Toyota put 0W20 in my 4Runner instead of 5W30

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Did you speak with anyone at the dealership besides the service advisor? I really can't imagine that what he stated as their policy is actually their policy. They should have synthetic 5w-30 in individual quarts, as opposed to the bulk oil the 0w-20 comes in. Now it's possible that the parts department just billed out the wrong oil on the repair order, and the tech actually did the right thing, but considering someone in parts would have to hand the tech the proper quarts, it's unlikely they would have missed billing it too. I have to think that if you discuss this with the Service Manager, they will gladly fix this for you. They should also admit that this is not store policy, it's just a [censored] story from a lazy service advisor. If you've already spoken to the Service Manager and they are in agreement with the advisor, then this is probably a place you should never go again. One other avenue is to take it up with the dealership's Customer Relations Manager, who should be able to get this resolved to your satisfaction without much pain.

Needless to say, I'm of the opinion that you should get the proper oil in there. Also FWIW, I've been a Toyota service advisor for two dealerships.
 
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
No one on this site is giving you a warranty for their advice.


Quote of the day.

Love it!

Vote here is go back and make them put the correct grade in. Trouble is with their record how can you trust them? Got it, have them give you the correct oil in quarts and you'll take care of it.


101K miles. No warranty present i presume.
 
I'm currently sitting in the service waiting room. I called and spoke to a service manager and first asked what the proper oil is for my vehicle. He said 5W30. I then asked why 0W20 was put in my car yesterday. He responded by saying that this oil is fine, and since I requested full synthetic, that's what they used. I asked why they would use that rather than the Toyota recommended oil but he didn't have much of answer. I pressed a bit more and then asked straight out if I could have it changed. He said absolutely and told me to bring it in immediately. They were extremely understanding about the problem and very apologetic. A new advisor wrote me up and walked back to hand my paper directly to the Master Tech in the garage to make sure it go done correctly.

Appreciate all the feedback guys. I was planning on letting it go, so thanks for helping me change my mind and making them change it.

Also just to note - I didn't notice any changes to the way the vehicle drove or any noises, but I did notice the engine warmed up extremely quickly, it was at full temp within 2 minutes, which was odd.
 
Originally Posted By: 4thT4r

Appreciate all the feedback guys. I was planning on letting it go, so thanks for helping me change my mind and making them change it.


Glad to hear it worked out. And Welcome!
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I'd bring it back and have them put the 5W30 it calls for in. With 100K+ miles on it and the Florida summer heat you might burn some of that 0W20 oil they put in.

With regard to their reason for using 0W20, they should have told you before the oil was changed not after. Not having 5W30 synthetic in stock, or being able to make a call and get it, give me a break.

Will it hurt your engine? No, but that doesn't mean what they did was right either.


This. Take it back and have them put the in the correct oil. You paid for synthetic, so if they only have 5w30 conventional then you are due a refund.
 
Where I come from Toyota genuine synthetic is something we wish the dealers were using. It's a great oil and a lot of dealers put something cheaper in there and pass it off as just as good. I understand your truck takes 5w30, but I doubt it would have caused any harm. Toyota has made their oil change intervals 10,000 miles using that oil.
 
I don't trust Toyota dealerships at all with basic [censored] like oil changes.

Besides the fact that their service is extremely expensive, they even screwed up my complimentary oil changes on my last Tacoma.

Having the 4cyl, they recommended 5k mi oil changes even on synthetic, but they insisted it was 10k. When I quoted my manual and pulled a spreadsheet showing that the 2TR-FE required 5k mi changes even with synthetic they finally came around. And I had to remind them the next couple of times.

Add to that they added the wrong amounts in 2 of the 3 free changes I got, I just gave up my last two and paid up to do it myself.

My dad had similar problems with his 25k complimentary services too. So dumb.
 
"Toyota Genuine Motor Oil" is ANY ILSAC GF-5 starburst oil of the proper grade per Toyota TSB on the subject. I does not mean toyota labeled (XOM OEM) product service part per se.
 
Originally Posted By: 4thT4r
I brought my 4Runner to my local Toyota dealership yesterday and asked for a full synthetic oil change.

0W-20 is the only grade TGMO is available as synthetic. So, you indeed asked for 0W-20.

