Oil Change #3 Due - 2014 Toyota Highlander Limited Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Oil Change #3 Due - 2014 Toyota Highlander Limited Long-Term Road Test

Our long-term 2014 Toyota Highlander is due for its third oil change.

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yellowbal

I thought the normal maintenance window was 5,000 miles but oil changes were at 10,000 miles?

From Toyota Owners FAQ:
Only Toyota vehicles in which 0w-20 synthetic oil is required (except for the 2TR-FE and 3UR-FBE Engines*) have been approved for extended oil change intervals of 10,000-miles/12-months. (However, you should continue to check the oil level regularly and top off if needed. That will help your engine get the full benefit of synthetic oil.)

kirkhilles_

Every 5,000 miles seems a bit low even for an SUV. I've changed the Pilot's oil right at the 15% level and it's about every 7,500 miles I believe.

cromagnum_man

The free Toyota maintenance plan only covers oil changes at 10,000 miles and 20,000 miles. The 5,000 mile and 15,000 mile services are only tire rotations and inspections. It's interesting that Toyota recommends 10,000 mile oil changes here in the U.S. when they are picking up the tab but in Canada where they don't offer free scheduled maintenance for 2 years, the recommended oil change interval is 5,000 miles.

miata52

Shame you guys retired your lift and no longer do basic maintenance posts...

legacygt

I wonder if the place that did the last oil change has access to this system and can program it to give you this reminder at whatever interval they want. This would be the electronic equivalent of the oil change reminder sticker that some shops and dealers put on the windshield, invariably with some shorter interval than what the manufacturer suggests.

s197gt

i think the headline is wrong.

i went back and checked on their 5000 mile maintenance and they say nothing about an oil change or cost or anything:

http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/highlander/2014/long-term-road-test/2014-toyota-highlander-5000-mile-service.html

only the 10k mile service mentions an oil change:

http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/highlander/2014/long-term-road-test/2014-toyota-highlander-10000-mile-service.html

and as another owner confirmed in the first post the oil only gets changed every 10k miles.

kind of annoying that they suggest that you bring in the car so they can, basically, look at it. sorry, if it were mine it would go in every 10k miles only.

allthingshonda

I'm confused. So the maintenance required warning doesn't always mean to change the oil? Nissan, Toyota and Mazda are still using mileage based maintenance schedules for oil changes. Really need to upgrade to oil life monitors.

The maintenance minder system in Hondas is the best. I don't like looking up the codes but the system not only tells you when oil changes are needed but it keeps track of filters, transmission fluid, engine coolant, timing belt/water pump, spark plugs, and SH-AWD differential fluid. It will also try to combine service with oil changes. If the transmission fluid needs changing every 50,000 miles, for example, but the oil needs changing at 45,000 miles it will request the tranny fluid change early to keep you from making an extra trip just for the transmission. Oil life is calculated not just by miles but temperature, driving conditions, number of cold start cycles etc to decide when to change the oil. The rest of the services are mileage based only.

janet_k

@allthingshonda The Honda system almost describes the one in the '98 Mercedes C280 called FSS which had algorithms built into the engine control system that used mileage, the number of cold starts, average revs, and maybe average oil temperature to compute remaining oil life, along with having a sensor that measured oil quality by monitoring the oil's dielectic strength since, as oil ages and becomes contaminated it becomes more conductive, and thus dielectric strength is a good measure of oil quality.