Toyota says: Change tacoma synthetic oil every 5000 miles. Why?

The maintenance guide says that the 2011 and 2012 4 cylinder Tacoma and 4Runner require an oil change every 5000 miles, whereas each other vehicle recommends oil change intervals of 10,000 miles.

Here's a link to the owner's toyota site. The information in the table on that page agrees with the maintenance manual.

So, my question is, what makes the 2TR-FE in the 4 cylinder tacoma so much different than every other toyota vehicle? Should I follow these guidelines or change it every 10k?

I wouldn't complain if my truck came with regular oil, but synthetic oil changes cost twice as much.

And to top it off, when I brought my truck in for a 5000 mile complimentary oil change, none in the service department--not even the manager-- believed that I needed a 5k oil change. They told me it would not be covered by toyota. Only once I showed them the maintenance guide that came with my truck, and the site above, did they concede and give me the synthetic oil change at 5k.

 

I don't know much about when a truck needs an oil change. But I can tell you that my grand father changed his oil every 5000 km in all his vehicles, might not be worth it but his (and the ones he helped me with) have never had a hitch after many many miles.

 

IMO you can go farther than 5k on synthetic oils, but it truly depends on how you use your truck.

 

The 5000 mile mark is based on the maintenance schedule for the vehicle. For Canada its 8000km intervals.

 

I've gone 10K+ with synthetic on my last several vehicles. Never had a problem.

 

It's a toyota, it'll be fine!

If you're skeptical just meet in the middle and change it every 7,500 or something..

 

My Toyota dealer wants recommend 10k with synthetic...I'm not comfortable with that!

 

The only way to know for sure is to send the oil out for a lab test. Ie. blackstone labs.

 

A friend of mine (widow in her late 50s) had an Olds Cutlass. She went 90,000+ K and never "thought" to change the oil - not one problem. I'm certainly not suggesting that interval, but I think we obsess over oil changes based on money grabbing dealer/factory/quick lube-type recommendation.

 

Then why does the "Maint. Req'd" light come on at 5000 mile intervals when you re-set it???? I run synthetic as well and change mine between every 9-10000.

Quote "And to top it off, when I brought my truck in for a 5000 mile complimentary oil change, none in the service department--not even the manager-- believed that I needed a 5k oil change. They told me it would not be covered by toyota. Only once I showed them the maintenance guide that came with my truck, and the site above, did they concede and give me the synthetic oil change at 5k"

 

Just changed mine at about 11,000mi. Everything was fine, oil was deep dark brown, didn't smell burnt.

 

As someone mentioned above the only way to know for sure is to have the oil lab tested. People have done this and proven you can go a LOT farther than what the industry recommends. Your oils job is to suspend dirt, its supposed to be dark. Now the greed of manufacturers wants you to change your oil after every trip to the store. Synthetic isn't magic either, I won't waste money on it.

 

What did it taste like?

 

i run mobil 1 and have religiously changed it every 5k any ways so i doesn't bother me one bit.

 

That's strange, the dealership I go to even sends me a notice in the mail when its near oil change time at every 5k. After the first two changes they can get a general understanding of when the next one will be due, they're pretty much spot on each time with the notice. They certainly don't question the need for it especially being that the light kicks on.

The dealership you’re working with sounds clueless, they should all be well aware of the maintenance schedule for these trucks.

Not sure where the "every 5k" came from though??? I'll have to ask the folks at my dealership this weekend when I drop my truck off and report back.

 

From what we have been told as techs, these engine are not yet "certified" to go the 10k miles as the others have been, why? i have no idea.

This dealer is wrong, toyota says for these engines 5k mile synthetic, thats what we go by.

The maint req'd light goes purely off of milage, it will always come on after 5k miles.

Do i agree with toyota? Not so much, but we have to do what toyota tells us to do.

 

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Due to the improved performance and durability of 0w-20 synthetic oil, Toyota has extended the oil change intervals to 10,000 miles for most vehicles that require this oil. With this change, the following should be noted:
 The 2TR-FE (4Runner / Tacoma) and the 3UR-FBE (Flex Fuel Tundra / Sequoia) are the exceptions to this new change interval program; these engines have not been approved for the 10,000 mile interval at this time. A 5,000 mile oil change interval is still required for these vehicles. Also, the Flex Fuel 3UR-FBE requires a 2,500 mile interval when operated on E85.
 Only Toyota vehicles in which

$54 0w-20 oil Toyota/ exxon mobil Case of 6 Quarts Full Synthetic TGMO SN 0W-20 Oil

0w-20 oil is mandatory (except for the 2TR-FE & 3UR-FBE Engines) have been approved for extended oil change intervals.

 

Deep fried hotpockets

 

My grandpa religiously changed his oil in his taco every 5,000 miles and he got over 600,000 miles on it before he sold it so yeah these engines are built to last. In my opinion take care of them right with regular oil changes and they will take care of you.

 

Toyota Tech, I guess if you don't know, nobody will. No one at the dealership maintenance knew why the 2TR-FE was the only engine that was different.

Thanks for the response.