[Dimitrij]

There must be at least half a dozen threads discussing this subject on this forum. I hope the moderators can merge them all into the grand pool of collective knowledge on the subject

I personally don't think replacing the oil early (= earlier than the manufacturer recommends) is necessary, and at the first oil change it could even be counterproductive. BTW, the metal shavings should be picked up by the oil filter, and I what are some of the contaminants that need to be removed at 500 miles?

The industry consensus seems to be that the manufacturer's guidelines are safe to follow:

• If Toyota thought an early oil change after the break in period was beneficial for all vehicles, they would have mentioned it at least tangentially.
• I drove leased (not Toyota) company vehicles in 2008-2014, clocking approx. 90K miles on each of them. Despite repetitive nagging by the dealership to do oil changes more frequently, the lessor (= the owner of the vehicle!) only approved the regular intervals.
• When I bought extended warranty for Sparkollz, Toyota didn't say "Now that we are responsible for your engine till 125K miles, we better watch out .... let us change the oil at 5K miles".

There are some school of thoughts that first oil has some extra ingredients so should leave for 5k miles... not sure if Toyota does this or a Honda thing??

I don't know about Toyota specifically, but when I worked with another manufacturer, I learned that the engines before going to the vehicle assembly line are treated with a high concentrations of corrosion inhibitors. Besides, the factory-filled oil may blended with extra corrosion inhibitors as well (just my speculation, though). All in all, what you dump at the first oil change will likely contain more corrosion inhibitors - and possibly other useful additives - than the new oil you put in.

 

[Dimitrij]

Depends upon the industry. From personal experience, motorcycle manufacturers have been mandating 600-1000 mile break in oil changes (along with other procedures) at least since the 1960's.

Here's an experiment between break in methods of A) treating it gently and B) beating on it like a rented mule: Busting The Engine Break-In Myth

TLDR: "After breaking the engines in using drastically different methods, we performed compression and leak-down tests—which is a standard way of checking top-end health—then disassembled, measured, and inspected the internal parts. And the results, well, they might surprise you.

Drumroll, anyone?

The truth is, there was no significant difference between the two engines."

FWIW

My suggestion: unless you know you're going to keep it long term (at least 10 years), don't bother with the additional trouble and expense. But if if makes you feel better, do it! Also, if it's recorded, it may help with resale value with some buyers.

The industry that makes the Sienna, not the "industry" in the overarching poetical sense of the word.

Otherwise, if we start to look at other industries that manufacture or use ICE engines, it's a slippery slope .... some people may not stop at motorcycles with their 600-1000 mile oil change and may drift all the way to stationary generators with their 0 miles/oil change and 2-stroke engines with their infinitemiles/oil change .

A good point about extra resale value, although God and Musk only know what the resale value of a non-flying, non-self-driving, gasoline-burning vehicle is going to be in 2032. Perhaps a few million dollars, to the Smithsonian?

 

[Dimitrij]

Oil threads are always fun....

Indeed. I feel so sorry about the poor dEVils, who, in absence of the evergreen "oil change subject" had to invent their own, the now-famous "Shall I charge my ___ to 85% or 90% to prolong the battery life".

Two other fun discussions to jump into are the "AWD vs Winter Tires" and the "Donut vs. Full-size Spare Tire vs. Tire repair kit".

 

[Dimitrij]

All forum boards always have the oil change thread(s).

Seems like there is as many people saying early change resulted in longer running vehicles as there people saying on time oil changes resulted in longer running vehicles.

Just pick what is most comfortable for you; i.e. peace of mind. The dollars for quicker change not overly onerous but does add up... can diy in between to save.

Would need data points from good amount of oil analysis perhaps to change my mind.

Personally we just follow schedule.

Yeah, all forums - other than BEVs ones . Their favorite dead horse to flog is the "Should I stop charging the battery at 80% or 90%" SoC, because usable capacity is a construct".

What keeps boggling my mind is why no-one ever wants to talk about the pros and cons of changing any other disposables more frequently than the manufacturer recommends. No idea why.