A Warranty Question

Does one really face 'out of compliance', warranty breaking consequences by not doing the 6 mos. service - if still under 5k? Seems to me that a rig just sitting around should not have any wear n tear happening.

 

The warranty booklet says the following:

Toyota recommends obtaining scheduled maintenance for your vehicle every 5,000 miles or six months, whichever comes first.

And:

However, damage or failures caused by lack of proper maintenance are not covered under warranty.

So if you have an engine failure and didn't follow their service recommendations, you're not going to be in a good position.

 

I used to arbitrate this sort of case. Under the NY lemon law and also private agreements with the BBB (who I arbitrated for), disputes involving failure to perform under warranty were very frequent. I would buy back a vehicle (well force the manufacturer to) if the customer was "reasonable" in following mantenance. Toyota "recommends" 6 months/5,000 miles.

I had a case where a guy claimed his Buick (I think) was a lemon because the engine died at 15,000 miles. We asked for proof of mantenance. He had none. The next step was to have an independent shop open up the engine and see what caused the damage. In this case, it was clear the oil was never changed, or topped off.

If you use the suggested 0W 20 synthetic oil, there is very little chance that you will damage the engine at 12,000 mile oil changes. However, since the suggestion is 5,000, that is the smartest thing to do. In my experience, car manufacturers are usually pretty reasonable about maintenance that is close to what they suggest.

 

I like the 5K rule, that makes more sense than the 3K rule....