Just sitting here at Rodland waiting for my oil to be changed. They have wi-fi while you wait!! Sweet! Just had to post something since I get all giddy with free wi-fi.

Oh, and only 30-45 minute wait today. Nice! Time will fly while I'm surfing...

TGIF!!!

 

Free wi-fi you say?

Wow, that's pretty neat. My check engine light just came on yesterday, I'll have to go to Rodland and take the laptop!

 

yep, they have instructions to connect to their access point posted on the magazine table at the waiting area.

 

Jenna check your gas cap to make sure it's tight. A loose cap will almost always cause a check light.

 

woooooooooooot oh now Jenna be nice.

how many gazillion miles are on that thing now?

 

Yeah, uh, thanks Matt, lol. I've SO BTDT with the gas cap thing in the past.

It's time for the oil change, lol. Victor, I think I have like 31k.

 

Ok, since I started this, I have a question about dealer oil changes.

Maybe its just Rodland, but sometimes they put down that the next change is due in 3000 miles, and other times they put 5000 miles. What the heck?? Does it just depend on their mood of the day?

 

I was a little confused by this when I was at Rodland for my first however many oil changes. This is what I learned or what my experience has been.

The first three free from Scion are with the fancy oil (synthetic or not synthetic... I forgot which is better), therefore lasting longer and good for 5k.

The free oil change you're given from Rodland is for the cheaper oil that only lasts 3k.

No matter what king of oil change I've gotten, the sticker they put in my window will ALWAYS say I'm due back in in 3 months.

When I get the fancy oil, my check engine light will turn on at 5k (even though their sticker said I was due back in 3k). If I got the cheaper oil, the sticker is then correct AND my check engine light is set for 3k (I think.. not 100% sure on that last bit).

 

Sigh . . . feeding the oil monster . . . my next filter change is in 2009 and my next oil change is at 153,600 miles or 15 years give or take a year or two.
Check out Synlube.com

 

Hmmm, interesting info Jenna, thanks. I also thought it might be the type of oil they put in (and it still might be), but of the 3 changes I've gotten from Rodland (all of them were my free Scion changes), 2 of them were "3k miles" and the one in the middle they put 5k. The inconsistency was the weird part to me, especially since they were all my free changes.

But whatever... I'm just gonna start getting into the habit of every 3K miles, no matter what.

 

Interesting...the first 3 oil changes are supposed to be at the non-synthetic standard oil level. You're lucky to get synthetic.

There are 3 basic levels of oil: non-synthetic, semi-synthetic, and full synthetic.

I used Gresham last week and bought the full synthetic and they still put up a sticker that says 3000 and it should be double or triple that. So I'll just estimate once the maintenance required light comes on and drive for about another 3-4K.

 

Busdriver... the only way I knew what I was getting and what I should do is by asking them, every single oil change. Two xBs, 6 free from Scion all were the fancy oil, the two free from Rodland the cheaper stuff.

I don't know why they'd of given me the good oil if they weren't required from Scion to do so. Perhaps I was just lucky, lol?

 

check engine light always comes on at about 5k intervals.... to remind every1 of the regular maintence intervals

 

As I recall it goes like this for oil change intervals:

Conventional oil (regular) - every 3k miles

Synthetic oil (50-50 blend) - every 5k miles

Full synthetic - 7500-10k miles
(just make sue you have a upgraded filter as well w/ this as well)

Hope this helps(and is correct)!

 

i used my 3 free every 3k then after that i do my own oil change full synthetic every 6k.

 

Thanks for all the input! It'll help in the future.

 

Unless you make it come on at different intervals, right? I could of swore that mine did for 3k once. I figured each little line when reseting the maintenance light was 1k so you can reset it to go off at whatever time you need it too.

I could be nuts and my light did go off in 5k, just wasn't keeping good track mentally.

 

yup - helps to have a little note book in the car to keep track of these things as well as gas mileage so you know when the oil is getting worn out when the mileage starts to drop.

 

dunno about changing the 5k increment to some thing different it may be possible... never checked tho

 

the book on the tC say change every 5k. Rodland is funny that they are not consistant at all. I got my first old change at 3k than they say i dont have to change until 10k. I upgrade to full synth. $20. I just had another oil at 10k, also full synth. I was prepared to pay out another $20 but this time it was free. Funny thing is the sticker says next change is 13,000. Conventional these day should be able to take you to 5k no problem. I'd follow the toyota book and do it every 5000k, you can do it least often with synth. Mobil 1 is a trusted brand, their conventional is rated at 5k, synth blend 7500 and full synth at 15k.