Conventional Oil or Synthetic?

Sorry if this sounds completely ignorant, but I know nothing about cars . Do Tacomas (2023) use synthetic or conventional oil, or both? My truck is due for maintenance, but it only has 3,800 mi. (I've hardly driven it). While I spoke to Toyota Service department they explained I may only need tire rotation and inspection for the recent recall, but I've had the truck since September 2023. Don't they also have to do an oil change? Thank you!

 

Welcome to TW! You can use either, it doesn’t matter, it’s more of a personal preference than anything. I use synthetic oil and change it every 5k miles.

 

All 3g Tacoma's should run 0w20 synthetic oil with a 5-10k OCI.

Browse your owners manual for quick information like this.

 

Thank you! I appreciate it. Is it something people can change their mind on every now and then. For example, this oil change can be synthetic and next time conventional. Or, once an oil preference has been made you can no longer opt to use the opposite?

 

Thank you!

 

I suppose you could change it, but you'll have a tough time finding a 0w oil that is not synthetic. They exist, but most stores will only carry synthetic and it's a better oil and what this engine was designed to be run with.

 

Thank you! I will stick with that.

 

Look at your oil fill cap on the engine. It will say 0-20, which only comes in synthetic.

Change intervals for normal use or severe duty are in your owners manual.

Most folks who are under the mileage criteria for their application still change at a year or so. You don't even need a tire rotation yet.

 

100% go with synthetic. There's no reason to use standard dino oil for a new daily driver type vehicle. At this point you should be looking to use synthetic in everything unless you have a very good specific reason for not to.

Also, you're not due for an oil change yet. 3,800mi is barely anything. My recommendation is always to start doing oil analysis and base your OCI on that data rather than the completely random advice you'll get from friends, family, forums...etc. In my experience, 3-5k miles is too often for most modern vehicles running synthetic oil and you're just wasting money by changing it that often. 5-10k is typically no problem for most modern cars and sometimes you can go 10k+. When I sold my Impreza I was only doing oil changes every 12k miles (based on recommendation from Blackstone Oil Analyses.)

 

Thank you. That's probably why the service operator only recommended tire check and inspection for the recall.

 

I have been using my Toyota dealer for service. I’m at ~40,000 miles.
I am switching to an independent automotive shop for the next service.
Any recommendations for a certain brand of synthetic oil?

 

Not from me. They are all so close these days it doesn't much matter.

As long as it's the correct weight. API rating and done on the right OCI for your usage, it will be fine

 

Synthetic 0W-20, almost the same price as conventional. 0W-20 gets in all the nooks & crannys.

Like an English Muffin.

 

Sounds like great advice. Thank you.