Oil Change. You be the judge

Fair enough, but my opinion isn't merely conjecture as I haven't seen any UOAs that indicate that oil change at 1,000 is necessary.

 

Again, do we really have any choice if we want to keep our warranty?

 

Can't help you much if you think a dealership would rather do oil changes than sell you a car.

You sure you were at a dealership and not Jiffy Lube?

 

At 20k I had a dealer oil change, at 42k I had the next oil change, I did it along with the trany. My oil filters looked like 20k of dirt, the oil not so much, so the filter doing its job. I used to go 15-20k in my F150 for 10 years using Mobil 1 5-20 full sythn oil, at 187k miles I lost the trany, which had full flushed ever 50k. the engine still going strong.

 

i've read seceral people recommend changing the oil at 1,000 miles to rid the oil of any tiny metal shavings. how many UOAs have you done on vehicles first oil change? I definitely didn't mean to sound like i had the correct answer as i have no experience with UOA but i thought it'd be better to do it at 1,000 than not to. Heck, the $50 i saved in gas my first week driving my Prius could pay for the oil change itself

 

Those recommendations are conjecture and not based on UOAs. Until I see a UOA at 1,000 miles that says "it should be changed now!" it's all conjecture and old school recommendation.

 

you didn't answer my question, how many UOA's have you performed on 1,000 mile first oil changes OR how many miles was it on UOA's that showed metal debris and that it required an oil change IF ever?

 

No reason to perform my own UOAs if I can glean information from the many UOAs that members have already performed and posted here. Likewise, I've changed my transaxle fluid early based on the evidence here (also without performing a UOA).

 

I'll just keep following the Canadian Schedule, lol: 8000 km (5000 mi approx) or 6 months, whichever comes first. And in our situation it's usually the 6 months. Costs me under $40 to DIY, twice yearly, don't care if it's overkill.

 

Whats that got to do with warranty? Its not necessary to have the dealer change the oil on your car to maintain its warranty.

No where in the owners manual does it state dealer must change the oil on your car or your warranty is void.

Dealer has never touched my car except for recalls. They can see all the maintenance I have done on the car as I have notated it on there online Toyota.com/owners website. The same place they notate service done to my car.

You must not have ever heard of the Magnuson-Moss act. I assure you car dealers have.

 

And its a very good idea to change the oil at 1,000 miles on your car. It gets rid of all the manufacturing crap and initial wear which is highest at break in. That and moving it over to high performance oil asap helps too.
Do that to all new cars I buy and intend to keep. Costs me $23. Mobil 1 and OEM filter. Whats the big deal?

Did the same to the Trans at 5,000 miles. That cost me $45. Fluid was already dark at 5K on my Gen II.
Apparently Gen 3 is harder on trans fluid than the 2 from what I'm seeing on this site.

Hyper maintenance all adds up to more money on re-sale.

But doing that to a leased car makes no sense. If I leased a car I'd put Amsoil motor oil in it and never change it again lol...

 

You are wrong and I'm not trying to scary anyone. I just presented facts, like the toyota sludge fiasco that everyone is trying hard to forget. Toyota also has/had problems with excessive oil consumption in many of its motors, too, and it can be also traced to hot running engines and insufficient oil change intervals. I don't know if you noticed, but the engines these days are harder working and running hotter due to increasing fuel efficiency and emission regulations.

I had Mazda in 90's, too (mazda protege actually), similar to yours 323, and that motor barely produced 100 HP and had 2 valves per cylinder. I also did 7000 miles OCI and things were well. Apples to oranges to today's cars, so it's not a good argument.

If money was the only issue, how come toyota dealers frequently refuse changing tranny oil when owners insist?
It's simple: it's not required by the mothership. Despite what you think or say, toyota carefully tested their OCIs and made them as long as feasible with the existing oils. Long OCIs and "lubricated for life" are huge selling points these days and that overrides everything else.

 

No, the point is not that you must have the dealer change it, but that you must follow the manufacturer's schedule. You're free to change it every 10K miles yourself. All I'm saying is we have our hands tied and must follow the manufacturer's schedule even if we personally want to go longer between oil changes.

 

What? Toyota dealer does not want to sell a Prius? Its a pretty hot selling car. That would be disturbing news to my dealer Clearwater Toyota as they have about 400 on there lot right now. And all versions in the lobby. They have more salespeople bugging me when I walk to the parts dept than mechanics.

And they don't make more money fixing the cars than selling them. Car repair is a pain in the nice person necessary evil for a car dealer. They have to charge an arm and a leg just to cover there costs.

When's the last time you heard a new car dealer tv ad about there oil changes?

And high profit margin changing oil? Oil changes all day rather than sell cars? Yeah they make millions at a $20 profit at a time.Your clueless. They probably lose money on every oil change between checking it in and the tech salary-workmans comp-insurance and possible damage to the car. Its nothing but an aggravation to a car dealer and the only upside is you or your wife may wander into the showroom and fall in love with a new car.

I have worked at a car dealer before. Its all about moving cars. Nothing else matters.

 

Perhaps if they didn't have to change oil every 5,000 miles the service side wouldn't be such a pain in the a***.

Selling cars is the raison d'etre of a main dealer but saying nothing else matters is perhaps a little short sighted. Maybe it's a culture thing, but over here the service side is just as important and my dealer strives to ensure they do a good job and one that leaves me happy. In fact, Toyota UK mail every service customer to see if they're satisfied. If they're not, then the dealer can lose significant discounts.

So it appears the service side over here might also be a pita but it's an important pita that needs to be go right.

 

Agree, oil changes are money loss for dealers (at least in USA). It's marketing. My local dealer used to have ladies day on Thursdays. If a lady showed up for oil change, she would get free lunch and free manicure. I send my wife with a $23 oil change coupon a few times. Even she said it was a good deal. Mind you that car took 6qts of oil each change. I could not get it cheaper even if I did it myself.