After reading this post about oil change hassles - I decided to call my dealer to see what oil they had -- was told 5-30 was what they used in ALL cars... woops .. . They never heard of 0-20 or 5-20 as the mannual recommended. Called a second dealer in my area - same answer -
Finally called a third dealer and they had 2 cases in stock $4.99 a qt. Think I found my new service dealer.... Never thought it would be that difficult. Where is it stated that Toyota mentions its ok for synthetic oil is ok to use? My owners book nevers mentions it ??

 

There is a extrusion for a jack right under crossframe, I jack mine up and insert a plastic ramp under each front wheel so i can let the jack down and get it out of there. lots of room and 15 min job at most.

 

Not much of a secret, Nash. Whenever I can, I prefer to change oil/filter without using floorjack and stands (although I use those for tire rotation, brake pads /disc work etc). If you lie down on your back in front of your car and turn your head to the right to look underneath your car, you should be able to reach the drain plug at the back of the crank case with your right hand. The filter is even easier because it is a vertical mount right in front of the crank case. You won't be able to see it, just follow the black mask in front which is shaped to allow access to the filter and feel the filter with your hand (slide in a filter wrench with a 2-3" extension).

 

Skywagon, you are right when you say that this is a 15 min job, but I would give it a full hour to completely drain the oil (watch a game, drink a beer, relax). If you do so, the crank case will take all 4.5 quarts with filter for refill (as specified). Allowing the used oil to drain/drip out completely is one of the main advantages of a good DIY oil change.

 

Ok, what a dillema, the majotity of dealers are using 5W-30 for oil changes on a 2007 TCH. I was heading towards using 0W-20 (as the owners maunal or oil filler cap inticates to use either 0W-20 or 5W-20) but I am leaning towards 5W-30 Mobil 1 100% fully synthetic as I want least engine damage possible... tough decision to make... I will have to do more research, but Toyota customer sevvice tells you to use what is recommended in the owners manual which of course is 0W-20 or 5W-20 or what your authorized Toyota dealer recommends...

 

Here is an update on my Mossy Toyota experience. Today I called Toyota's national customer service number, and told them that I had not been contacted by the dealer following my complaint. While I was on the phone, the Toyota agent checked with the dealer, and informed me that the person helping me had been "let go." I was told that the new contact person at Mossy would give me a call today. She did, in fact, call me, and I happened to be near Mossy at the time of her call. I stopped in, and was very surprised that the girl who was "let go" was still there. However, they did hire a new woman who is now Mossy's customer service head-wizard, i.e., the new boss of the "let go" employee. With everyone present, I described the whole story, from failure to PDI my car, to the lying and condescending wimp of a so-called hybrid "specialist" who urged me to disregard Toyota's recommendations and that heavier oil wouldn't affect my gas mileage (much less my warranty), to the disregard by Mossy's personnel of EVERY one of my letters and voicemail messages. When I walked in, the "let go" employee said, "Oh, I thought this was all resolved." Then, piece-by-piece, I showed her boss that I had made multiple follow-up attempts with no response from Mossy. The "let go" employee's story began to unravel as she tried to make excuses, and the nasty details of her incompetence were exposed. The new boss treated me with the utmost courtesy, and not only did she apologize to me, but she also caused the "let go" employee to apologize for her obvious neglect and cover-up of my situation. I pointed out that I had been promised a total of SIX synthetic oil changes, but that I had only received three. Without hesitation, she printed me three more letter coupons, and said that they regretted the errors and did not want to lose my business. I mentioned, of course, that 1,700 Camry Hybrid owners had read my complaint about the dealership. I am encouraged by Mossy's decision to hire this new woman. She has only been in her position for two weeks, but she seems well aware of the monumental challenges faced by this dealer. She was trained at BMW, by (coincidentally) a friend of mine who is a stellar service manager, and I could tell that she is committed to excellence and causing change at Mossy. They have also made sure that the recommended oils are available at all times for the Camry Hybrid. Finally, she was appalled that Toyota told me that there was NOTHING they could do to obligate dealers to use the correct (recommended) oil in any model of Toyota. I, too, am appalled by Toyota's stated lack of enforcement. This is inconsistent with what I know of franchising and dealerships. Through this forum, we are seeing the prevalence of incorrect oils at a vast number of dealers, and this is an intolerable situation. Additionally, it is not in the interest of Toyota to have (1) any dealer that cannot provide recommended oils, nor (2) the obvious consequences of diminished fuel economy and bad publicity for its fuel efficient vehicles. Worst of all, I can't stand that a pencil-@#$% service rep would lie and start arguing with me that any oil he has on hand will be just as good as what I really need. Anyway, everyone is happy now. Grrrrrrrr.

 

Steve,
Your recent post seems credible if it weren't for its marked sexist tone. Why did you find it necessary to specifically point out about half a dozen times the fact the rep was a woman? Is that even germain to the situation?
Also I consider this whole issue somewhat of a triviallity and wish you a long life free of uclers. I wish ALL my problems were this small.
All the best.
J

 

Marked sexist tone??? Ummm... first of all, my #1 problem was with the service tech who was a MAN. Of the two women involved, one gave bad service, and the other gave helpful service. I don't know where you're going with this, or why you're looking for some issue when there isn't one. My issue is about oil changes and the problems that occurred when I tried to resolve an issue in good faith. I regret if you are offended that I need to use the words "he" and "she" in my post. The point of all of our forums and posts is to share useful information and to be a congenial community of owners. I think I'm doing my part towards that end... hopefully you feel the same about yourself. There is no need to incite friction or pick on people. If you have personal comments to make, you could easily send them in a non-public venue. For what it's worth, I wish all my problems were this small, too. And, may two of my problems NEVER be that I'm sexist or take a cheap shot at someone who wants nothing more than to use this forum as it was intended, and in peace.

Oh, and all the best to you, too.

 

shcmidt,

shame on you.

at no time in Steve's informative post, did he over emphasize gender. She and her were used grammatically correct and efficiently. None if his statements harped on the fact that the person who dropped the ball was male or female. I teach English. Steve's post was longish and would have been longer and more distracting had he used such terms as "the customer service rep". The employee that had last "helped' me...... Check out Steve's numerous other posts and you might agree that his intention was not to rub any members here that wrong way. Oops.. I'm hoping my verb choice there wasn't too suggestive. I'm not sure if you are able to withdraw posts, but I'm sure a polite retraction addressed to Steve and Jason could accomplish this.

 

I've been following this thread for a while, so when my car came up for its first oil change, I asked the service rep what kind of oil was being used. He said all TCHs get a "special, blended" (whatever that means) 5W-20 Synthetic. I read over the service form after picking up the car and it said that 5W-30 had been used. I decided to try driving the car for a while, since the form was printed off of a template, and they might not have made corrections for the TCH. I've got about 200 miles now, and I'm getting the highest mileage I've ever seen in this car, so maybe it really was synthetic oil. I'll have a better idea after I've run a few more tanks through the car.