Hitting 5000 miles
- Thread starter McKe
- Start date
Thanks for your feedback, I wont do dealer free changes I'm afraid I don't trust them. I rather pay my oil and filter wich could be around $50 or less than having to come back and pay $300 cause they will abuse my car to make money. Been there done that, onfortunetly that's sometimes the way it is..
Wow , you don`t trust the dealer to do something as simple as an oil change ? I took my car in for every free 5k check . They only will do the free changes at the 10k interval . But I did the in between ones at 5 and 15 k . They also rotated tires every 5k and do a multi-point inspection that was free . If I were you I`d take advantage of that.
I don't trust the dealer I use at all, but since it is free, I deal with it. I just double check their work.
Example why I hate them: I specified before they changed my oil to not leave oil on the engine cover. I got the car back after service, popped the hood in the service drive, oil all over the engine cover (even seeped down onto the valve cover). I grabbed a rag that I had brought with me because I knew this was going to happen. Cleaned it off right there in the service drive. I emailed the service director about the issue. He said that they are very busy and things like this can be missed. It has happened every single time, so it's clear to me their problem is not being busy. They are being lazy and sloppy with their work.
Also to note: I came in for an alignment check, they ended up adjusting it. I got a flat a few days later and both wheels on that side of the vehicle were not torqued down. I could tell even with just the stock lug wrench when comparing each wheel.
Example why I hate them: I specified before they changed my oil to not leave oil on the engine cover. I got the car back after service, popped the hood in the service drive, oil all over the engine cover (even seeped down onto the valve cover). I grabbed a rag that I had brought with me because I knew this was going to happen. Cleaned it off right there in the service drive. I emailed the service director about the issue. He said that they are very busy and things like this can be missed. It has happened every single time, so it's clear to me their problem is not being busy. They are being lazy and sloppy with their work.
Also to note: I came in for an alignment check, they ended up adjusting it. I got a flat a few days later and both wheels on that side of the vehicle were not torqued down. I could tell even with just the stock lug wrench when comparing each wheel.
5,000 miles is pretty early to change the oil, but it also depends on what conditions you are driving in. I'll be taking mine in at 8k most likely on the first because I don't drive a lot. I'll barely get two services in before my Toyotacare ends, but I'm always happy to do my own oil changes and work on my car so I know its done right.
Royal Purple may look really cool and things may have changed in the last few years, but they generally are not the best performing of the synthetic oils. In fact their synthetic oils used to not even be a full synthetic as it was more of a blend. This was something they even wrote on their website back in those days. Mobil 1 is the preference among most because they generally have been the gold standard. It is difficult to find any oil that manages to outperform Mobil 1 extended performance as you have to start looking into the premium tier of synthetics like Amsoil or Redline.
K&N and Mobil 1 filters are made by the same company which is Champion Labs. The problem is that they are now owned by a New Zealand based equity firm who appears to be in the process of outsourcing to China. I actually bought a Mobil 1 filter and returned it after I saw the Made in China label on it. Thus I now use Mobil 1 filters for my Focus(still made in USA) and TRD filters for the Corolla.
K&N and Mobil 1 filters are made by the same company which is Champion Labs. The problem is that they are now owned by a New Zealand based equity firm who appears to be in the process of outsourcing to China. I actually bought a Mobil 1 filter and returned it after I saw the Made in China label on it. Thus I now use Mobil 1 filters for my Focus(still made in USA) and TRD filters for the Corolla.
That's what the manual says. With new engines, you should replace the oil filter after running it a bit (maybe 500 mi?) and cut it open to check for metal flakes. This would indicate a defect in the manufacturing process. I think the average car buyer would have a hard time getting Toyota to do anything about it though. I can count on finger the number of people I know who would actually do that though.
Since I have no idea how long the car has been sitting at the dealership parking lot, I did an oil replacement at about 1,000 miles.
Since I have no idea how long the car has been sitting at the dealership parking lot, I did an oil replacement at about 1,000 miles.
Chevys have been running upto 12k mile intervals for a very long time and have not really had any oil filter related issues. I also used to have a Land Rover that had set 12k mile intervals which were not a problem. Fords with their OLM systems also frequently run 10-12k mile intervals even on their Ecoboost engines without any issues. It all depends on the quality of the filter and whether it has the filtering capacity to go the distance WITHOUT causing a serious enough pressure drop.