Tacoma - standard motor oil or synthetic from the factory?

Slightly off topic but would Royal Purple oil be worth using? Or is Mobile 1 better (the best)?

 

I've been mixed about whether I should go with mobil 1 or toyota. The info on BITOG indicates that as far as 0w20 goes the toyota oil is the thinnest and since most of the wear occurs at start up this is the best oil. The mobil 1 on the other hand seems to have better additives. The only exception here is in extreme temps like -20F in which case the mobil 1 runs better, but lets ignore that for the purpose of our discussion. Both are obviously great oils. Just not sure what would be the best choice in order to keep the engine happy for 20 years. Thats my main goal here, drive the truck do the ground and get every penny out of it.

 

^All the 0W__ oils are in the same viscosity range when cold.

De-humidifier is good. Keeping the garage warm is actually detrimental.

 

The owners manual specifies synthetic.

Another dumb ass salesman.

 

Toyota reimburses the dealerships for the free oil changes you get from the dealer ship. they actually pay the dealer more $ then you ever will as a customer per oil change. so for the first 2 years when you bring in your tacoma, they may charge you for $70 for synthetic oil change with rotate. toyota pays that dealership $90-$100 (depending on their labor rate) for the same job. so dealer makes more money when they give you free oil changes.


and toyota does track the dealer's synthetic sold vs purchase. so if they're putting in cheap conventional oil but telling customer they're putting in synthetic, toyota will find eventually find out and shut that dealer down.

regardless of what the sales person tell you, the tech will do the right thing to your car if your dealership 's service has an honest work ethic(which most do) however, I'm not sure about gulf state toyota dealerships. The techs will always put in your car what it calls for unless you the customer tells them different. and if its not good for your engine they'll caution you but still have to do what u ask.

and yes, the techs do apply lubrication to certain points cuz they're banking on you coming back every 5k miles for maintenance and being lazy about it just makes the car harder to work on as it gets older. so they keep the cars that coming for service in good shape so its a less a pain in the ass when they have to fix something.

 

Good points. The free service is worth while and should be taken advantage of. After all, you have already paid for it. Dealerships make a big percent of their profit on parts and service and the two year come on is a good way to lead you into them. I have found, if I tell the dealer what I want serviced by consulting the owner's manual, I get as good a deal as anywhere. Don't be hooked into things like 60k check ups as all the inspections they charge you for, they do for free if you itemize. They want your repair work, they will check brakes, fluids, suspension etc.....you name it, on itemized service. The additional fluid changed ( diff, transfer etc,) change may cost you $x when it's included in a 60 k service or not. By itemizing it with the oil change nearly at the same time, they do all the checks for nothing regardless, and you just pay for necessary fluid changes. So, you end up with a $500 service charge costing say....half that or much less.

 

That is actually kind of incorrect. The ratings basically have a range for the winter and warmed up ratings. So one 0w20 may be thinner at a given temp than another. Depending on the additives, and the base of the oil all these variables change. But for example the toyota oil is about 35% thinner than M1 at 0C and about 25% at room temp. Once you get into extreme cold temps the M1 beats the toyota oil hands down, but the toyota oil was mainly designed for typical start up conditions rather than anything extreme. Both oils are solid though, and I'm sure either will get you 200k+ as long as you keep up with maintenance.

good info, very informative. I assume they give you a reciept that tells you what exactly they used?

 

yes, the invoice tells you what oil used. and when you go to toyota for your oil changes and say your warranty is out and you have like 80k miles. and your engine blows up, toyota will help you with cost, sometimes they'll take care of the whole bill.

little things like that make it worth it going to dealer. and you never have to say yes to anything they try and sell you. but lets say toyota tells you to do your differential fluid at 50k and u say no, and 10,000 miles go by and your diff starts to grind, they'll still take care of your diff. as long as the parts not physically damaged, the dealer wants the job.

 

the dealership you want to go for are the ones that don't have the big 30k or 6 k service and charge you $500. the one you want to go to is the one that only does oil change and let uk if something else is needed, regardless if you're at 60k or 100k. then it up to you as the customer to choose the services ou want done a la carte. transmission fluid is important to keep up on and if you've owned a suburu, uk you need to keep on diff fluid too.

