First Oil Change

Joined
Oct 13, 2019
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69
Location
NYC
My son just bought a 2020 Toyota and I have heard that you should do the first oil change at 1,000 miles. Any truth to that?
 
I would and do.
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I've always done it on every new truck I have owned. I actually do my first few oil changes a bit on the early side. What model Toyota is it by the way?
 
You will get all kinds of thoughts on this. Some that don't change oil until the OLM tells them to and they have over 200k on the vehicle no issues.

As for me. I don't have a hobby other than oil life and so I change out all my new vehicles at 500 miles then again at 1,500 and then at 3k and go from there with my normal changes. Is it a waste, probably but it makes me sleep better at night.
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It does not matter. If it makes you feel better then bravo. If you just want to follow the recommended service interval then bravo. In the end it will not make a difference either way.
 
Originally Posted by Malo83
I would and do.
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Me too. How many times did changing the FF on a new car questions come up this week?
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I've never changed the oil early on any vehicle that I've ever owned. I've never had any engine problems either. It's all up to you. Whatever makes you happy.
 
I bought a new Toyota few years ago and it said first oil change at 10K miles running 0W20

Where does the owner's manual specify 1K miles?

I divided their 10K by two.
If Toyota had said 5K, I would have most likely done it at 3K
Just nothing more than feel good adjustments on my part
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Well, I too changed my oil out at 1,000 miles on my first change. And as soon as I did that someone told me...oh, you should have left it in there until 3,000 miles. You want the stuff they put in the oil at the factory to embed into the cam lobes. They put a ton of moly in there on the factory fill. Part of me believed that, part of me didn't.

Honestly I think most people actually just go the full recommended oil change interval nowadays, with no issue. Others dump it between 500-1,000. I'd just do whatever you want to do and feel comfortable with.

The other big debate is engine break in driving tendencies at first. No extended idling. No high speed prolonged periods on a highway. No towing/hauling/driving up mountain roads, etc. No redline, pushing the vehicle hard. Then there are the people who tell you the total opposite. Redline that thing a few times to bed the rings to the walls, otherwise you'll get oil consumption. Do a lot of stop starts. Get it on the highway and push it.

With me, I changed it early and I pretty much babied it. I ended up getting oil consumption until I reached 40,000 miles, then it magically went almost completely away. Not sure if it was because of the oil I started using - I swear it was - as I began using Rotella Gas Truck synthetic. But whatever it was, I did use oil all the way up until 40,000 miles, then it stopped. Maybe the engine finally broke in?
 
Originally Posted by rrretiree7
My son just bought a 2020 Toyota and I have heard that you should do the first oil change at 1,000 miles. Any truth to that?

Whoever told you this is wrong. That's some strong oil that's currently in that factory-fill.
Also, this isn't the 50s-60s-70s-80s....etc. Engines now are digitally designed - as are parts for it. They are much more precise fitting than in the past. No longer do we see size variances that create significant metals running loose inside the new engine. Because cameras are everywhere, we no longer see smokers throwing cigarette butts in the open factory engine, or taking a pee on the assembly line.

I am like you and concerned. I have purchased many new rides. I change my first factory oils at 3K and sleep well. If I ever buy a Toyota, which has even better engines than most-all in it's price range, I'd run that factory oil for 5k.
 
Just throwing another option out there, kind of a compromise for both views. You could change the filter and top off with Toyota oil about half way through the OCI you intend to follow. This would in theory remove the contaminants in the filter and "refresh" the oil somewhat.

Personally, I change the FF early but we rarely buy new cars so this issue doesn't come up often at my house.
 
I always have changed it at 1000
Odds are it does not matter.
Filter should catch any foreign objects.
No idea if any special oil is used at first fill.
I wish I knew if it was for future new cars
 
Zero truth to it/zero correlation anyone will be able to show that this makes your car last longer - but if that makes you sleep better, it's your car. If this was so critical, the manufacturer would tell you to do it. There is no special "break in" oil in your engine. "but the metal floating around the engine" - yes, that's what the oil filter is for, this isn't 1970, it's 2020 w/r to car engine manufacturing. For every person that does the early change(s), there are 1000x more that don't and for every person that has a 200K+ mile vehicle that says they did this there are 1000x that didn't. It's just really not necessary.
 
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Has anyone ever taken a sample of oil from a brand new engine and had it analyzed to see if it is indeed a 'special' oil, or just the same as the stuff going in at the first scheduled oil change? I think this is pertinent to the op question.
 
I'd be more worried about living in NYC than I would about when to do the first oil change. Chances are the vehicle will be stolen.
 
If, which is highly unlikely, I were to ever purchase a new car, it would be a Toyota. I would change at 2K and then at 5K and then do my regular scheduled OCI. Most of my cars get changed at 3K, one at 5K.

AND, I would only use Toyota oil for the first 2 changes at 2K and 5K. And change the filter both times as well.
 
1,000 miles, 500 miles, 2,500 miles, etc. The know it alls have opinions (and are not afraid to share them), and they vary, rather widely.

I would venture that the vast majority of drivers (not most BITOG posters) take their car in every 6 months or so which is about when the average driver should be changing the oil and rotating the tires.
 
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