Ok, I knew that people change their oil at 600 miles to 1000 when they get a new car. I've never gotten a new car before, this is my first new car. I didn't change my oil at these miles because I figured the dealer would have told me to. My friend told me about it and now I wish i would have done it then. I hear that the engine is new and little metal pieces get into it cause of that and scratch the inside, is this true? Since, I didn't change it I'm sure everything will be ok, but please tell me the bad. You think it's going to affect my car a lot, a little, and how. Please make me feel better, ____.

 

Do it and get a peace of mind. There is nothing to lose in changing your oil early on other than 20 bucks for the filter and 4 quarts of regular oil.

I changeg my oil to synthetic @ 1000 miles and never looked back. Truthfully my car felt smoother revving and had a better idle. My uncles xA who has already reached 3k felt more rough compared to mine so that totally justified the cost :D

 

no worries

 

I just went over 1k in the last week and I will be getting my first free oil change @ Toyota/Scion this weekend before going to Phoenix for the meet at the Pavillions.

 

your dealer probably didnt tell u cuz it's in the owners manual. it'll affect your car a lil bit go back to any toyota dealership cuz u get 3 free oil changes. might as well use em. i got one left. yup yup

 

It won't DO ANYTHING. Don't sweat it. That's from back in the day when big engines had sloppy tolerences and big heavy rings to seat in the cylinder. Today's engines have much tighter tolerences and the rings don't have to grind until they fit. They are built to fit, that's why the synthetic oil works well in these. These engines are already broken in before they get put in the chassis. You are right, if there was such a potential danger, the dealer would not only have warned you, they'd have had you sign a half-dozen waivers and legalese stating that you would be responsible if the process was not followed exactly.

And the maintenance schedule calls for 7,500 mile intervals unless you primarily drive under the following conditions:

Driving on unpaved or dusty roads
Using a car-top carrier
Frequent short trips less than 5 miles in below freezing temps...

http://scion.com/pdf/2004_scion_SMG.pdf

Does that sound like the conditions of your primary driving? If not then don't worry about it. It kills me that some people will be up in arms ready to sue Toyota about losing a few MPG, but they'll dump a half gallon of half-used oil... not referring to anyone in particular...

 

I asked 3 different toyota service reps the same question. I was told the whole metal grinds in the engine only applies to older cars. With newer cars, it is no longer necessary to change your oil at 600 miles because of better engineering. This kinda made sense to me because I am an engineer. But I got my first one earlier just for my piece of mind.

 

Don't worry. There is no evidence that an oil change is needed earlier than the 1st scheduled change for a modern, small engine with tight tolerance such as the one in your xB. The early oil change is a common practice in performance engines of early race cars and early racebikes, and some race engines today. But in modern road cars, it's practically fruitless to change the oil early, unless you've thrashed your engine during break-in period (which I assume you didn't). Metal shavings in a new engine is an urban myth. Otherwise Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porche, and Ferari would require this done on their automobiles. My friend/client has an Aston Martin Vanquish, and laughed at the concept of changing the oil before the scheduled date. And he's a mechanical engineer for big motors.

 

I'm glad to know there are extremely knowledgeable people on these forums that care to help people like me out. I really appreciate the feedback from all of you, I don't know much about cars, but if anyone ever has questions about anything related to computers just email me or pm me so I can return the favor. Thanks everyone.

 

oh and just so peeps know i'm not a jackass i just figure if they reccomend an early oil change and it's free. why not ya know? nm l8rs all. oh and ALL new motors have some metal bits floating around. newer cars with high tech new motors have far less.

 

I just had my first oil change done on Saturday. My xA had 590 miles on it when I had it done. Did it need to be done? No. Like lots of people have said here, with today's motors, it's really not necessary. But it was free, as are my next two changes. So I figured...why not? It may not be necessary, but it sure as heck can't hurt. Plus, I got the peace of mind knowing that it's done. After my 3 free changes are used up, I'll probably do it myself with either a synthetic or a synthetic blend like Castrol Syntec Blend.

 

This "metal floating around the engine" myth is pure rubbish. Do you understand the function of an oil filter? or a pickup screen for that matter? The early oil change is wasteful and if you are that insecure maybe you just need a hug or something. If you follow the maintainance schedule in the owners manual, oil related problems will be the least of your worries. The use of synthetic oil is not neccessary or recommended by Toyota. Synthetic oil won't hurt the engine, but the oil seals were not designed for synthetic oil and seepage past the seals is very likely. This in itself won't hurt much but some find it objectionable. Some seals such as axle seals in trucks can leak and soak the brake shoes, ruining them. Food for thought.

 

Dude, you need to relax. This isn't about being "insecure". It's about the fact that I've read enough on both sides of the arguement to realize there could be something to it. I figured why take the chance? It's such a stupid thing to gamble with. Especially when it was free. *See, here's where I could point to your "insecure" remark and say something about you just being cheap....but I wont.

 

Cheap ain't me. I work for Toyota and all my oil changes are free as well as me getting paid to do the first three. I am sure you are quite well-read but I was just trying to get some reality into this discussion. You see I do this for a living, possibly for longer than you have been alive, and I have read my fair share of "expert" opinions. What I am trying to get you to do is to use your head and formulate YOUR OWN opinion based on FACTS. Lets assume there is a bunch of metal shavings in your engine (there isn't, but lets pretend) They will quickly find their way to the lowest point in the oil pan. The oil pickup is about .375" from the bottom of the pan and has a fine screen over the opening. Next, the oil moves to the oil pump and out to the oil filter before going to the engine lubrication passages. Metal has a tendancy to not float and just stay in the bottom of the pan, but if it did, the screen would stop bigger chunks and the filter would catch anything that could do any harm to the engine. Problem eliminated. In all my years working on Toyota engines, I have never experienced any of this ever happening. What I do know is that if you follow the maintainence instructions that come with your new car, you will have nothing to worry about in the oil department. Now I'm gonna go relax!

 

I understand the points you've made here. I agree that it's very unlikely that anything like that could happen. But I've also read that it's not just metal shavings that could be an issue in a new motor. I've heard that it could also be solvents, lubes, and other stuff that may have been on the new parts as the engine was assembled. There probably isn't anything to worry about, but now I know I don't have to care either way. By the way, I'm 38, so if you've been changing oil since 1966, you have my respect as an expert on this topic.

 

with you people changing your oil every 6K+ don't blame toyota when something goes wrong

 

Why not? Its Toyota thats telling us when to change the oil. If we follow THEIR maintenance procedures and something still goes wrong, wtf can they say?
"Oh don't believe the drivers manual, you should of changed your oil every 500 miles"

 

I changed mine at 500 miles, and have been changing it every 5k miles since then.

 

i wouldnt worry about it i run mobil 1 fully synthetic in both my cars and i change it every 5,000 miles