First dealer oil change....should I be worried?

I inflated the tires to 40 PSI right after the oil change so it wasn't that. I doubt they touched the brakes on a 10K service. The average MPGs have returned to previous levels so I think it was synthetic the oil breaking in.

 

Dealers are supposed to use 0-20 Syn in your oil change, check with the Toyota zone office if they say anything else, if need be you can ask the zone office to enlighten the dealership, after all Toyota is really paying for the "free" oil change.

 

I had the oil changed today at Jiffy Lube with 0w-20 synthetic. The color on the dip stick is a light amber color almost as clear as when it was new. After the dealer oil change it was muddy and dark.

So now I know for sure that the dealer used a non-synthetic oil and then lied about it to my face. They lost my future business except for warranty repairs. I'll see if the average MPG goes up as it should. The drop in MPG was due to the non-synthetic oil.

 

Just do everything yourself and you won't have to worry about these problems. Even though I got the 1 year free oil change at the dealer, I still do everything myself because I don't trust them enough to put in the correct amount of oil.

Plus there's plenty of tutorial online to show you how to properly do an oil change. Just check my YouTube video on how to do it, pretty simple and easy.

 

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. Simply visually inspecting the dipstick and seeing the oil as "muddy and dark" tells you nothing. There is no way you could tell by visual color inspection that the oil used, by the dealer or not, is non-synthetic (conventional), full synthetic, or blended.

If you want to find out if it's conventional, synthetic, or blended, you should have a sample sent to a lab to have it tested.

How many times did you check the dipstick when you saw it "muddy and dark"?

 

Toyo's 0W20 is a ruddier color. No big deal. We went to a Toyota Owner's Night soon after purchase. They had pitchers of the stuff in the service department (they get it in bulk, for their own service): someone commented on the color and the service manager said that's just the way it is. Did an oil change today with the stuff: it was $5.65 Can, per liter.

 

100% synthetics should not be dark. The oil looked conventional. Before the first oil change it was like amber beer color on the dip stick. Afterwards it was more like molasses. And the MPGs did go down significantly after the first oil change. So all points to them using the wrong oil, or at least an inferior 0w20.

 

All does not point to them using the wrong oil. You are basing you conclusion on assumptions and not facts.

I really would like to know how you can determine that "100% synthetics should not be dark" and "oil looked conventional."?

You do know that MPG isn't solely impacted by the weight of the oil used. There are many factors that play into your MPG... tire pressure, air temp, gas formulation used at the gas station, route used, sitting in the car at idle running the A/C or heater, and the drivers use of the gas pedal.

 

The first oil change was in August, so cold weather wasn't a factor. The tires were at 40psi. Nothing changed but the oil and the average mpg went down by 3 to 4. I know what conventional oil looks like and that's what it looked like.

 

In general, average mpg does drop in the winter months. You do know that, right?
Sept Oct, Nov, i'm sure the weather started getting colder.
Why mileage gets worse in winter | PriusChat

 

As I said, it was in August. The MPG went down immediately while it was still warm.

 

over inflating or under inflating the recommended PSI for the tires may cause a little drop in MPG as well. Why do people always mess with what the manufactures recommend on their vehicles?

 

and I concur to your post.