Engine Break-in period, and first oil change

[ningster]

Hello all,
new Sienna owner here. Picked up a white 2012 XLE over the weekend and have been very happy with it so far...

I didn't ask the salesman about break-in period... I assumed it's the first 1000 miles or so. I'm taking it EZ on the throttle for now... Please shed some light on this if I'm doing it wrong...

The salesman told me the Sienna is running full synthetic engine oil and don't need its first oil change until 10k! I am a little skeptical about it and asked my mechanic friend today. He said he recommends the first oil change at 500 miles!

According to the manual, the sienna needs 0W20 which is a full synthetic oil at the store. (hard to find 0W20, I only saw two brands with that grade)

So i'm tempted to do an oil change at home at 500 miles just to get all the "engine grinds" out... What do you guys think? Am I wasting my time/money by doing this?

Thanks for reading/responding...

[skinny2]

Opinions are all over the board on these types of things. I suggest just do whatever makes you sleep better....since it appears to be something you've thought about. Most folks don't even think about these types of things and i'm not sure their vehicles don't last any longer than the anal types. I'm a middle-of-the-road type. Loaded up with synthetic I swapped out the first and second oil changes at 5k and 10k repectively. I'm now going on the 10k interval. Doing the second change at 10k was probably complete overkill but it just makes life easier for the maintenance to be on the correct 10k, 20k, 30k, etc. schedule.

My opinion on super early first changes (100-1,000 miles)? More harm than good. Engine needs to break in and this may just delay that over a longer period than necessary. The filter will catch anything big enough to cause real damage. I wouldn't recommend babying it either. Just drive it and use it as intended. I have several 200k+ mile engines under my belt and two of thsoe were on conventional oil and 5k intervals with no babying.

[akphs]

Yeah, I was brought up to believe in an early oil change, but the car magazines have pretty well all agreed that this is no longer necessary.

[Biggoldfish]

I just follow the recommened maintenance from Toyota. If the engine breaks or if anything fails, it's on them, not me.

[bowlth]

My logic is the same as biggoldfish - if Toyota says it's right, who am I to disagree??

[davemcd]

The manual does reference a couple of break-in suggestions:

"Breaking in your new Toyota
To extend the life of the vehicle, observing the following precautions is recommended:
●For the first 200 miles (300 km):
Avoid sudden stops.
●For the first 500 miles (800 km):
Do not tow a trailer.
●For the first 1000 miles (1600 km):
• Do not drive at extremely high speeds.
• Avoid sudden acceleration.
• Do not drive continuously in low gears.
• Do not drive at a constant speed for extended periods."

[ningster]

At the dealer where I got my Sienna, they schedule new owners a free 1k mile check up... i called them and ask the service rep if sometimes customers request an oil change at 1k, he said yes. it's $70 for an 0w20 oil change...

I'll probably just do the OC so I can sleep better at night ;-)

[skinny2]

Seems pretty steep for an oil change. I did the first one myself and bought the oil/filter from the dealer for $35. I was quoted $50 for them to do it which seemed reasonable, but I avoid Toyota dealers at all cost. I've had enough stuff screwed up by them to keep me away. Granted $20 isn't a big difference in the scheme of things....but you just have to wonder what else they will overcharge you on.

[ningster]

Originally Posted by skinny2

Seems pretty steep for an oil change. I did the first one myself and bought the oil/filter from the dealer for $35. I was quoted $50 for them to do it which seemed reasonable, but I avoid Toyota dealers at all cost. I've had enough stuff screwed up by them to keep me away. Granted $20 isn't a big difference in the scheme of things....but you just have to wonder what else they will overcharge you on.

I ended up buying the oil/filter at an autoparts store. Total cost was about $36.
The dealer wanted $7.50 for a qt of 0w20.
(northern California)
Looking forward to doing the sienna's first OC!

[nth89]

Any particular brand of oil?

[ningster]

Originally Posted by nth89

Any particular brand of oil?

The only two 0w20 choices at the store were valvoline and o'reilleys, the latter being the store brand but got pretty good quality ratings online. I went with the $5 o'reilleys instead of the $8 valvoline...

[nth89]

I'm sure Toyota Syn is more than $5/qt. I will stop by Wally World tomorrow to check out availability.

[imtan8]

Good thing Toyota covers the first 2 years of maintenance.

[skinny2]

Originally Posted by imtan8

Good thing Toyota covers the first 2 years of maintenance.

Yeah that extra $200 would sure tap me out

Sales gimmick with the upside of getting people into the dealers that normally never would. The upside for me though is now that it's on their dime they switch to synthetic and have to adjust the maintenance interval accordingly. Before, you ran the risk of being shown the door on a warranty claim by using synthetic as intended (extended drains).

[Zembonez]

Modern engine designs (and build quality) with their extremely tight machining tolerances have all but eliminated the "break in" of a new engine. There is no need for an initial 500 or 1000 miles oil change because the tolerances are such that there is very little "wear in" of the internal parts and therefore no large amount of particles deposited in the oil.

If it makes you feel better to do it... do it! It certainly is not going to harm anything. Sometimes peace of mind is worth a little excessive maintenance.