I have two questions about car maintenance.

My first question starts off when I bought the car and in the manual it states that I should get a free (complimentary) oil change at the Scion dealer at 5,000 miles AND at 10,000 miles. Six months later, I recieve mail from my dealer that also confirms this. Here are the pictures to prove it:

Mail from scion dealer:


The page of the Scion manual:


Before 5,000 miles on my xD, I went to the dealer and they did the tune up for free but when I left the dealer, the repair guy was skeptical about the free oil change at 10,000 miles. He told me to bring in the manual so his secretary can confirm it. I'm not sure if he is trying to scam me.

My next oil change is at 7,780 miles and the odometer is currently around 7,000 miles. When I go to the dealer next time, I will definately bring these two documents to show him, but I want to know if I can bring in the car now and get the free tune up or do I have to bring the car in at exactly 10,000 miles?
What if he charges me for the tune up when I roll in at 10,000 miles, how can i fight it?

My second question is that a friend told me that I should change the engine oil every 2,000 miles instead of 3,000 miles, he said that's the secret to his 1988 Cressida still on the road today, is this true?

 

Well having it listed in the manual doesn't mean you get automatically, its more of a checklist to make sure the right things are done if you do it yourself (guessing).

However, that first image you have is proof that your specific dealer offers the 10k service free of charge. When you reach 10k, take that in and show it to the service counter if they don't believe you.

As far as changing the oil more often, I was told by a shop that 2500mi was a good enough number to change the oil. Not sure since I don't even know how to change the oil myself

 

u dont get a tune up, u just get a oil change and filter and tire rotation, maybe you thru him off if u said tune up.

oil is a lot better then that from the past where that would be true. most oils don't need changes til 5k but running optimal you would wanna do 3k unless u use a cheap oil brand.

 

run synthetic, you only have to change it every 5000 miles, you CAN go to 7500 miles on a GOOD synthetic like Mobil1 but it isn't recommended...

 

i don't believe you need to change your oil more than every 3k, or 5k if you run a good synthetic. i did 3k with my old accord and it ran great untill the day i traded it in. also some mechanics will lie to people to get more money out of them. i'ld recomend doing the oil change yourself and getting good oil, this way it costs close to what a mechanic charges for a change and you get top notch quality and a longer time between changes.

 

Good synthetics can go really far... even on a diesel engine that really loads up the oil with soot. On VW TDIs, the recommended oil change is 10,000 miles, but in Europe they have an optional oil monitor that allows up to 20,000 miles. Same with Mercedes. My Sprinter van tells me when to get the oil changed, and the minimum is 10,000 miles. It usually tells me to change the oil around 15,000 miles, depending on how I have been driving. Following those guidelines, it is not unusual to see Sprinter vans with 300,000 to 400,000 miles still running strong.

Of course, all cars are different. I doubt I'll ever change the oil in my xD any sooner than 7,500 miles.

 

There is about 4 scion/toyota dealerships in Jacksonville. They are competition to each other, so their service systems are not connected. I have received two free complementary oil changes, filter change, and tire rotation at one of them, and one free maintance at the other dealer. ( so I had three total free maintance services, I changed oil every 3k). The mechanic said that on the new cars where everything is now so high tech, you can change oil every 5k miles. If you change the oil at the Jeffy Lube they will ofcourse tell you to come back within 3k, so they can make more money). Also, at the remainder of service that they sent me it was written that you can get your second free maintance on up to 12k miles)

 

Man, I remember when Scion used to give out 3 free oil changes instead of 2. Times have changed.

The way I've been told is that the complementary oil changes are just the oil and filter and does not include tire rotation or anything else. But this isn't too bad since Discount Tire does free tire rotations for anyone. The complementary oil change should be a half synthetic half conventional, which is rated to last 5000 miles. I used up all of my 3 free changes and ill be switching to full synthetic when i get to 20,000 miles.

 

speaking of oil, what brand of snythetic oil is best?

 

Tire rotation is included and the oil used is mineral oil for my complimentary service.

 

Mobil 1 or Eneos are my top picks

 

They do they whole service free here, not just oil and filter. They rotate the tires and all that.

 

I will lirerally have three oil changes a yearbeing laid off. I barely drive anywhere now

 

I will literally have three oil changes a year between 2 cars being laid off. I barely drive anywhere now. nice in a way but the place I take my xB doesn't have cartridge filters for the xD. So toyota gets to scam me for that one.

 

Dealerships FTL, I do my own oil changes & I sleep better at night knowing exactly what was done and added to it.

 

Does anyone know the recommended time-span between oil changes, as opposed to the mileage? I'm drive very little, so far in my XD less than 150mi/month, and at that rate, if I go by the 5,000mi recommendation, I'll be in for an oil change toward the end of 2011 - that seems kind of a long time to go without a change?

 

In new car stick with changing oil every 3000 miles or 6 months, which ever comes first, The oil does not break down for a lot longer than this but stuff floating around in the oil can cause damage (metal shavings from new motors) After the first few oil changes you can likely go longer. Its true good oils will last like 100,000 miles if not over heated or contaminated....but face it $30.00 every 3000 mile is cheap insurance and it gives you or someone a chance to take a look under the hood and under the car making sure your stuff aint hangin.

 

I went to the dealer yesterday and showed the paper to him. He said the xD is covered for the first three oil changes at any time regardless of 5,000 miles or 10,000 miles. Since I had an oil change at 1,000 miles somewhere else because fear of metal shavings, I have gotten the oil change from Scion at 3,500 and yesterday at 7,500 miles.

Therefore, I should visit them again around 10,500 and it will be the last free oil change. However, if people go by the book at get their first oil change at 5,000 miles, the last free service is still around 10,000 miles (5,000 > 8,000 > 11,000).

I also looked at my receipt and they changed a gasket of some sort. I'm not sure if this is standard procedure for oil changes or am I driving too hard.

 

Your FIRST oil change does NOT need to occur before 5000.

Lots of folks aren't going to believe that, but thats what the wise engineers who build these fine cars advise.

It doesn't hurt to change more often, but most of the benefit is in the way you feel, not the way your car is protected.

I am getting my first change tomorrow at 5100. Also getting alignment (on my dime) to compensate for the suspension drops.

I'm always suspicious about tire rotation (do they really do it?) I left my alloys collect a little brake dust so I can see if the fronts really make it to the back.

 

That's what chalk is for, man.