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We're diehard Honda customers, for 3 decades now, but...

Anyway, researching a little on the 2010 Prius, I found the Owners Manual in pdf format, and see there's no oil change instruction. The maintenance section of the manual is really just basics. There's mention of a warranty and maintenance guide. Found that, again: no oil change instruction. There are various DIY guides on the internet, all helpful, but nothing official.

By comparison, every Honda we've owned has had oil change instruction in the Owners Manual. How come nothing from Toyota?

If you're talking about instructions to get a certain size socket and filter for the oil, along with photos showing where the crankcase drain plug is located, I've never seen that with any automobile I've ever owned, including Rambler, Buick, Ford, Datsun, Toyota, Scion, Chevrolet, IHC, Renault, Mitsubishi, Mazda, and a few others. They've all given oil viscosity, capacity, and API grade recommendations. It's unnecessary to give basic oil change instructions. Mechanics and savvy owners know how to do it. Complete neophytes probably shouldn't be doing it without experienced help handy.

Then maybe Honda's the exception, but good on them.

Regarding "It's unnecessary to give basic oil change instructions.", I don't know: I think the company should go on record, explaining the basic steps.

What motivated me to start this thread was a prius owner who replaced an oil filter gasket incorrectly, almost blowing out his engine:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-care-maintenance-troubleshooting/80693-2010-oil-change-diy-disaster.html

I've been changing oil on our vehicles for over 30 years now, but still like to have a read through the official instructions. I typically purchase the Service Manual as well. Sometimes the offical instruction can be misleading, often it is stating the obvious, but there can be gotchas.

Your not saving much money changing your own oil in the new Prius. Toyota has raised the oil change interval to 10,000 miles or once a year. My local Toyota dealers charge any where between $50 - $60 for an synthetic oil change. Buying the oil, filter and the two little clips for the oil access door is close to $35. Add to the fact they are disposing the used oil for you is another bonus.

So your saving $20 a year doing it yourself plus afterward having to drive down to a parts store or dealer to dispose of the used oil. Add to the fact you have to drive to the dealer or parts store for the filter cartridge, washer, two clips for the access door and oil in the first place isn't really worth it in time and gas to save $20 a year.

Your not saving much money changing your own oil in the new Prius. Toyota has raised the oil change interval to 10,000 miles or once a year. My local Toyota dealers charge any where between $50 - $60 for an synthetic oil change. Buying the oil, filter and the two little clips for the oil access door is close to $35. Add to the fact they are disposing the used oil for you is another bonus.

So your saving $20 a year doing it yourself plus afterward having to drive down to a parts store or dealer to dispose of the used oil. Add to the fact you have to drive to the dealer or parts store for the filter cartridge, washer, two clips for the access door and oil in the first place isn't really worth it in time and gas to save $20 a year.

It'd be $40 a year for me. ;)

Hey, it's not just about the money ;)

Als, what are the oil access door clips? Are they one shot, or a reusuable fastener with centre post push-down that causes the bottom to flair out and lock. The latter do wear out (or get lost), but you certainly don't need to replace those with every removal.

As far as the extra driving: you can consolidate trips: pick up the oil, filter, dispose of used oil, when it's on your way. It doesn't all to have to happen on the day of the oil change. I've usually picked up oil months in advance, a filter (as needed) when we happen to be going by the dealership. Canadian Tire takes used oil (and filters!) in our area: I leave it till we happen to be going there, or passing by.

For me the advantages of DIY oil change:

1. Convenience: not having the car tied up for half a day at new car heaven.

2. Getting it done right: avoiding overfilling, "shop supply charges", labour charges, screw-ups.

3. Having a personal look at my car's unmentionables. It's similar to having someone else wash/wax your car, vs doing it your self. When you do it, you care: you find all the scratches and dings, clean the sand poultice out from behind fenders, and so on. Same with oil changes: you notice the flinging grease, oil leaks: you care more.

4. Fun. Ok, I know: not everybody enjoys crawling under a ton or two of dripping steel. But I do. I've smartened up a little over the years: have floor jack that's a step up (and a second, light-duty one), a blinking menagerie of safety stands, wheel chocks, filter sockets, torque wrench and so on.

And one of the brightest ideas of late: whenever I crawl under there, I take along something that that's thicker and less compressible than me. Right now that's a couple of snow tires on steel rims, a stack of two under each rocker panel.

