new '06 matrix service

[pylaut]

just picked my new 2006 matrix on the weekend. great so far, but i'm still in the paranoid "i-love-that-new-car-smell"/"i-haven't-removed-the-white-cardboard-floor-mat-yet" stage.

questions:

1-) the service schedule calls for oil changes every 8K km. i change oil at 5K-6K km, but does anyone recommend having the oil changed earlier the first time?

2-) the service schedule doesn't call for an auto tranny fluid change until 96K km, sounds way too long to me. anyone recommend having that done earlier? every new car i've heard of usually calls for it at 10K-30K km.

3-) can anyone recommend any break-in tips to keep my 'trix happy, besides what's in the manual?

thanks,
brian.

[Auto]

i hear two different stories from my friends and the dealer.
sorry i don't know conversion from km to mi. I live here in the states.

my friend who knows a good deal about cars is to change the oil at about 1000mi. to get out any metal from the engine because its pretty much never been ran, other than from off the production line, onto the moviing truck, and to the car lot. after that, you should be able to do every 5000mi if you're good to your car. 3000 if you drive like a madman especially with engine upgrades.

the dealers now a days would say, don't change the oil until about 5000mi. because now newer cars can withstand going on longer than the older cars say back in the '80s.

personally i'm on my 2500mi. mark, i don't see any problems yet so far with my car, i'm thinking of hitting the 5000mi.

but unless someone else with more experience and who changes their own oil has something different to say, i'd like to hear it, because i don't change my own oil.

[JALOOS]

I was told for the first change do it at the recomended 8k but I didn't listen LOL. I have started doing a change every 4k. I will do one then they do the one at the 8k mark. This way I get the oil changed every 4k and still have toyota do theirs at the recomended time and keep maint schedule up to date.

[titaniumXR]

i did my oil change when my car hit 3000mi, and then since my father owns a shop, i went with the amsoil 25,000 mile oil change, but i will change it about ever 15000 to 18000 i recommend the amsoil, but that is my personal opinion. the matrix wont warn you of an oil change until you hit 4500 so i dont know but this is what i did.

[Matrix1]

I do my own oil, and did my first change at 1500 miles, then switched to Mobil 1.
I Change it every 5000 miles......I know I could go longer but I dont care.
It starts to show signs of getting dirty at that mileage anyways.

Also just changed over to my winter tires at 9500 miles and noticed cupping on the inside right front.
Called the dealer and they said I should have been rotating at 5000 miles and thats why my tire is cupped. didint make sense to me that only one would be cupped though.
They wanted to charge me $100 for an alignment....NO THANKS.

So when I put on my snows I had an alignment and they told me it was WAY OFF.
Front tires were aiming to the right with the steering wheel straight and the rears were toed out BigTime.Local tire shop did the alignment and its a completely different car now.

Get em checked if you havent had one done yet.....they dont come from toyota in that good of alignment....


John R

[Frank@toronto]

questions:

1-) the service schedule calls for oil changes every 8K km...?

2-) the service schedule doesn't call for an auto tranny fluid change until 96K km,...
3-) can anyone recommend any break-in tips to keep my 'trix happy, ...
thanks,
brian.

1. I just change mine every 5k km.
2. Do you remember a time when you never had to change it. 96k comes fast enough (like 4 years). Hence no hurry.
3. Just take it easy on the engine, do not remain at any constant speed for too long, etc...

[trdbryan]

i just follow the recomended intervals, the engineers that build these cars know what the car can do safely on fluid, 8000km or 6 months oil change but i switched to synthetic (mobil 1 or castrol gtx usually) Do the oil changes myself costs about the same or a bit less to do synthetic myself then regular oil at the dealership.

[echo7]

I am plannig to have the oil chnaged every 5 months or 5,000Km, i drive mostly city and therefore I need it sooner. I also bought a magnetic plug to clean the oil of metal particles and maybe another magnet on the oil filter.

now for the people who does their own oilchange.. how do you reset the computer so they start counting to zero for the maintenance warning light..

[Memphis_Matrix]

Originally Posted by echo7

I am plannig to have the oil chnaged every 5 months or 5,000Km, i drive mostly city and therefore I need it sooner. I also bought a magnetic plug to clean the oil of metal particles and maybe another magnet on the oil filter.

now for the people who does their own oilchange.. how do you reset the computer so they start counting to zero for the maintenance warning light..

from toyo-tech:
disconnect negative battery terminal or........

or you can to it the RIGHT way. with the car key on ACC, set your odometer on mileage(not trip a or b) then turn key off. then hold the button that switchs from odo and trip, then turn the key back to acc. while you are holding it down you will notice the maintenance light blink and go out. and then you are done. now that wasn't hard now was it.