HELP!!! I have a probing question

From what I hear, it's OK to do it yourself and won't void the warranty, but be sure to keep records of when and what you did.

 

[font=Comic Sans MS:0ea4e8600d]Maintenance is concerned with minimums: Change oil at a minimum of every 5000 miles. If you wanted to change your oil every day, that wouldn't bother your warranty, as long as you do it and can document it at the 5000 mile marks.

It seems to me to be a waste, though. From other discussions on here, there is very little metal in initial oil changes. [/font:0ea4e8600d]

 

But the thing is, there isn't any metal floating around in your pan. First, the engines are precision manufactured, precision assembled, bench tested and bench broken-in with oil and filter installed at that time, oil drained, filter changed and then sent on to vehicle assembly. Second, any particulate that may be in the engine right now has been trapped by the filter and is there right now, not running through your engine.

This isn't the 1950s where engines were assembled from the finished castings, sent to bench, filled with oil, given a filter, run a couple of minutes to make sure they won't blow up, and then sent on directly to vehicle assembly. And we also have to consider, this is Toyota. They are not going to send vehicles out the door which could have that liability hidden in the engine. That doesn't help their image of reliability.

I had an oil and filter change at 2500 just because I felt I had gotten enough mileage out of the factory fill and wanted to move over to Mobil1. But I'm getting myself back on a 4000 or 5000 mile schedule from here on out.

You can change the oil yourself, just be sure to keep your receipts for the filter and oil you purchase as proof of having the materials to do the job. In your case right now, change both filter and oil. I have never changed my oil without the filter or vice versa. They two go hand in hand.