they use 0w-20 which is the recommended oil car is booked for next saturday

[Jan&tone]

I rang toyota coventry today and they confirmed they use 0w-20 which is the recommended oil car is booked for next saturday

In that case they are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

The gen 2 uses 5w-30, not 0w-20 - the latter is for the gen3 and Auris.

This oil problem is a real bummer, you would think that as consumers we would be able to rely on a franchised dealer to get it right. It seems they can't.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I thought the gen2 could use 0w20, though I'm not sure it makes any difference to economy. Whereas the gen3 must use 0w20.

[Jan&tone]

I thought the gen2 could use 0w20, though I'm not sure it makes any difference to economy. Whereas the gen3 must use 0w20.

From what I can remember, you are right inasmuch as the Gen 3 can use 5w-30. It should be changed for the correct oil at the earliest opportunity.

What happened to the days when you put 10w-40 in all cars and when it started burning oil you put a thicker grade in :)

[timberwolf]

I rang toyota coventry today and they confirmed they use 0w-20 which is the recommended oil car is booked for next saturday

Two separate services, when I've booked the service appointment over the phone with the Salisbury Dealer, I've been informed that they use 0w-20. On the day of the service, when they are checking me in at the dealer, when I ask what oil they are going to use their computer says 5w-30.

NB. My first service was at the Hedge End Dealer, and they used 0w-30 :)

[Mkuk0]

My company god bless em, instruct us to use the Local Halfords to service ALL our vehicles, including my Prius! Touch wood they ain't broke it yet, but my god, I get nervous every time it goes in :(

Ok it's their car, their problem, but if it gets buggered, its muggins here gets a toy car as a replacement while my lovely Prius gets fixed.

Who in your company made this decision? I would think it needs challenging I would not trust Halfords to repair a bike let alone a Prius. There is a saying "SAVE PENCE AND WASTE POUNDS".

This company is run by bean counters nowadays, it seems they are quite happy to save the pennies, and take the chance of the occasional big bill :(

As an engineer, I have become accustomed to bean counters taking decisions which effect the engineering integrity of systems. Its really interesting to observe the way they shirk responsibility when it comes to can carrying.It inevitably boils down to the tried and tested " I just manage the finances, all engineering decisions are taken by our engineering can carrying department" and of course when the financial chiselling into sound engineering is successful, the bean counters take the credit and take a large bonus which we are all familliar with in the banking sector. Hence to be an engineer is a no win situation.

I wouldnt worry too much about it, just send a covering email which highlights the pitfalls of risking thousand of pounds to save pennies. This may seem rather cruel but when a car engine detonates just ask yourself how easy it would be to point the finger at the driver rather than the cheap servicing. :) appologies to bean counters if you are upset but you keep counting the beans and I'll try my best to carry on with my engineering :D

All so true, and very nicely put.

BTW Love the Doug Adams quote in your sig!!