Well, after waiting eight weeks my wife and I finally took delivery of our 2007 Prius last night. Now for a couple questions:

Engine oil- I have read quite a few threads on when to change the initial break in oil, some say get it out right away, some others say change it when Toyota specifies at 5,000 miles. Can I get some responses as to what mileage people on this forum changed their oil at for the first time. Next question- I want to put synthetic oil in at the first change. What oil is the best to put back in- 5W30 as specified or 0W20 as some people have posted. I live in the Milwaukee, WIS area if that makes a difference. I would also like to get on the program of having the oil tested at each change. Is there a special thread going to post the results once I receive them?

Tire pressure- what does this forum recommend as the optimal tire pressure? I have seen 42 psi front/40 psi rear. Is this correct?

Any other recommendations to change from the factory settings?

So far I have put on 51 miles and the MFD says 51.7 MPG, mostly freeway travel. Impressed with that along with the quiet and smooth ride compared to my 2003 Saturn Ion.

Thanks for any replies you may send my way.

Steve
2007 Prius Magnetic Gray package #4

Steve - Congrats on the new purchase and the wait will soon be well worth it. I sent you an email about the upcoming Milwaukee Hybrid Gathering which should be just down the road from you so all of us would be interested in seeing the new model.

Anyway, the '06 Civic Hybrid states to leave the break-in oil for about 8,000 miles or until the Oil Life % indicator comes on which is at 15% oil life initially then blinks more at 10% then even more at 5%. I thought I read that the Honda calculates oil life based upon the number of engine revolutions. I can not give a definite answer as the last 12,500 miles the oil life has changed 10% just about every 1,000-1,015 but maybe I'm just a really consistent driver now.

I would stick with the book on this one. These are not the engines of old. The break-in oil has specific metals and additives to help the metal wear to each other. I routinely checked my oil level up to the 8,000-mile mark (7,945 to be precise) and it never dropped below the Full line and only after 4,000 miles did it even start to have a hint of darkness and then very minor compared to previous cars I've owned.

The Civic Hybrid specifies 0W-20 oil which, aside from the dealer, is only available from Mobil 1 though I thought Pennzoil was getting in the game here too. My local Wal-Mart has Mobil 1 0W-20 oil at a reasonable price ($5.39 or so) as no other oil change shops have it in stock yet. Whatever your book recommends for oil weight though you should stick to it. Synthetic will be nice because it can endure longer intervals. The Civic Hybrid has to have 0W-20 because of the small battery-driven motor that starts the car and anything thicker than 5W-20 will put too much of a strain on it when cold.

--> Averaged 685 miles/week and 49.0 mpg in first year (35.7k miles from Aug 7, 2006 to Aug 7, 2007)

Congratulations!
Doug and I have a special interest in oil although mine has been focused on transaxle oil in the older Prius:

http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/pri_toil.html

I have started on a web page to record engine oil testing results but other events have distracted me. I'll try to spend more time on it later this week. For now, do keep your records handy and/or forward a copy to Doug.

Tires and oil "level" are the biggies and you've pretty well got them covered. The consensus is the optimum oil level is about 3/4 between the marks. As for grade, 0W20 makes sense in northern climates.

Take a peek at the FAQ and let us know if you have any other concerns.

One recent suggestion, it appears that the engine runs a very rich mixture in the first 70 seconds. I've adopted the practice of letting the engine run for at least a minute in the FIRST drive of the morning to get beyond this very rich mixture mode. This appears to be common for both the NHW11 and NHW20 models (yours is an NHW20.)

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

Congrats, you are going to love the car. I changed my oil at the 5000 recommended. Some change it at 1000, but I don't thing there would be much break in at that point.

I keep my tires at 42 front/40rear and I continue to get 60+ MPG on my commute to work and 50+ on the hiway. Good luck with you new Prius.


http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage...7/signature.png

Can anyone confirm if the 42/40 tire pressure is ok on the 07 Touring Pkg? I'm betting that the dealership service department was way off when suggesting 35...

Following the Toyota owner's manual is best for oil, at least while it it under warranty. I wouldn't change it any sooner or later than what the manual says. Why waste good oil? Stick with the proper weight oil, it provides a balance between the best protection and fuel mileage.

The tire pressure Toyota says to use is best for overall ride and comfort. I use 42/40 psi and find it works good because I want the best mpg.