This said, 0W-20 is fully recommended for your engine by Toyota, along with 5W-20 and 5W-30. So, you can keep using it in the future. For heavy loads or towing or to control excessive oil consumption, 5W-30 is better, but 0W-20 and 5W-20 is perfectly fine otherwise. (Note: Ignore 5W-20 but not 0W-20 recommendation in the chart. 0W-20 is a better substitute for 5W-20, as it says on the TGMO bottle. It will protect as much as or better than 5W-20.)

Toyota oil-recommednation chart:

http://www.positivespin.us/Toyota Oil Chart.JPG (full size)

Toyota%20Oil%20Chart.JPG
 
Originally Posted By: Gokhan
Originally Posted By: 4thT4r
I brought my 4Runner to my local Toyota dealership yesterday and asked for a full synthetic oil change.

0W-20 is the only grade TGMO is available as synthetic. So, you indeed asked for 0W-20.


He asked for synthetic, didn't specify Toyota as an oil brand.

Here in Oz, you can get TGMO synthetic in (steel can) 0W20, and 5W30. Non synth 15W40 and 20W50.
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: Gokhan
Originally Posted By: 4thT4r
I brought my 4Runner to my local Toyota dealership yesterday and asked for a full synthetic oil change.

0W-20 is the only grade TGMO is available as synthetic. So, you indeed asked for 0W-20.

He asked for synthetic, didn't specify Toyota as an oil brand.

Here in Oz, you can get TGMO synthetic in (steel can) 0W20, and 5W30. Non synth 15W40 and 20W50.

He was at the Toyota dealer, brought a Toyota, and in US 0W-20 is the only synthetic Toyota oil available. 15W-40 and 20W-50 aren't even available.

http://www.toyota.com/owners/parts-service/parts-details?partNo=SVPT1095

In any case, 0W-20 is also recommended for his engine.
 
I've used Mobil 1 5W20 in an 08 4runner w/ 4.0. In fact I think it was kept in for 10K miles. No ill effects, no bearing noise at startup etc. These are very stout engines. Let it go the full change interval, and if you feel better with 5W30, go with that next time.
 
Originally Posted By: Gokhan
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: Gokhan
Originally Posted By: 4thT4r
I brought my 4Runner to my local Toyota dealership yesterday and asked for a full synthetic oil change.

0W-20 is the only grade TGMO is available as synthetic. So, you indeed asked for 0W-20.

He asked for synthetic, didn't specify Toyota as an oil brand.

Here in Oz, you can get TGMO synthetic in (steel can) 0W20, and 5W30. Non synth 15W40 and 20W50.

He was at the Toyota dealer, brought a Toyota, and in US 0W-20 is the only synthetic Toyota oil available. 15W-40 and 20W-50 aren't even available.

http://www.toyota.com/owners/parts-service/parts-details?partNo=SVPT1095

In any case, 0W-20 is also recommended for his engine.

It's true that many Toyota dealers only stock 2 types of motor oil - bulk 5w-30 conventional and bulk 0w-20 synthetic. With that said, if a car took 5w-30 and the customer requested synthetic, the request should have been handled differently than what the OP experienced.
 
Originally Posted By: Soggydog
When I bought my F250 Powerstroke the dealer offered the first oil change for free. 13 quarts of oil and a $20 filter, Why not?
I got a reminder why not when the service advisor nearly wrecked my new truck in the parking lot and another reminder when they presented me with the no-charge invoice stating they filled it with 5w20. The reminder sticker on the windshield claimed they used 15w40 so I checked with the advisor who assured me they used....5w40?? I ran whatever they used for 5k miles and changed it myself since.

You'd think dealers would know better. Those 6.7 'strokes are specced for Motorcraft CJ-4 rated 10w-30 oil. It says right on the oil fill cap! Apparently, some people can't read. You'd expect more than a Iffy Lube level service from a dealer with "qualified" technicians!

OP, if it was me I'd change it out at your earliest convenience. I ran one change of Mobil 1 5w-20 in my Tacoma once (remaining stash of oil from another vehicle I sold) and it ran okay in there but the truck burned about a quart of it by 3000 miles. I added some and than ran it for another 1500 miles and changed it back to 5w-30 and haven't had that problem since. If I was you, I'd run a 10w-30 synthetic in the 4Runner, more shear stable and same operating viscosity of 5w-30. Cold temperature startups aren't really a concern in Florida so 10w-30 would be great year round.
 
I think it will be fine, M1 0W-20 is on the thicker side of a syn 20W and isn't far below some thinner 5W-30's...

If you're relly worried as it heats up, you could thicken it up with some sort of Liqui Moly product like Oil Saver...
 
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