Hi All: My local OC places - two private shops and Walmart here in San Diego and a private shop and Walmart in Nashville, have decided to raise prices and/or not supply Mobil 1 0W-16 or Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Plus for $60 or less all in. This is past my breaking point so to hell with them. Standard DIY Oil Change Tools of the Trade Oil Pan, funnel, Hyper Tough Oil Filter Wrench, 14 mm socket and ratchet, Toyota 90915-YZZN1 Oil Filter or a FRAM Ultra Synthetic XG4967 Oil Filter. I have all the tools for the Sonata HEV - see above, and with the new ramps, I can get under the Prius Prime now. I drove the Prius around the block a few times to heat up the ICE and oil, placed some rubber backed mats beneath the ramps, drove to the edge of the ramps, lined them up one last time, drove on up, set the parking brake, shut it down, blocked off the back wheels, placed a large piece of carboard under the engine block, and I was easily able to get under the engine. I pulled the filter and oil drain bolt cover, pulled the drain bolt with the oil collection pan underneath, let it drain for about 15-minutes until there were no more drips, reinstalled the drain plug with crush washer, pulled the filter with the filter wrench, and allowed the excess to drain into the oil pan. Along with one Toyota 90915-YZZN1 OEM Oil Filter, I had two FRAM Ultra Synthetic XG4967s so I installed one of the Fram's. And of course (3) 5-quart jugs of Mobil 1 0W-16 Advanced Fuel Economy full synthetic ($24.97 plus tax per 5 qt jug from Walmart.com shipped) are always on my car "stuff" shelf. Automobile Ramps Ready for Action A set of "Hyper Tough" HD Vehicle Ramp Set - 12,000 LB GVW for $49.99 + tax shipped making Prius Prime's OCs easy and entirely DIY from now on. In less than an hour, an under $30 full synthetic OC using what is recommended paid for the ramps with this single OC. It always takes a lot longer than an hour to have an OC completed when driving to any of the shops, so I saved time as well! Dealerships, Fast OC places, National and Local shops, and even Walmart charging from $60 with cheap oil or into the $120s with the above, will not be seeing me again. I always have an empty 5 qt jug available to drain the used oil into. I take that to a local Auto Zone that takes used oil for recycling which I will do tomorrow. Enjoy the savings. Wayne
Excellent. Do you believe in something like a Fumoto valve to make the oil changes easier? Not a big deal, but won't need to replace the crush washer either. I never did that many oil changes so I never bothered with the valve.
Hi Bill: I have read of them but completed the job old school with a crush washer and the drain plug bolted securely back in its place. I also saw a few recommendations for the Rhino ramps, but many retailers were OOS for some reason. Tariffs more than likely??? In any case, the Hyper Tough's 12k GVW and construction design appears better than the Rhino's plus they can stack on top of one another. The Walmart order was here the day after I ordered them if that helps those that may be ready for your own DIY OC on a Prius Prime. I could never fit under the 4th gens but with these ramps, I could crawl under the engine with a shoulder to the cardboard and still have clearance for my other shoulder not touching the under-body panels! Wayne
Hi All: If anyone needs a 10-pack of the OEM filters for your Prius, Prius Prime, and another 30 or so other Toyota Models from Basil Toyota, TRD Toyota Parts, Toyota of Raleigh Wholesale, and parts at Elmhursttoyota.com, all sell the Toyota 90915-YZZN1 Oil Filter for $54.50 to $60.00 plus tax on EBay, and most ship free. Make sure you pick up the genuine OEM filters, not the knock offs as the knock offs are not anywhere close to the same quality that genuine Toyota OEM parts are. I ordered a 10-pack of the OEM filters from TRD Toyota Parts here in California for $65.80 incl tax and free shipping. As I type, the 21 Prius Prime has 330,002 miles on her clock. And I am ordering another 10 OEM oil filters! Is that confidence in the Toyota product or is it whistling past the graveyard and hoping for the best? Wayne
Love it! My old steel ramps never worked for my Prime. Too steep, air dam hit before the front tire touches the ramp.
Hi All: And just like that, a 10 pack of Toyota 90915-YZZN1 OEM Oil Filters arrived for a total cost of $64.60 incl tax and free shipping. No more $62.00 OCs! 10 oil filters plus the others shown above are enough for 150k + miles of OCs. I am already at 331k in so does that mean the 2021 Toyota Prius Prime will make it to 500k miles? Whooaaa! Wayne
Hi Mike: The Dunlop Enasaves are slightly taller than the Bridgestone Ecopia's so I do not scrape the front air dam when pulling into and out of my drive. They also last slightly longer despite having a lower UTQG rating and are more efficient by not much more than noise on a graph. I rarely travel in winter conditions so I cannot comment about that but between the three OEMs, I would take the Dunlop's over the Bridgestone's and Toyo's due to the ridiculous low cost I can pick them up for - they are disappearing fast however, plus the longevity I have received from them as well as superb efficiency. Wayne
