635K Miles on a 2011

Thanks for sharing this great story about Gary!
Did I read that right...0w20? In Florida? That's some free-flowing mojo!
Quite inspiring given my 2011 has 125+k of trouble-free miles

 

Makes me feel better about my purchase and why I pan to keep my truck 10+ years

 

This is really not a big deal. Highway driving is the least taxing on an engine and has contributed to the high mileage here. The oil brand will have a negligible effect. Just keep it topped off and replace when needed.

 

This guy rocks! My inspiration

I’ve changed my oil every 2,500 miles usually, sometimes after 5,000 but only if all highway miles in the summer. 0w20 synthetic and OEM filter at dealer each time since 2012 and 222,000 miles. Unnecessary you say? Too expensive? For buying my truck there new, I get oil changes at $20 per change. I change it so much and still probably pay less for oil than most. Sorry to brag but it’s a great deal and huge incentive IMO. Spartan Toyota in Lansing, MI (Home Of The Lifetime Warranty). I’d love to see inside my engine but won’t look just for that reason. I know it’s clean. Hopefully my engine will look as good as Gary’s looks inside after 635,000 miles.

 

There is a guy in NC with more than twice that many miles on his 2008. 1.5 million at last count. He changes oil once/month instead of a set number of miles. But he averages 8000-10,000 miles between oil changes.

Even if you only pay $20 per oil changes that is $3200 in oil to get you to 400,000 miles. Which isn't all that hard to do. Only $800 if you do $10,000 mile oil changes. And you'll still get well past 400,000 miles either way. But hey, it's your money. And time. Time is the main reason I do 10,000 mile oil changes.

 

The guy with 1.5 million replaced his engine at 700,000. He also is 100% highway miles which would make sense to go by time instead of distance.

“But he averages 8000-10,000 miles between oil changes.”
Yes but it’s all southern highway miles.

My 2tr-fe engine (like his) calls for 5,000 mile oil change intervals. Most other Toyotas are more. Why does Toyota say that engine needs more frequent changes is the question. Must need it for some reason that only 3 Japanese guys know.

But why not push it to 20k? Hey 20 is the new 10. If you’d go 10, 20 is no big thing right? Yeah you can do 10,000 mile oil changes, why not? Go for it. It’s only metal on metal buffered by dirty gritty 10,000 mile 0 weight oil. Your engine will make it to 400,000 but the piston rings will be tired. Let me know when she starts to burn. My bet is at 250,000 or sooner.

 

I would worry about how much money is spent on fuel instead of on oil changes. Why use such an inefficient vehicle to drive that many miles a day?

 

Not everyone is lucky enough to have two vehicles. Perhaps that is the biggest expense over fuel or oil costs? If you need a truck, that is the vehicle you need so you take a MPG loss over driving a Prius. If we're talking overall cost of ownership, I'll put my four banger 5 lug Taco up against anything, especially if factoring in its entire lifetime of use. Perhaps you don't need a truck and just have one but use the Prius as your daily driver?

The Tacoma is as fuel efficient as any other truck for the most part if we're comparing apples to apples.

 

The guy probably spent $80K on fuel. He could have easily bought another vehicle or two with his fuel savings money.

 

Plot twist he drives all the way from homestead to destin on the regular dumping loads of snow

 

Back to the two vehicle realm. Two insurance payments per month, two registration payments per year. Oil changes and other maintenance and possible repairs for the more fuel efficient vehicle. If he spent 80k on fuel for the tacoma at 25mpg highway and a Prius with 60mpg his savings is potentially 40-45k if a such a vehicle can achieve that amount of miles. New 2011 prius was 30k. 10 to 15k left for all the incidental costs already discussed. Seems a wash at best to save money there due to fuel costs of the tacoma.

 

It sounds like the guy was doing over 5K miles a month. That’s a lot of fuel money that could go to another car payment. Plus at the end of the day you own two vehicles instead of just one with so many miles on it that it’s virtually worthless.

 

So he would still be us ng the same amount of fuel because of his job and paying another car payment? I doubt he wants to be hauling transmission parts around in a Hyundai. Glad he used his little work truck for just that a work truck. Hell maybe he's got an old school vette in the garage he drives around town when he's home.

 

@Marshall R, sir I apologize to you. My comments were wrong of me. I say this not only because I feel I spoke inappropriately, but because I realize Toyota often tells people to change their oil at 10,000 miles. This video I found on YouTube discusses this and state that 10,000 mile figure as minimum requirement for the 60,000 mile warranty. Anyway, I thought it was pretty interesting and on topic of this thread.

https://youtu.be/TJhFAwFv-O0