And one of the brightest ideas of late: whenever I crawl under there, I take along something that that's thicker and less compressible than me. Right now that's a couple of snow tires on steel rims, a stack of two under each rocker panel.

You know, that's really smart. I'm going to start doing the same.

I raise my car a bit higher than usual for oil change, due to the plastic panel that has to swing down, 2 snow tires would likely be a bit too high for a more regular lift height. But something like a section of tree trunk would do, and could also be more compact. It just has to be stable, solid, and a bit thicker than your rib cage. ;)

I slide under to remove the underbody panels and oil filter on my Insight without lifting it all. I have to back out to turn my head, but it works. ;)

I'm able to undo and tighten the oil drain bolt from above... otherwise I'm not sure I could do that. I used to jack up the '95 Elantra and put it on jack/suspension stands to change its oil, but I haven't done any changes on the '02 (all dealer or mechanic done). I still have the jack and the stands so I'm good if I start doing that myself again.

Oh yeah: I use jack stands too. I just like redundancy. Going from memory: I think I have to roll the jack out of the way once the jackstands are in place, it impedes swing-down of the plastic panel. Not sure on that.

Just to rant: I really wish Honda would revise that panel design, to have a shorter swing radius.

Is there no way to simply unhook the forward section of that panel, Mendel?

Oh yeah: I use jack stands too. I just like redundancy. Going from memory: I think I have to roll the jack out of the way once the jackstands are in place, it impedes swing-down of the plastic panel. Not sure on that.

Just to rant: I really wish Honda would revise that panel design, to have a shorter swing radius.

Toyota has a much better design than Honda on the panel. The 2010 has a small panel under the drain and filter that swings down with the removal of just a couple of push-pins. It is much easier to swing it down than the full width Honda panel.

Toyota has a much better design than Honda on the panel

I was just thinking of that:

The Prius has a flap that's kind of like the flap on the seat of bib overalls, LOL. The oil drain plug is at the rear of the crankcase, and the hinge point of the flap is at the front: so as soon as the flap swings down, even partially, it's out of the way, and the jet of oil is to the rear when you first remove the plug, so all good. The few YouTube video's I've seen of Prius oil change show the cars up on ramps, which typically have maybe 8" lift, no more.

On the Civic Hybrid the panel's hinge point is more-or-less at the drain plug, and the leading edge of the swing-down part is way forward, at the trailing edge of the front bumper. To get it completely out of the way (without taking off the whole dang thing), it needs to swing right down, and back some, in order to get the drain pan up and in there, and to avoid jetting the oil onto the dang panel.

If they could put a flap within the flap, hinged at the front, that would be sweet. Or put an extra crease in the flap, make it sort-of bi-fold.

Anyway, on-topic, the issue in the link was some sort of rubber ring that gets replace with Prius oil filter change, and how it should be positioned. I'm just a little suprised that Toyota's dead quiet on stuff like this.

Kudos #2 for Toyota: just the fact that the oil filter housing is permanent, just the paper element and gasket are replaced.

Wow, lots of complication with drain plugs and belly pans. I've been doing them from above for the last 5 years with a vacuum pump and am glad I don't have to get under the car any more. Many people on TDIclub actually consider using the pump the better way instead of getting underneath.

What sort of pump are you using, Mike? Do you have any links?

Wait, Toyota gives you a dead-tree version of the manual with the Prius? Don't they know how much that WEIGHS? They should just give you a cheat sheet printed on vellum, along with a square barcode with the URL for the full manual.

Oil changes are a once a year thing for me anyway. I like to go under the car every spring, change the oil, give it a good inspection, look for new corrosion, and wash the salt off the undercarriage and brake lines.

Hi Sean, I picked up one of these guys: http://ca.binnacle.com/product_info.php?products_id=3291

Holds about 6L of oil, was on sale at the time and came to about 45 CAD shipped to my door.

Nice! Thanks, Mike. :)

Oil filter access still requires access from underneath for most vehicles, though.

I guess this pump runs a thin tube down the dipstick tube?

Yes, it runs down the dipstick tube. The TDI filter is right near the front top of the engine and is a cartridge type. The canister it sits in holds some extra oil on its own that will never drain into the pan with gravity alone, so it also gets sucked out separately once the pan is empty.