 

Most manufacturers have an oil program for their dealers provided to them at a discount and with incentives... This in exchange for buying from a distributor authorized by the manufacturer and using only a Toyota recommended oil/brand. I don't know for sure who their supplier is (I've heard Castrol??), but any dealer not on the Toyota program would be able to choose their own oil. Best thing you can do is simply ask the service advisor or service manager at your dealer which oil brand they are using.

 

lets just say if ur questioning the quality of oil used, or if ur worried about them putting in regular when they sell you synthetic. you're going to the wrong dealership. i would go to a diff dealership.

if you don't have any other dealerships you can trust. do it yourself or move. cuz i would never bring my car to a small shop for anything.

 

It's hard to find dealerships that "don't" offer the money maker services. The one I to go to does. The nearest dealership other wise is 80 miles away and they do business the same way. I don't see a problem telling an other dealership what you will or will not do to your own car and setting the terms....just going somewhere else is often impractical. I get the same service ultimately as the one in five I found dealership that did not offer these checks 300 miles away. I don't get your point.

 

some dealerships clump everything together and sell you on a $300 package for the 60k service and they may be doing things that aren't needed, but do it anyways n charge you. I'm just saying if you can help it, why go to a dealership like that.

 

Maybe I wasn't clear. I don't pay the full service charge, I do itemize. Any customer that refused their package deal can do that. Most all don't realize it. They are a dealer and I don't think you will find any that won't try to milk the service. Even the manager who knows me will yell over to the writer and say..."don't bother Mr........ With the packages, let him tell you what he wants for service. " I negotiate every service when I go in to the dealer. I have several other independent shops I use for repair work as well and get estimatesfrom them occasionally to comparing costs. Seldom do they ever beat the dealer go to. Even with oil changes which are $55 at the dealer, I get a coupon for $25 dollars off the next. As long as I keep the coupons, they are $30 for a 5 quart synthetic oil and filter change. I can't do better than that at any independent.

 

i get what you were saying, i was simply saying if you can find it. wouldn't it be nice to find a dealer ship where they actually tell you, hey, that service is not needed, or its premature, you can wait... those dealerships who don't milk services are the ones who get good customers that are loyal, they get the come back.

even if you do your own work, i feel like its cheaper/easier going to dealership for oil change. sure they use bulk oil but if the truck goes 200-400k miles with no engine issues, who cares if its bulk. when they tell you something is wrong with it, get the quote and fix it yourself.

 

Dealers make a high percent of their total profit off parts and service. They don't make as much as people thing on new car sales. Used car sales, loans and service contracts are money makers too.
More then 60% of new car buyers have their cars serviced at the dealer. It is important to their profits.

It's a retail business. No better, no worse then anyother. They are in it to suvive. My cousins were and are car dealers. They are good people but they are businessmen. Like any business, they often sell products that people don't need. Go into a clothing store, electronics or furniture or Walmart. They all do it for profit. Buyer beware.

 

Toyota synthetic oil and filter for me , I did the research also. Used to be a Mobil 1 guy but why not use the genuine Toyota products , price is close as is the product. Who am I to second guess Toyota's choice of oil. I do it my self so no issues.

 

If the OCI is 10k for syn oil and you plan to change your oil at 5k......it really doesn't matter what brand of syn oil you use, as long as it's a reputable name brand. Buy what is on sale.

 

What gave you the impression I would do it at 5K, I'm a 10K oil change guy

 

J

Just an open statement for cya. If you go to 10k, hopefully you live in a moderate climate. It is gets really cold, all oils loose some of their viscosity rating over time and use. A 0-20w won't be as good at low temps after it has accumulated all that...contaminants as it was new. I feel modern oils including Syn can give you the protection you need for 10k miles, but under severe conditons, a 5 k mile oil change thrown in is better.
That includes cold weather driving. Then, at least where I live, the OCI becomes more important then the oil. Provided it meats OEM conditions.