have any of you actually had car problems due to oil? <br><br>Maybe if you don't put any in! COME ON, I am tired of reading these laim messages about oil, "Is it 7000, NO, its 1000..."<br><br>It doesn't matter!!! ITS A TOYOTA, you can probably run it without oil! <br><br>The 3000 mile change is just a marketing scandle to get you paranoid so JiffyLube can make alot of money.<br><br>before my prius I had a Chevy, and we all know how bad a GM car is. I would fill the oil when it was low and I would change it somewhere after 5000 miles. NEVER ONCE did I have a problem resulting from oil or lack of, or a dirty filter. <br><br>PLEASE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE

Okay, let's talk about the Black Slippery Stuff (BSS)we're supposed to put in the engine.<br><br>Even under the worst abuse no one will have any problems related to BSS for years, and many thousands of miles. The end-of-life scenario is when BSS maintainance, or lack thereof, rears its head. I want to take good care of my car, and want to know the best way to do it, so I think this topic is relevant.<br><br> In a future post I want to talk of the wonders of GSS, (Green Slippery Stuff), which does wonders removing scuff marks from my Prius, and that's no BS!<br><br>Sam Williams

Sam, <br><br>I like your stats that you posted, my message was directed towards others<br><br>all I am saying is that oil is not that big of an issue with a domestic gas gussler, and it is the last thing I am thinking about with my 21st century Toyota.<br><br>SML

Perhaps you'd prefer to be off topic and have a discussion about free speech instead? :)<br><br>The point was, same car, yet Toyota apparently has different oil chg frequency rates. <br><br>So far the best explanation is more money in their pocket.<br><br>I too want to take good care of my car but I don't want to spend more money on maintenance when the manufacturer seems to have a double standard.

sml2030: have any of you actually had car problems due to oil?<br>

Martin,<br><br>I respect your comments, Good job! that was much more interesting than Oil talk.<br><br>I would like to talk about Energy, on an international level. Does anyone think Al Gore will do a good job at trying to get the country to conserve energy. Or do you think that nothing will change no matter who is in office.<br><br>I am a republican, but I am more concerned about the environment than G. Bush is, so I might have to go Gore this year.<br><br>I am hoping that Gore's administration will put Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars on the road faster and end the Gas engine completely<br><br>SML

Ok, well I'm a neutral, meaning I vote for whoever I want. <br><br>I was trying to decide who would be the best candidate. Didn't like gore a whole lot, liked G. Bush Sr. but not sure about Jr. Everything came to light a week or so ago when the candidates started making some big announcements.<br><br>I like Gore for the following reasons, wants to reduce the national debt, doesn't want to drill Alaska. Now I don't have ANY specific data on the amount of oil in the natural reserve that Bush wants to drill, but the articles that I read stated that it wasn't enough to last more than a few months at the current usage rate. I tend to agree with the statement. <br><br>Plus I still don't like how Jr. has skirted the drug issue. Simply not wanting to talk about it isn't good enough. What if he didn't want to talk about peace.

SML,<br>you are asking if he will do something to the environment?<br>Ofcourse not.<br>He is in the office for 7 years now and have had toooo many chances to do it.<br>Yesterday he pulled couple other lies - saying that an old poor women cannot afford perscription drugs and has to pick soda cans from the street and sell them.<br>It turned out / 3-4 days ago / that she has 55 year old son who owns a big stable and is willing to pay for her.<br>He does not becouse she refuses it - so cans are her hobby not necessity.<br><br>Please give me some examples of Gore's ideas / besides inventing an internet/.<br><br>I think he us full of lies and it is time to give somebody alse a chance.<br><br>Robert

I am not saying that Gore is any better than Bush, Thats why I said both of them will probably do nothing for us but I don't think that Bush knows that there are other fuels out there other than oil. I am sure he doesn't even know that you can get Hybrid in the U.S.<br>Also: my good friend is a Chemical Engineer in the Oil/Energy industry, he says that they don't know how much oil is under the Arctic wilderness preserve in northern Alaska and what Bush said about producing 80 million barrels per day is completely false, they have no idea, it is possible, but it is NOT fact.

sml2030 said:<br>&gt; have any of you actually had car problems due <br>&gt; to oil? <br>Yes - ever hear of a Vega? ALL Aluminum engine?<br>The Prius has a smaller (thinner) crankshaft and other parts that improve the overall efficency but would NOT stand up in a "conventional" car. The Prius engine is designed to run the way it does (Atkinson-Miller cycle) given that ALL conditions are met. That includes OIL and oil changes!<br>It is good to read that Toyota will accept Mobile 1 (other synthetics??) as I plan to switch at the first change, which I will probably pay to have done at the dealership.<br>&lt;comments about oil "idiot lite" deleted...&gt;<br>Bill Powell<br>(... and waiting, and waiting...)

GSS Sam?<br>I don't think I want to know... :-)<br>Bill Powell<br>(and......)

&lt;&lt;The 3000 mile change is just a marketing scandle to get you paranoid so JiffyLube can make alot of money.&gt;&gt;<br><br>I was just assuming that you change the oil yourself. Look under the engine and you'll see how simple it is. Oil filter and drain plug are in easy reach right next to each other. It can be done quicker than it takes to read the oil change messages here.<br><br>Changing the oil is very important in any car.If not, it will become an oil burner someday as it gracefully gets older.

I too want fuel cell, but that is a ways off. As to which pres. will do the better job, that question is better left up to the lobist and congress, that make the laws, and can over turn anything the pres. does... the best is long range total elect. <br><br>I am sitting here read all I can about this great car, waiting for the 2002 model... just have to have CC here in Texas... GM, FORD, etc... do what the people buying cars want, and that right now is big SUV's... now when fuel is $5.00 gal, I bet they will change their tune... That day here in the USA is comming sooner than you think.. just hope it happens after I it get my new car...<br><br>Sorry if this post is sorta late... just got to get to reading and caught up....<br><br>back to lurking...

You are not to late, but as far as fuel cell being way off, NASA has been using that technology for 30 years. and some of the buses in D.C. are fuel cell<br><br>Big oil companies will push the trend off for as long as they can