oil

[Stivino]

3 hours ago, olddriver said:

Lots of starting and short journeys causes excessive bearing wear.

Does your theory also apply to the millions of new cars with start stop technology? 

Nobody said anything about short journeys. 

This time, I'm definitely out of the flat earth society. 

[Biomecanoid]

32 minutes ago, Stivino said:

Does your theory also apply to the millions of new cars with start stop technology? 

Nobody said anything about short journeys. 

This time, I'm definitely out of the flat earth society. 

start stop technology is a plague and just a shorcut to make a car appear having better fuel consumption. Start stop technology stresses the alternator and engine needlessly 

[FROSTYBALLS]

At the end of the day, the OP has done about half their usual 6 monthly mileage - 1,700 miles - and usually changes the oil at six months.

People are assuming the journeys during this period are short journeys with lots of starting. However, the OP hasn't said what type of journeys they have done - so we don't know what the true scenario is!

To my mind, if the OP feels more comfortable adhering to their usual practice and changing the oil at this stage, then it certainly won't do any harm. On the other hand, given the limited information we have on the vehicle and given the official service intervals (12 months or 10,000 miles), an oil change doesn't appear to be necessary. 

Do whatever you feel comfortable with.

 

 

[nielshm]

Come on Guys... If you had a Rav4 or Prius Phev, and used the Battery as primary power source, would you really change oil every 6 months, just becourse the engine only had a limited number of startup? 

If it was a diesel, sludge, carbon etc would build up due to many cold starts. 

[m4rkw]

9 hours ago, Stivino said:

Does your theory also apply to the millions of new cars with start stop technology? 

Nobody said anything about short journeys. 

Most of us can do simple maths though. 1700 miles / 180 days = 9.44 miles/day, so either lots of short journeys or some longer journeys and the car was sat for long periods due to lockdown which the OP does appear to have hinted at. The end result is the same in terms of moisture building up in the oil.

9 hours ago, Stivino said:

This time, I'm definitely out of the flat earth society. 

An amusing comment given that you're repeatedly ignoring presented evidence haha.

[m4rkw]

4 hours ago, nielshm said:

Come on Guys... If you had a Rav4 or Prius Phev, and used the battery as primary power source, would you really change oil every 6 months, just becourse the engine only had a limited number of startup? 

If it was a diesel, sludge, carbon etc would build up due to many cold starts. 

I would because of the reasons already stated. My wife has a rav4 and does very low mileage so I change the oil every six months because this is considered extreme service. There's plenty of information on the internet to back this up if you care to look, here's a couple of quick links:

https://www.dummies.com/home-garden/car-repair/how-often-you-should-change-your-oil/

"You’ll be surprised by what some “extreme operating conditions” are: If you do a lot of stop-and-go driving in city or rush-hour traffic, make a lot of short trips each day and leave the car parked long enough to have your engine cool down between them, and don’t often get up to high speeds on a highway, your engine rarely gets hot enough to evaporate the water that forms in the crankcase and builds up sludge in the engine."

https://www.cars.com/auto-repair/diy/oil-change/

"If you drive in certain extreme conditions, you might need to change your oil more frequently.
Those conditions include:

Lots of short trips, or operating primarily in stop and go traffic"

 

I'm sure if you ask an honest technician at any Toyota dealership they'll probably tell you the same thing.

 

[m4rkw]

7 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

On the other hand, given the limited information we have on the vehicle and given the official service intervals (12 months or 10,000 miles), an oil change doesn't appear to be necessary.

The service intervals given by the manufacturer are (by their own admission I think) usually specified for cars operating in ideal conditions. 1700 miles in six months is not ideal operating conditions for any car. For the sake of the cost of an oil change why take the risk?

[FROSTYBALLS]

2 hours ago, m4rkw said:

The service intervals given by the manufacturer are (by their own admission I think) usually specified for cars operating in ideal conditions.

Toyota makes no specific recommendation for vehicles with a low mileage between services -  the service interval for the UK is either 12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever comes first (12 months or 15,000km in Europe). 

So if one does less than 10,000 miles in one year- whether that is 1,000 miles or 9,000 miles - under Toyota's servicing regime,  a service is due annually.

As regards extreme conditions, that is related to environmental conditions (cold, heat, dust, etc) where additional service requirements may be needed. It is doubtful that these conditions would be experienced in Northern Ireland, where the OP resides.

[m4rkw]

16 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Toyota makes no specific recommendation for vehicles with a low mileage between services -  the service interval for the UK is either 12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever comes first (12 months or 15,000km in Europe). 

This may be true, but it's based on a designed service life. They only really care about the car making it out of the warranty period, beyond that their obvious strong preference is to sell you another car.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Just now, m4rkw said:

This may be true, but it's based on a designed service life. They only really care about the car making it out of the warranty period, beyond that their obvious strong preference is to sell you another car.

That's your view and not necessarily either accurate or shared by others.

[m4rkw]

9 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

That's your view and not necessarily either accurate or shared by others.

Appreciated, and that's the great thing about forums - everyone can share their opinion 🙂

[m4rkw]

I don't want to keep repeating the other things I've already said as I'm sure this thread is getting boring now, but just consider this - if the manufacturer's maintenance schedule is trustworthy then why do they claim that their transmissions are "sealed for life" and don't need fluid changes? Pretty much everyone agrees that if you plan to keep the car a long time this should be done. I think that alone proves my point.

[FROSTYBALLS]

11 minutes ago, m4rkw said:

I don't want to keep repeating the other things I've already said as I'm sure this thread is getting boring now, but just consider this - if the manufacturer's maintenance schedule is trustworthy then why do they claim that their transmissions are "sealed for life" and don't need fluid changes?

Not relevant to whether the OP should change their oil or not, and I'm sure that by now, they have decided on which choice to make.