Going to be doing a long road trip on a 2016 TEP. Currently at about 6k and was wondering whether it was better to change oil before the trip or after (likely it'll be over the 10k mark by then). Any thoughts or recommendations? Dealer was like..your call ?!!

It used to be every 3000-5000 miles... regular oil.

Now its my dedicated off-road toy... These days I change every 1000-2000 miles because I don't rack up a lot of miles and those miles are generally harder desert driving in sand and often times in really hot weather. I figure it doesn't hurt to keep the oil fresh on a motor with 200k on it.

What worries me more is the transmission fluid... I have no cooler and driving in sand might as well be like towing as it feels like you always have a load on it.

I do it myself, save money, enjoy the process. No biggie.

I have a '16 TE and have taken her on a few trips. I just find a Toyota dealer in whatever area I'm in to have them change the oil. The oil change should be part of your free maintenance so it shouldn't be an issue.

I've been doing Blackstone UOA on my oil since the first change at about 1,100 miles. I wouldn't go over 10,000 on a new 4Runner (I still haven't -- yet -- but will be trying it on the current oil to see what the next UOA tells me).

That would be interesting reading. So the garage says better to change early rather than later so likely get it done before I head out. Thought about getting it done on my travels but after all the issues reported here with the skid plates I'd rather not have issues on the road!

I've always had good treatment from Toyota dealers when it comes to oil changes. The bigger issue is whether the tech remembers to properly change the oil filter or not.

And it certainly won't hurt to change it early. Plus, when it comes to traveling (more so with family), better to be safe than sorry.

In-between 3-5k miles, so around 4,000 miles using Toyota oil filters and Mobil 1 or the conventional oil they sell at the Toyota dealer($3.75/qt) has been the trick for me. Rolling up to 250k soon and still runs like factory.

All the vehicles I've ever had where done at 3k regardless. From high power v8's to my toyota. I've got a 1997 3.4L sr5 that just turned 275k. I use valvoline 10w/40 and change it every 3k with a factory filter. Just picked up a 2017 limited two weeks ago. Dealer says synthetic oil is required at 5k intervals, but I think I will still do every 3k on it. To me it cheap insurance. My trans and diff fluids are done anywhere from 12-20k depending on my mood. btw I'm digging this site.

Guess I get back to regular oil changes. Service writer said, 'Both you and your wife are on the free oil change she bought a while back" really! (wonder if she knows). I even asked him to use the taller truck filter, and they did.
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2007 SE V6 titanium. still hate the dealership

Every 9 month because factory every 12 seem extreme and my original every 6 seem old fashioned, so I split the difference and called settled

Sorry if this is a repost but just ran across this breakdown of all the most popular oil filters and was surprised at the extremely low quality of some big brand names such as Mobil 1 (same as K&N filter).

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...tition.123608/

I change mine every 3K along with the filter. I run Valvoline dura-blend which is a semi-synthetic, and even at the 3K mark it it notably dirty. But maybe "dirty" to me is someone else's "not too bad".
Either way, it can never hurt. A clean engine is a happy engine.
Plus, I was in wally-world the other day and saw them selling name-brand oil in 5qt jugs for about $15-20. This makes it really cheap to continue changing my oil every 3K.

I just hit the 8K mile mark and bought my TE brand new 3 months ago Sunday. Even though I do a lot of driving, it isn't anything extreme. I feel that I should stay with Toyota's recommend service intervals. And with Toyota Care, I don't see it being economically smart to pay any extra for an oil change before the 24K mark (which I'll hit way before my first anniversary).

I am at 8k on my new 4runner and was also wondering about the long 10k interval change. It seems like everyone is okay with it so I will wait 2k more and have the stealership change it. Will probably use white out on the skid plate bolts just in case....

Service intervals for the '17 are at 5k, oil change is at 10k though. You should have received a warranty and maintenance guide with all the owners manuals, in the back it has the service intervals laid out for you for regular duty and extreme duty. It's obviously your choice and I'm not trying to convince you of anything, just letting you know.

"dirty" oil is often perfectly fine to continue using, one of the jobs of oil is to keep those particles away from the metal parts of your engine, so if they are suspended in the oil it is still doing its job.
Best way to figure out your oil change intervals is to send out oil for analysis to a lab like Blackstone, cost is 20 or 30 dollars IIRC.

However, you are absolutely correct in that it won't hurt a thing to change oil more often, if you're ok with the cost and time it takes then

I went with the factory recommended 10k on our last 4runner and will probably continue to do so on our new one too, I think this time I'll send out some samples for analysis though.

Is there any recommendation on waiting to switch to full synthetic from brand new? Ive heard to use conventional style non synthetic, as it help valve seals seat better and things of this nature. I have a new T4R with 280 miles, and was wondering if I should go to a full synthetic with my first oil change?