On a new SR5, do you change the first oil early?

Bought an SR5 in mid February. Been looking through the maintenance booklet, and the regular interval for oil change is 5000 miles. It occurred to me that when I was younger I was pretty used to having the oil changed after the first 1000 miles or somewhere around about there. But the manual says nothing about anything like that. It's at every 5000.

Does that mean that early first oil changes are outdated, maybe manufacturing is improved so it's not needed?

 

Here we go.....

 

There are like 8,000,000 threads on this.

The first oil change is at 10K if you decide to stick with Toyota’s maintenance guidelines.

 

Actually, another curiosity question. My wife drives a 2014 Lexus CT200h. The interval for that one is 10,000.

I've been going to a really good garage for 50 years now, they really know their stuff, and they told me to do the Lexus oil at 5,000. I was kinda uncomfortable being stuck between the two. So I asked the garage and they said, "Well, that's our recommendation." Then I called the Lexus dealer and they said "Well, sir, we make the car, and that's our recommendation."

So I'm curious. I understand that Toyota owns the Lexus brand, so why does one do oil at 5,000 and the other at 10,000.

Just curious.

 

Reread the book. You may find 5k is the severe duty number.

10k is the regular duty number.

 

Oh my, does that mean this is an old old question and I opened it again?

 

Toyota recommends 10K oil change intervals for normal operating conditions. They recommend 5K oil change intervals for “severe use”.

 

Yeah, this question is a tale as old as time on Tacomaworld

 

OK, I'm out. I'll go reading

Sorry and thanks.

 

BTW in this case the truck model does not matter all the v6s are the same, all the I4s are the same

 

No worries, I was just pointing out that it’s been discussed quite a bit

For what it’s worth, I do 5,000 mile oil changes because my use of the truck falls under the severe use category. There’s a lot of people around the forum who do 10K oil changes and have hundreds of thousands of miles on their trucks.

 

Long story short...

There's zero reason not to do the oil change early. The downside is time and money. The upside is the piece of mind knowing it's done. Whether it's needed in modern cars is debatable. You're not going to damage anything by doing it early.

I know there's zero reason to do it early, I did it anyways for piece of mind. The $65 or so I paid at the time was worth it for me. For others it may not be. Only you can decide.

 

Well, a quick duck back in. Wondering how I could have misread the booklet, I looked again and y'all are right of course.

I did see oil change at every 5000, but at 5k and 15k, etc, they are under "Special Operating Conditions" subheadings. I was just looking for a quick answer and I missed that detail.

No excuse except that I've been deep into taxes and my brain is kinda mushy. It's actually not always that way.

OK, back out again.

 

Probably more than 75% of us here fall under the definition of "severe conditions". If you do, make sure you point that out when you go in for your "free" Toyota maintenance.

 

check out this map.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-maintenance-maps-get-300k-miles.789809/

 

Y'all are gonna call me on slipping in again, but ...

I live on a one mile dirt road but it's 25 mph and not bad shape except in mud season. No off-roading, and to get to town I take the interstate. I haven't considered that to be severe.

But now I see one of the subheadings says "Repeated trips of less than 5 miles in temperatures below 32*". I'm retired so I don't go to town that much, and I do drive around the property at 5 to 10 mph in our NH winters. So maybe I should call it 5000. At least I let it run 5 minutes if it's a short ride, just so it's not dripping from the tailpipe.

 

This is one of the best threads on the entire forum.

 

Your last paragraph indicates you fall into the "severe" category when temps are that low. Letting in run isn't going to change that.

 

My take on oil changes is based on how far I drive at a time. Short trips do not warm the engine sufficiently to ventilate the crankcase, causing sludge buildup early. Long trips, such as a 30 mile commute, is long enough to expel all water. I live in the far north and use a crankcase heater in winter, which helps keep water vapor out.

For me, I look at the oil. If it appears dirty, I change it. Mileage between changes is a reference to alert me that it is time to look at the oil.