Any thoughts on first oil change interval?

On the dipstick, or a collected jar?

the 2023 is a company car? How’d I miss this??

 

My company car at present is a 'well used' 2007 F150 4x4 long bed.
I horse traded my 2014 'hello kitty' van for something a little more practical for hauling equipment.

The 2023 is my POV.
The colour of the oil was examined in a small plastic container before I discarded it.
That's just me being me again.
The oil was thusly colored I presume because of direct fuel injection.

 

I Have one of those funnels they are great !!

 

While I've done my own oil changes in all our vehicles since the late 80's, I didn't know about the break-in oil changes on new vehicles until past few years. (I first heard about it from The Car Care Nut on YouTube.) So my 2021 Prius was the only one I changed early (1,500 miles) for the break-in....then every 5,000 miles. (She's had 7 oil changes and has 31,417 miles on her. I think I should've done the first oil change at 500 miles but that ship has sailed!
My 2005 Tacoma was new and, in those days, Toyota did oil changes every 5,000 miles but she, also, didn't get a break-in oil change....I traded her in for a used Tundra in 2015 and she had zero issues at almost 100,000 miles.
My wife's 2017 Prius was new when we got her and I followed the Toyota recommended 10,000 mile interval for her first 2 oil changes then went to every 5,000 miles or 6-months. She has 32,505 miles and has only had 7 oil changes. (The last 4 have been at the 6-month marks and she's only had less than 2,000 miles driven on her...my wife is retired so doesn't drive much anymore.)
So since both Toyota engines are about the same mileage but have had different oil change intervals, I'm going to send in oil samples for both...I suspect the 2017 will be showing a lot more wear over the 2021...basically the same engine.
This Motor Oil Geek guy tested the oil in his daughters new 2023 Toyota Corolla to see if there's signs of metals in the engine to show piston rings and cylinder walls breaking in...and proved that we DO need to do break in oil changes. (And an interesting explanation of why car builders no longer use "break in oil" with new cars like they used to.)

 

"Break-in" oil changes are like nursery water.
IYKYK

 

5k mile intervals on all my cars. I don't always follow the 6mo interval as I tend to lose track.

This is my first Prius, and the oil is pretty thin...

 

The actual viscosity at operating temp isn't much lower than the 0W20 most other cars use. It will flow better when cold. The oil will thicken with use, but the real reason to change it is to replenish the protective additives that get used.

 

I was idly wondering yesterday, would you drain more oil if you let a car sit overnight, due to more oil finding it's way back to the oil pan? Or it's a wash, since being cold it's going to cling more? Maybe overnight sit, then direct heated air at it for a bit before the drain? The typical DIY oil change, with just the front raised, may help too, with drain bolt towards back of the pan.

 

I've done both....did an oil change on a cold engine and then on an engine I had gotten up to operating temps. It seems like I got a little more out of the hot engine. Maybe it's because the oil is a bit dirty so doesn't flow as good when cold as new oil.

 

you can always add ¼ quart or so of new oil & then let that drain out .... works for yours truly

 

I say drain it hot if you want to get the most out.
I no longer worry. Any 'solids' still left in there that resuspend will get picked up by the filter.

 

Just a ramble, on my mind:

I'm getting a 92 Civic over Sunday evening, and Monday will get into replacing the oil pan. Figuring to start the oil draining hot, and just let it sit open, overnight. Also planning to disconnect exhaust at bottom of intake manifold (exhaust impedes oil pan removal), so overnight penetrant soak of the bolts at that connection will help. One thing I read in prep said the longer you let it sit the better, because when the oil pan's off it'll be pretty drippy under there.

The whole underside of this gem is an oily disaster. Oil pan likely culprit for some, but maybe not all. Plus it's drain bolt is near free-turning, impossible to torque. I'll wipe everything down, replace pan, continue to monitor.

Currently we're in a cold snap (-10C, just before noon). By Monday the daily high will be a more balmy +1C. In an unheated/attached garage: I've got a couple of infrared heat dishes, and one anemic forced-air heater. With all of that, plus maybe opening the door to the house if I'm desperate, hope it goes quick...

 

Here's some weirdness for you; I got a text message that it's time for my 6 mo. oil change, although I spent my own $$ on Dec 1st to have my under 1k mile Prius changed. I called my dealer and the 'service rep' at the end of the line repeatedly stated that I need to have an oil change every 6 months, because I'm only driving the car 7k per year, not 10k per Toyota's guidelines. I asked her, "why is that so, because I am driving less, that I have to have my oil changed more often (and at my dime after the two first changes every 6 months???) She kept repeating the same thing. Thoughts? Are they just trying to rob me blind? What's going on here? I tried to get a manager on the phone, but had to leave a message. I called back today and was put on hold for 10 mins with no one coming to the line. Not good for that dealers' Customer Relations so far!

 

Trying to rob you.
Toyota calls for a change at 10k miles or 1 year. You might want to change sooner with less miles if you are in a very humid environment, or drive nothing but very short trips in which the oil doesn't get hot enough to boil off any water in it.

 

Was that oil change done by that dealership?

 

Yes, that first oil change on Dec 1st was done by the dealership, and I paid.

 

I drive about 50 miles once or twice a week. I work from home, so I rarely take Argyros out during the week. Also, we do an occasional day trip here and there- that adds up to the 7k per year.

 

Ok, and assuming they have you in their database, somebody dropped the ball. Or it's all about boat payments...

FWIW, we're doing 4~5K kms yearly. Toyota Canada, for our third gen, says 6 months or 8K kms, whichever comes first. I've been religously changing the oil every April and October, trying not to look at the kms too closely. But I finally snapped last April: entered the oil change in my log, and saw (what with less driving in winter) it was barely 1000 kms since the previous October's change. Resolved to stick to just once a year, every April.

 

Sounds less abusive than what our old Sable saw that got similar annual miles, and you don't have harsh winters. I changed to oil on that once a year. Might even have been using non-synthetic.

An annual change is plenty for your use case.

 

I think it depends on the type of driving you do. With short low mileage trips, my concern would be about potential sludge from accumulated moisture. Driving it 50 miles once or twice a week will get the oil temperature hot enough to cook off any accumulated moisture. However, using my mother as an example, She has a 2015 Subaru with less than 50,000 miles total. She drives about 3-4,000 miles per year but it's all mostly very short trips to either the local bowling alley, golf course, or grocery store. With such short trips, her oil will barely get warm so I make sure her oil gets changed every six months.