Yaris Engine Oil

[Bruce W S]

Hi,

I have a 2018 Yaris 1.5 Icon Tech. I bought it from the local Toyota dealership about four years ago, and they have serviced it for me every year. Having the car serviced by Toyota does have the advantage that the warranty is extended, but after 5 years the growing list of exclusions means that the warranty is unlikely to be of much value for the things which are likely to go wrong. I am finding the cost of servicing prohibitive, so this year I decided to service the car myself. I have always serviced my own cars until I bought this Toyota. I found it easy enough. The air and pollen filters are a tool less change. The shock came when I came to buy a can of engine oil. Back in the good old days the various vehicle manufacturers would give a list of suitable oils to choose from, and they would all be of top quality. Now Toyota only recommend using their own oil, which is TGMO 0W20 AFE E Part number T08880-86294. I did not want to risk using an unsuitable oil, so I bought 5 litres from my local dealer at a cost of £118.76 (incl vat). This can only be described as a rip off. Obviously Toyota don't make oil, so they are buying it in from somewhere and making a huge profit. The major lubricant companies in this country all supply oils of a similar spec, at less than half the price, but I don't want to take any chances. Can anyone recommend another oil which would be suitable for my Yaris for the next time I service the car. 

Thanks, Bruce

 

[Parts-King]

Opie Oils who advertise on this forum do discounts for members, put your reg number into their website and check, you might have to search out the discount code on here

[ThomasL]

I'm curious, what is the growing list of things that aren't covered by the relax warranty? Anyone have a link to more info?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Relax, the service generated warranty, is an extended warranty and won't be as comprehensive as the new car warranty. This applies to any extended warranty, whether Toyota, from another marque, or from a third party.

Terms and conditions of the Relax service generated extended warranty attached.

Toyota Relax TCs - 25.05.21_tcm-3060-2286757.pdf

[FROSTYBALLS]

As regards engine oil, one can shop around and get Toyota 0W-20 cheaper:

https://www.fensport.co.uk/products/genuine-toyota-engine-oil-0w-20-5-litre

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153711789287

Amazon also have it for £78.

Other branded oils are available which meet Toyota's requirements.

 

[skidlid]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Relax, the service generated warranty, is an extended warranty and won't be as comprehensive as the new car warranty. This applies to any extended warranty, whether Toyota, from another marque, or from a third party.

Terms and conditions of the Relax service generated extended warranty attached.

Toyota Relax TCs - 25.05.21_tcm-3060-2286757.pdf 103.62 kB · 3 downloads

Not so.

We have had 2 extended warranties on VAG cars. If you take out the warranty before the car is registered the original warranty exclusions apply and the list is short. Wait until after registration and the list is long plus there was a £200 excess on every claim.

[inteli7]

How much does a service cost at your local dealer? My car is almost ten years old, and the evaporator is being changed under warranty. 

If I weren't going to have this option, this would have been at least £1500, as the whole dashboard needs to be stripped. A Yaris usually doesn't have issues, but if it does, it will cost you!

For example, the hybrid Battery pack at my local dealer costs £1800 if I trade mine in. That's just for the pack without any labour. 

I see many benefits of having/taking advantage of the Toyota Relax Warranty.

[Bruce W S]

Hi,

Thanks everyone. It's good to know I will be able to get sensible detailed information from this forum when I need it. It's much appreciated. 

Thanks Kingo, Opie have a long list of suitable oils, I am planning to use one of these on the next service.

Thanks Dave, Of course you have a good point regarding the relax warranty. I am sure there would be many occasions where you would be very glad you had it, but like any insurance it's a balance between cost and risk, and I have decided to take my chances without it.

Thanks Philip, I have also had my doubts about 0-20 oils. They seem to have the viscosity of tap water in comparison with oils in the past. I suppose you have to accept that Toyota know what they are doing.

I would be interested to know if anyone has tried any branded oils, and has the experience of it being trouble free.

[Parts-King]

Don't confuse viscosity to whether an oil is any good or not, lower viscosity is used for all sorts of reasons. Modern engines use low viscosity for better economy and freedom for oil to work around the engine quickly, a lot of new engines have low volumes of oil, maybe 2-3 litres and this means the oil has to flow faster to cool the engine. 0w 20 is not low in viscosity compared to many models now on 0-16 or even 0-8 

Stick to branded for certainty of quality/deals, get the best oil you can for the best price 

[APS]

7 hours ago, Bruce W S said:

I would be interested to know if anyone has tried any branded oils, and has the experience of it being trouble free

There are tricks...

The Toyota oil is expensive on its own. I just serviced the Lexus CT, which also use 0w20 oil. Lexus direct parts sell a service kit, which includes all filters, seals, and 5 litres of Toyota 0w20 oil (08880-86294) for about £120. Since the CT drivetrain is the same as a 3rd gen Prius, I went to Toyota direct parts and found the same service kit for the Prius came in at just under £90. Again, identical part numbers and includes the oil. I've not checked if there is a service kit for your Yaris, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't. If you can't find it, email them. They will help.

