"Maintenance Required Soon" - oil change

[george.stark]

Do I call the dealer now, or wait until it gets to 5000 miles and says "Maintenance Required"?


I want to get the oil and filter changed now, I know that's extra. I do a lot of short trips, plus a lot of stop-and-go, and slow-and-go driving - plus I just want fresh oil in after the break-in period. Assuming I don't want to do it myself (which is a real good assumption):

1. Use the oil and filter the dealer supplies, specify something else, or supply my own? I vaguely get the feeling that Mobil 1 might be better than the who-knows-what with "Toyota" stamped on it, and possibly ditto for some filters.
   
   
2. I see magnetic drain plugs (and, I think, magnetic filter covers), asserting they keep metal particles out of circulation. Are these of any use? Esp. when the engine is mostly aluminum - are the parts that wear still steel?
   
   
3. Any other thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rock'n Roller]

Let the dealer do it, with their parts and fluids. Downside of doing it early is the added cost, which is ~$85 for the synthetic oil change. I assume you have 2 years of free maintenance? Be aware that the service adviser may try to talk you out of it. I changed the oil in my wife's Prius at 5K miles because the dealer refused to do it. They claimed there was a break-in additive in the new oil and she had to go the full 10K miles. It sounded to me like B.S. I could never find any evidence to prove that statement was valid. Magnetic drain plugs are standard on some brands, but not Toyota's. Toyota's use to have magnets placed in the bottom of transmission and oil pans to collect metal particles, but I don't know if they still do that or not. I don't know how effective the oil filter wrap around magnets are. Current engine designs still utilize steel elements in their components. With friction you have wear, thus metal particulate. Steel sleeves are used for the cylinders with steel piston compression/oil rings. The crankshaft and rod bearings also contain steel with various other metals. Aside from the initial oil change, I would just stick with the recommend Toyota maintenance schedule until after the warranty is up. It's basically just tire rotations, oil/various filter changes, fluid levels, and a few other basic misc. inspections.

 

[reuven]

At my first 7000 miles, i did not like the color of the engine oil, took a sample and send it to Case for analyzing,($18),

came back ok... 211 ppm of silicon, should be around 20-30 ppm,

did go to the dealer, and they were "kind" to do the oil+F, change at 7000 miles,

it is two years warranty, or 25,000 miles, which ever comes first,

so only two oil changes for free,

one of the smart members of this forum, does change the oil the fist 1000 miles, than every 5000 miles,

 

[george.stark]

So, I took it in for the 5K maintenance, and I had them change the oil and filter using the Toyota stuff: $50.26. At that price, I'll have them do that every 5K.

 

[Rock'n Roller]

That's a pretty good price from a dealer, but you can do yourself for half that. At 5K miles, the oil is just beginning to show a color change to a slightly darker amber. It's your money, but in my opinion I think it's overkill for synthetic oil. I change mine at 7K miles, just when it begins to get dark. This was Toyota's previous oil change standard for synthetic oil.

 

[ToyBoy]

I change mine myself. I have no set minimum mile change. I prefer to change when the weather is decent and not cold out. I`m usually at around the 5-6k mile mark when I do the change. I know that is sooner than needed but I do it anyway.

 

[george.stark]

At 5K miles, the oil is just beginning to show a color change to a slightly darker amber. ... I change mine at 7K miles, just when it begins to get dark. This was Toyota's previous oil change standard for synthetic oil.

How do you check color - can you get any out of the filler hole with e.g. a turkey baster? Or is this just what you've seen when changing the oil?

When I wiped the dipstick on a white paper towel, it was already brown. In fact, that was true a couple of 1000 miles back.

 

[george.stark]

When I wiped the dipstick on a white paper towel, it was already brown. In fact, that was true a couple of 1000 miles back.

This is to say it was dirty - some sort of dark particulate was there.

 

[Rock'n Roller]

How do you check color - can you get any out of the filler hole with e.g. a turkey baster? Or is this just what you've seen when changing the oil?

When I wiped the dipstick on a white paper towel, it was already brown. In fact, that was true a couple of 1000 miles back.

Starting with a fresh oil change, I did a few visual experiments at 5k, 6k, 7k, & 8k miles. Primarily looking for color variation at each mark. Took out a shot glass sample from the drain plug at each interval. I did this twice over 2 oil changes to see if it was repeatable. It was.... Not a very good statistical sample, but good enough to convince me at what point I want to do my oil changes. I'm not a believer in oil analysis due to the number of unknown variables and it's difficult to decipher what that data actually means in those reports and how it correlates to the long term reliability of an engine. Who cares, just drive it!

 

[Chris Denton]

I have magnetic drain plugs in both of my Toyota’s. The most I’ve seen has been fine black powder. Nothing to be concerned about, probably in the oil itself.
As for the magnetic filter wrap, our cars have a reusable plastic filter housing with a replaceable filter element.

I have changed my own oil since I bought the car. It has only been back to the stealership for the CVT update.
I get a 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 at Walmart for $23-$25 and a K&N oil filter from Amazon for $4.99(?).
Same for my Highlander.
So the Corolla has cost me only $120-$150 in oil changes over 4 years.
But remember that I don’t have 22k on it yet.

The Highlander is a different story, it has roughly 130k (2008)
Great SUV BTW!