4th gen Oil Change

You sure about that? Anyone can make up a list of oil changes or say they changed the oil. I would guess they will want to see actual evidence of oil changes, including the oil and filter and date on receipts. But I could be wrong - I hope I don't ever need to use the engine warranty.

 

What a dealer puts on their web site and what Toyota actually states in the OM can obviously be two different things. The OM states 0W-20 and only 0W-20. Gonna change it every 5,000 miles and go with that. I would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to the warranty but again you guys can run whatever you like.

 

You’re not required to keep your Walmart oil receipts to prove you changed the oil. They wouldn’t prove anything, anyway, since nothing on those receipts would prove that you put the oil in the vehicle.

what they’d have to do is prove that oil level or quality *caused* the failure. That’s really not possible unless there’s clear indication that you never changed the oil, like insane sludge buildup, which would never happen even if you used 10-30 as approved in Ensenada

 

Owners manual calls for it due to EPA, you can get slightly better fuel economy but it's barely noticeable. I believe the 5w30 will be better for longevity. I'm pretty sure other parts of the world call for 5w30 in the owners manual for same engine in the highlander.

 

How would they know?

 

Definitely true in Mexico as I posted earlier.

Also, the LC Prado t24 calls for anything up to 10w30 in non-US markets. Here’s Saudi spec from the LC forums:

 

Because they can ask for receipts proving you maintained the vehicle per the warranty requirements.

 

I seem to recall reading someplace that EPA fuel economy testing requires reporting of the lowest economy you'd get for a particular "supported configuration." That is, if you say it can take 0W20 or 5W30, test it with 5W30 and get 25MPG highway and 0W20 gets you 26, you have to report 25MPG as the tested fuel economy. If you say "only use 0W20," that's the only configuration that's "supported," so you can report the 26MPG.

Between EPA fuel economy numbers all being self reported, the test cycles never really having represented the way people actually drive, and there being some odd restrictions on how reporting is done, you get some results that really feel stupid.

 

No dealer asks for your Walmart receipts

 

If you say so. Toyota is well within their rights to ask you to prove you maintained the vehicle. Why would they warranty an engine with no proof of required maintenance first? Maybe you get lucky and they don't ask, but they certainly can and if you can't show you maintained it they can deny a warranty claim.

 

You simply show them your records. The Walmart receipt doesn’t prove that the oil you bought went into the truck, so this line of logic means that they could refuse a warranty even with receipts. They show nothing more than a handwritten maintenance record does.

 

Anyone can make up a maintenance log like that with no receipts to back it up - that proves nothing.

I don't think most people are in the habit of buying 6 quarts of oil and an oil filter for a Toyota every six months just to stash it in their garage without using it. Having receipts for the required amount and type of oil along with a filter at reasonable time intervals should be sufficient.

Not gonna argue this anymore. You keep the records you want to keep and I'll keep mine. Hopefully neither one of us needs to make a warranty claim anyway.

 

It should be sufficient, just as a maintenance log and an engine that isn’t obviously running 30k miles on sludgy OEM oil is sufficient. Nobody keeps oil receipts for 8 years for their extended warranty because nobody needs to

 

I used to have 4 cars in my household, 5 including my mother in law, 7 including my older kids, used to change all their cars myself, bought oils from advance auto, walmart, costco, and other places and never keep my receipts for past 20 years, and never were ask by dealers about my my maintenace receipt when in for warranty repairs, all those cars that we own are brand new so they do come in for warranty repair now and then. Not saying you are wrong, I believe in Murphy's law lol you should keep something kinda receipt for major repair, but simple oil change shouldn't require an oil receipt, as long as you do a good log of each maintenance like the gentleman above.

 

Just to throw a little water on the warranty discussion fire here: if you end up in a situation where they're declining to cover a repair under warranty because they don't believe you changed the oil and won't take whatever records you have as proof that you actually did, your recourse is to sue them to get a judge to issue a civil judgement ordering them to cover it.

Consider how much of a pain in the ass that'd be and that if your records aren't good enough for them, why would they be good enough for a judge?

My point here is that you should both keep your receipts and do a maintenance log. It's not that big a deal.

 

This scenario would only happen if there was evidence inside the engine of not changing the oil…which there wouldn’t be. The judge wouldn’t send you home for not having those Costco receipts, either

 

As a Taco newbie I have been scanning this thread. I've done my own oil since 1970 and will continue once my Toyota free service ends. It's about the only time to look over modern vehicles, which are remarkably service-free. Long ago there were 1,000 mile chassis lube intervals--grease guns on zerk fittings--and annual points replacement, etc. which gave more chances to spot things.

On my 2005 Ranger 4-cyl., I've been using 5W-20 Mobil 1 since I bought it, changing every 10K miles, and at 225K miles it still burns what it did when new: a quart every 8K miles. The engine is quiet.

The Ranger has an even worse sideways-peeing oil drain--it made a big mess under the truck--suspension, driveway--until I made a plastic baffle to deflect it. The filter drips on the suspension too. I would sentence whatever engineer designed those features to an eternity of changing oil on Rangers.

Those accessory oil-change valves: are they vulnerable to breakage from random rocks or road hazards?

 

Fumoto drain valves do protrude and there is increased risk when off road. I have aftermarket skids that will support the weight of the Tacoma, risk eliminated.

 

The Fumoto I have really tucks up, and a rock would have to rip my skid plate off to get to it.