2015 DEALER SAID......

I'm not trying to be a dick, but if the truck needs synthetic oil it will say so in the manual, and if it only required oil changes every 10k miles it would say so in the maintenance booklet.

 

very true....

im sorry but after pretty much every time i have dealt with toyota dealers and them literally being dumber than a newborn chimp i have no faith in them what so ever. When head service mechanics dont order the right parts, order the wrong tools, and require me to be under my truck at a dealership showing head mechanic how to use said tools to perform a TSB... it makes me question how good these guys really are. Oh not to mention the fact the oil change boy forgot to put oil in my truck.... so glad i was standing right there to catch him before he moved it off the lift. And this was all in one dealer experience.

Another i had them flat out tell me... yeah you dont want us to do the reflash TSB... we just bricked an ECU doing the same TSB.

 

I was told that ToyotaCare gives you 1 free oil change every 5000 miles up to 3 per year, for the first 2 years (or 25,000 miles) of the vehicle's life. Doesn't matter if synthetic or not. Demand your oil change

 

Oh I agree. I do my own work for that reason. However, my local dealer has been pretty good to be honest. It did take them a couple of times to get the windows sealed but they did apologize and give me some credit without prompting.

The fact that the clerk didn't give a BS answer off the top of his head encourages me a bit. When you don't know you shouldn't guess.

 

While in college I worked parts at a Pep Boys for 2 years and one year as a service advisor. In that time I could easily remember certain OE specs (such as oil) for several makes and models. It doesn't take long to memorize it...especially when you're only dealing with one make.

They limit it to 3? They just told me "2 years" meaning 25k, which will take me maybe 18 months total at this rate.

 

I've worked for 6 years as a professional in the Agrichem industry. There is stuff I know by heart that I look up every once in a while just to double check myself. I'm more worried about the people who don't do that then those who just keep going off what's in there head.

To each there own. It sounds like you were a good desk hand.

 

I agree with double checking, and I do (and did) that too. The OP, however, was given wrong information without it being double checked. I wouldn't answer a phone call and go "oh no you're good for 10k" without checking.

 

True enough.

 

3 per year

 

The reason synthetic oil comes into play for some/most of the newer Toyota engines is they require lighter weight oil (0W20 etc.) which only comes in synthetic form because of the light weight.

 

You just answered my next question. "Is

$52 0w-20 oil Toyota/ exxon mobil Case of 6 Quarts Full Synthetic TGMO SN 0W-20 Oil

0w-20 oil naturally synthetic?"

 

Yup.

 

Not sure if oxymoron...

 

I remember them saying the same thing to me a few years ago. I was pretty adamant that its just normal 5w-30. I was right that it was 5000. Also even if for some reason you have synthetic don't wait until 10K to change it because you engine is breaking in and you don't want any metal shavings to be sitting in your engine for another 5k.

 

Catch 22. Pay 30K for a truck with a warranty and deal with a service department who doesnt know diddly snot...or change your own oil and void your warranty.
(And if you DONT think it will void your warranty, go ahead and be the first guy to try it. Dealers just WAIT for that guy who has a warranty claim and hasnt shown up for regular service in 25K miles).....I know somebody is going to chime in here and say "well I do all my own work and Id MAKE them honor it"...or 'I save all my receipts and I can prove it to them'....look, I feel your pain, but Ive been on the other side of the service counter. Warranty work pays about 60% of what regular book labor does and dealers are always looking for ways around it. If there is ANY culpability on the consumers part, plan for a LONG, uphill battle.

The simple solution is to treat the service writer like a human being, ask him some simple questions and have toyota do the first 5 oil changes like they agreed.

Im 700 miles away from my first oil change (scheduled in February...NO WAY Im going to make it that long, Im going to have to schedule it earlier) I hope my experiences are better.

 

I have a 2015 4.0, and asked for synthetic when I took my truck in for my 5k oil change. I was told that since the truck didn't come with it from the factory, I would have to pay extra for synthetic... So screw it, I'm doing the regular oil until my 2yr/25k Toyota Care thing is up. I'm honestly not even sure if I'll bother switching to synthetic at that point.

 

Ok...just stopped at the dealer and here's what the service manager said. The 15' with the 4.0 uses conventional oil. Tomorrow they'll change the oil, rotate the tires etc. I'll let them do the maintenance until the free-ness runs out.

 

That's my plan also. Just had the first oil change and tire rotate.

Also if you have locking lug nuts, make sure they returned the lug key before you leave the dealer.

 

I think if you read your warranty paperwork that it states that you can do your own maintenance as long as you retain records and receipts.