The OP’s “short” trips might be 20 minutes, it takes me at least 20 minutes to drive 8 miles in city traffic. The shortest trip for myself is 4.6 miles to a store, takes about 15 minutes, for the return trip the engine is at operating temperature when I leave the store.
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Years ago I had a horrible driving pattern. I lived quite close to work, saved a ton on gas but was a killer for the car. I would leave home, drive .8 miles to the church to drop my son off at daycare. From there it was 1.3 miles to work. If I didn’t bring lunch I would hit “fast-food row”, a 2 mile round trip from the shop. After work if I didn’t need to pick up my boy I would go straight home, 2.1 miles. In the winter with a daytime temp of 40 degrees I could tell by the temp gauge that in a week’s worth of driving the thermostat on the Chevy 5.7 never opened. Absolute misery for the engine.
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You absolutely don’t need to post the reason for your question. Not to pile on, but neither the vehicle nor Lexus care about the circumstances, and nor should the circumstances alter the advice you are being given. I agree that snark is uncalled for, though.
That being said, if circumstances make proper maintenance burdensome, you have to weigh the risks of delaying oil changes, and decide if you are willing to accept those risks. Can a trusted friend or family member help out?
These are accepted parameters. However, a hybrid engine turns on and off regularly as well as operates differently so one wonders how (and if) it might be affected differently. I’m well aware that it is time to change it, and will have it done ASAP. That stipulated, and reasons for the current situation aside, the question is a genuine one - wondering whether the combination of Synthetic oil, hybrid drive, SoCal temperatures and lower usage (though it does regularly go up hills that are miles long) might mitigate the situation. Is the 12 months for synthetic oil similar to “sell by” dates on foods where they take a wildly conservative approach or if that isn’t the case. I’m curious to see if anyone with hybrid and/or synthetic oil expertise has some added info.
None of us here know. Your best option is to assume Toyota knows, and they put that knowledge in the owners manual.
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I agree with texases, no one can give you an exact answer.
When my vehicles get near “end of life” and not worth spending money on, I stop all maintenance, and keep driving them. It always amazing me how long they last. I got that idea years ago after seeing others do it and embrace it for vehicles they no longer cared about.
Yet you’ll also find numerous examples of just the opposite, where insufficient maintenance does lead to premature problems.
If you had a lab with a controlled environment, then you could get a definitive answer to your question. In the absence of that, following your manufacturer’s maintenance schedule should serve you well.
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You could always spend the $35 and get an oil analysis done to see what condition the oil is in after X miles. The problem is that the oil needs to pretty much be drained first since the sample needs to be taken in the mid point of the oil drain. So you have to change oil anyway to get the sample. I’ve only done it once.
Yes. The engine starts and stops dozens of times during a drive, so 10,000 miles on the car may be the equivalent of 6000 miles on a conventional engine. However the frequent start/stops are also harder on the internals than if the engine stayed running constantly.
My experience after 30+ years in this business with training and experience in Toyota hybrid systems is that sure, you can extend your oil change interval to 18 months if you want to, and it will probably not significantly shorten the life of the engine. Of course I assume you are using factory spec name brand synthetic motor oil, checking the level at least once a month, and adhering to the rest of the time/mileage based maintenance requirements. Meaning that if you drive 10,000 miles in 5 months you change the oil at that point.
May I ask you a question? What can possibly be saved or gained by not changing the oil at the 12 month mark?
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My wife and I have had two different hybrid cars. The 1st one was a 2004 Honda Civic. It used 5W-20 full synthetic, and its schedule was every 10,000 miles for oil changes. Our 2nd hybrid was a 2010 Toyota Prius. It used 0W-20 full synthetic, and its schedule was every 5,000 miles. The schedule depends on the make and model.
I also took both to the dealerships after taking care of the first oil changes myself. It was cheaper to take them to the dealerships then to get everything and do it myself. Plus I also learned about any potential future issues with the cars. I also don’t trust many of those quick oil change places to either do the job correctly or to use the correct oil.
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A few times each month I see vehicles that have gone 15,000 miles or 18 months between oil changes and in the last 12 years I have not seen an oil related problem with Toyota/Mobil 0W20 motor oil.
Hybrid engines do not “idle”, when the engine needs to operate while the vehicle is at a stop it is loaded by the generator, this is cleaner operating than just free-wheeling.
Lexus turbocharged engines get oil changes every 10,000 miles with the same oil, these engines work a lot harder than a hybrid engine. If you have an oil analysis performed you may find that the oil life is half used.
The oil change schedule for that Prius is 10,000 miles/12 months.
We do less than 5000 miles in a two years, mostly short shopping trips once a week, 12 miles r/t, and we live in Maine where it can be very cold at times, and we see 32 degrees some mornings starting in October and thru to May. So that might qualify as “severe” use?
But I think that an oil change will always be cheaper than an “engine change,” and we like to get 20 years out of a vehicle. With the current pandemic, and lack of use, we might get 22. But we always change the oil, every six months!
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There are plenty of people (including me) who have got 20 years out of their engine going longer than 6 months (and 1200 miles) on an oil change.
Short tripping once a week is different than once a day.
Does the engine ever run? Or do you just go on battery?
I was going to suggest exactly this. THere is a lot of conjecture going on here, but an analysis will give you actual data to go off of.
Typically once a year or 10k miles. Check your manual.