Also used Millers EE Performance 0w20 for the GR86. Opie recommends this as it matches the Toyota specs and will not invalidate warranty. It is good for track work too. Call Opie. They are really helpful and prices are decent.

I know what you mean about 0w20 being thin. Drain this oil when hot and you do wonder how it can do any good at all, but it works. Remember there are also 0w16 and 0w8. On a low tuned engine like a hybrid, it will be no problem at all. It just means they run really economically.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Just a note re 0W-20 oils. Toyota have been using this grade in petrol non-hybrid cars since 2008, when the Optimal Drive engines began to be introduced. So around 15 years. 

Later models from 2019, use 0W-16, and the current Yaris hybrid 0W-8 .....

Some members have also used Petronas Syntium. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Some members have also used Petronas Syntium. 

I do, used it for years. https://my.pli-petronas.com/en-my/product/petronas-syntium-7000-0w-20.

£32.95/5 litre, from Opie, on that well known auction site. Not checked their website for price. Opie never suggest the correct 0W-20 viscocity for my car, always 5W-30 which is incorrect!

Never had any problems. Why pay Toyota's inflated prices when their "genuine" oil will be manufactured by someone else? Toyota don't produce oil.

£118.76 really is extracting the urine. What do these main dealers invoice for 3-4 litre with a "service"?

[Bruce W S]

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate your help.

[Cyker]

Jeez that's gone up - Last time I bought 0w20 from a Toyota dealer I only paid something like £50-60!!   I remember being very surprised how cheap it was compared to elsewhere, as it was going for 90-100+ on e.g. Opie Oils, and only a few brands had 5L bottles; Most of it was only in 1L bottles for £20-30 each!  

That was a good few years ago for my Mk2 though (The one that was burning an absolute smeg-ton of oil  Curse you low-friction piston rings!!)

Ironically I'm having a similar issue now, as the 0w8 my Mk4 uses is very rare, and last time I inquired the dealer was easily the cheapest source bye £20-odd, but thankfully unlike the Mk2 it's using no oil between services despite the way I drive it, so I haven't needed to actually buy any, and the litre of 0w20 I got in the habit of carrying in the boot is probably so stale I really should get rid of it due it never being needed  (Although it has served some use, as I've used a dab of it to lubricate noisy computer fans in the past  )

 

BTW, don't worry about how thin the oil seems - As others have said, that doesn't affect how well it lubricates; Because the tolerances are so ridiculously tight in the newer engines, the thin oil is needed to get everywhere it needs to go; Thicker oils would struggle to get through the thinner passages quickly enough, esp. when cold.

Even though it's thin, it'll still lubricate as it clings to the metal surfaces, and remember the oil is pressurized, which stops rubbing surfaces trying to push it away.

[TonyHSD]

+1 for Petronas oils. I had been using this 0w20 since 2016 and all been fine. 
200 000 miles and engine sound and performance is unchanged, only oil consumption increased but at that use and mileage I think it’s normal 

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Cyker said:

BTW, don't worry about how thin the oil seems - As others have said, that doesn't affect how well it lubricates

Correct. Water would do the same thing BUT, water doesn't contain the necessary additives. For, e.g. crankshaft bearings, the rotation causes a wedge of lubricant which acts as a separator of the "contact" parts.

 Fresh water with a density of 1, at 20deg.C has a kinetic viscocity of 1.0034(mm2/sec.). Not much different to 0W oils. The viscocity drops even more as the temperature rises. Viscocity has nowt to do with lubrication characteristics.

[anchorman]

9 hours ago, Slartybartfast said:

Correct. Water would do the same thing BUT, water doesn't contain the necessary additives. For, e.g. crankshaft bearings, the rotation causes a wedge of lubricant which acts as a separator of the "contact" parts.

 Fresh water with a density of 1, at 20deg.C has a kinetic viscocity of 1.0034(mm2/sec.). Not much different to 0W oils. The viscocity drops even more as the temperature rises. Viscocity has nowt to do with lubrication characteristics.

A lot of people don’t get that but it does reduce drag and in an engine with very fine tolerances, it gets round extremely fast.  

[Cyker]

13 hours ago, Slartybartfast said:

Correct. Water would do the same thing BUT, water doesn't contain the necessary additives. For, e.g. crankshaft bearings, the rotation causes a wedge of lubricant which acts as a separator of the "contact" parts.

 Fresh water with a density of 1, at 20deg.C has a kinetic viscocity of 1.0034(mm2/sec.). Not much different to 0W oils. The viscocity drops even more as the temperature rises. Viscocity has nowt to do with lubrication characteristics.

ehh yes and no; Water doesn't cling to surfaces like oil does and would be an objectively worse lubricant as it'd probably corrode all the metal parts and doesn't tend to form that surface film like oil does, even thin oils, but your point stands as it could be used as a lubricant in other scenarios; Technically your windscreen wipers are lubricated by water when they pass over a wet windscreen  

I wonder if we'll see anything lower than 0w - Does it go into the negatives?? Will my next Yaris need -20w0??   

 

[Guest]

I have used water but add some washing up liquid to provide a bit of lubricity.

No, I haven't!