Synthetic oil from the factory?

If i'm not mistaken, the dealer said my new Tacoma came with 0w-20 fully synthetic oil from the factory. However the owner's manual does not specify synthetic. I have 25,000 miles of free service intervals (every 5,000 miles) as part of the deal - not sure what they would put in. I really would like to go synthetic. I'm at 900 miles now and thinking of an oil change after the break-in and not waiting till 5,000. What do ya'll think?

 

It really depends on the dealer. Mine uses Castro GTX so I will not use them for my changes.

 

Call the dealer to see what they use so at least you'll know. That doesn't guarantee what's in it now (from the factory) but you'll know what you're getting going forward. As for the early oil change I consider it cheap insurance... get a filter from the dealer and change it out. I did mine at 1500mi for good measure and all since then have been around 3000-3500mi.

 

What does your manual say to do? It will give you the OCI and the minimum spec. the oil must meet. It's doubtful it would say 'synthetic', it would most likely be the spec used would be something that only a synthetic oil could meet, something like VW 502.

If you think you can deviate from that and want to make POSITIVE there will be no issues should a warranty claim come up get the word from Toyota, not the dealer.

 

Joe, If you change your oil at 900 mi. you'll be throwing away good oil. I got the same service package so I'm gonna' wait till 5000 mi. My dealer uses 10W-30 of what ever brand is cheapest that meets the current API service classification for gasoline engines.

 

The Toyota brand oil sold at the dealership is a semi-synthetic. Supposedly Toyota oil is made by Mobil.

 

all honda kawasaki yahmaha suzuki oil is made by mobil.....i use amsoil faithfully...and extra virgin olive oil imported from italy in both my differentials and transfer case

 

I like my ladies extra virgin, but not the oil going into my truck!

 

Yeah you don't hear too much about the Mobil Dino oil but you're right they make it. I was at my local dealership getting the HVAC fan replaced under warranty, and they had a display of Toyota oil filters and a gallon of oil advertised. The bottle said semi-synthetic blend. If it wasn't in a glass case I would of looked at the back of the jug to see if there was indeed an Exxon/Mobil label, but as people here before have said with certainty, Mobil makes the oil for Toyota.

 

Factory oil is NOT synthetic. The engine would never break in if it was. Wait until 3-5k to switch.

 

Sure that's not 0w-20 or 5w-20? I've got the same engine, and it even specifies that viscosity on the oil fill cap.

 

Thanks for the input. Anyway, I called the dealer today and they said in the service dept. once again that the oil changes for that engine would be synthetic--might be a bunch of BS. I guess I'll let them do their thing for the first 25,000 miles, then I'll start with a good synthetic myself. That shouldn't be too late to start synthetic, even if it does actually get dino the first 5 changes.

 

Doesn't Toyota already do the primary break-in period at the factory? At which point doing a 1-2k intervol from the stealership should be fine to switch to synthetic. I did, Castrol GTX Syntec.. ran fine for as long as I owned it every 5k on the dot with a k&n oil filter. I know some people hate on Castrol for their recent PR crap... regardless I've used it in everything I've owned and it's always treated me well.


Also note... it's never "too late" to switch to synthetic oil. Also contrary to popular belief, switching back to dyno doesn't seem to be that big of a deal either according to a lot of tests run at bobistheoilguy.com

 

Negative on the factory break-in. That is an owner's responsibility.
X2 on the switch timing. Stoping wear by using synthetic oil is always a good idea.
Flip flopping from dino to syn is ok, but defeats the purpose of syn. It is no longer a problem at causing leaks. They solved the differing seal expansion rates between dino and syn. Syn used to expand seals more; switch back to dino=leak. This has been corrected. You just lose the added protection of synthetic oil.

 

plenty of vehicles leave the factory with synthetic engine oil- this is easy to verify.

The Tacoma is not one of them.

Don't do a break in oil change at 1000 miles; as said, this is a waste. Follow the owner's manual and stop second guessing Toyota engineers.

 

Joe, I just assumed (and you know what that makes me) the dealer has the correct weight and type for my engine. I will check before I let them touch my truck. I am a believer in synthetic oil too and will start using it after the maintenance package is used up. Thanks for the heads up.