Are you in the +200k mile club? Poll question:

Hello my high mileage 4Runner friends.

There have been several threads lately involving the question of oil change intervals. Some of us are diligent about changing our oil at 5,000 miles, while others are content with a 10,000 mile interval. There seems to be little consensus on the issue. The purpose of frequent oil changes is to increase longevity, so I thought ask the question of high mileage owners:

For those of you who have driven your 4Runner 200,000 miles or more, how often do you change your oil?

Feel free to leave a comment regardless of your 4Runner’s mileage, but please only participate in the poll if you own or have owned a 4Runner with more than 200,000 miles on the clock. Lets see if there really is a correlation between high mileage and frequent oil changes.

 

Almost to 200k on the Corolla runs like brand new! 10,000 mile oil changes.

 

The dealer put too much oil in it twice. Then this oil smell comes out of the vents. So I don’t go to the dealer any more.
And they bent three rims doing a simple tire rotation. Then tried to charge me $4k.

 

My '03 was changed every 10K, Mobile 1. 257K and ran perfect when I traded it in.

I off-road, haul, tow, and have oversized tires and a roof rack on my '19, so I do 5K changes as recommended by the manual.

I think that if you're putting on mostly highway miles, with minimal hauling and towing, 10K is plenty, as the manual recommends.

I thought the consensus was to go with the interval recommended by the manual.

 

I did 3,500 on my 4R for over 20 years until just recently read the manual and it says do it every 4,500 miles.

 

My X-Mas present to me in '97. 3k mile oil changes. Quaker State 10w-40 dino oil (). Fram filter () its' whole life. '96 Silverado, 5.7 Vortec, 272,367 miles. Burns no oil.

I'm a believer in sooner than later oil changes. Using a synthetic, I change the 4Rs' oil @ 5,000. I have no doubt it'll make 300,000.

 

For 18 years (240K miles) my 3rd Gen 2000MY oil change goal was under the old wisdom of every 3,000 miles. After I would hit that number I’d find a convenient time to change it so it worked out to be between 3K to 6K miles. Every 2-4 months.

No failures, no breakdowns. No rust (CA weather). I lost track of the second owner but after 21 years it was still going strong.

 

320K miles on a 2014 SR5. Oil change interval is 10K and I do them myself. Use 0w20 Synthetic and OEM Toyota filters.

 

125k on my 2015..oem filters, 0-20 Castrol every 10k..

 

212k here, full synthetic every 4-5k

 

Thanks for the replies so far! Let’s keep it going!

 

I think I made it. But where is the k supposed to be?

 

My wife's 2010 is about to hit 350k. Oil changes are every 5k with Mobil1 High Mileage and a Mobil1 filter. I do think it burns a little oil (maybe less than a 1/2 qt every 5k) but that's pretty damn good considering the mileage.

 

07 with 210k miles. I change the oil every 5-6k. Hopefully she’ll go another 200k

 

2015 Trail.
170k miles.
I do my oil changes at 7-8k intervals.
I use only Penzoil ultra platinum.

No major issues just the regular maintenance.
List of maintenance things that i follow,

1. Transmission oil drain and fill done at 150k
2. Lube spider joints and UCA's every oil change.
3. SeaFoam or Mystery Oil once an year.
4. Transfer case and differentials done at 150k.
   
5. Brake fluid changed at 150k.
   
6. Power steering flush at 150k.
7. Have purchased life long alignment from Toyota of Dallas. I get the tire rotation and alignment done once an year.
   
8. Inspect winch/winch holder and do regular winch maintenance.
   
   I do offroad few times a month and also tow my offgrid camper(1500lbs) occasionally. I also tow some what heavy stuff(4k pounds) and 4runner held up good.

 

252K on my '07. I change it at 5K miles with full synthetic (brand varies). I could probably go to 7.5K miles but would never go 10K (watch this starting around the 13:00 mark to learn why).

 

99 4Runner, SR5, 5 spd manual, 351XXX miles on the ODO.

It was a fleet vehicle up in Denver, and the maintennance schedule was rigorously followed. I am coming up on the second oil change, 5 K Mi. I had my mechanic do an oil change right after I bought it, just to be safe. Next scheduled change coming up in a few hundred miles. I use Castrol Syntec full synthetic, 5W-30 High Mileage oil, Toyota YZZD filter. My mechanic will do in about 30 minutes, and I took the oil and filter in to him.
He changed the spark plugs, and one coil pack, as we were getting a intermittent misfire on cylinder 6.
The Dealer I bought it from changed the timing belt, water pump, and radiator just before I bought it. Like once my check cleared. Also, they changed the ECU, and threw in a set of LED bulbs for me. So that took care of most of the maintenance scheduled around the time I bought it. I have bought a set of steps for it, and a number of little bits and pieces for the interior. The fuse block cover, rear view mount, etc. I also bought a set of armor for it. Not that all that matters for this discussion.Oh, teah, both fixtures for the clutch's hydraulics failed on me. I am pretty sure they were on the way out when I bought it.
We got the axle seals changed, as they were leaking a bit. Also, we had the rear brake shoes replaced. Turns out the rear diff breather was clogged. Not any more! Since we were having the rear brakes worked on, we got the front brake pads changed too. As long as we were getting things changed, we had the front CV joints replaced. Brake system fluid replaced. Front LBJ's too. Just to be safe. I got under it and lubed the propeller shafts, and they were due!
Just to be wild and crazy, we got a ceramic coat put on. It really made a difference in water repellancy.
Last but not least, we put a set of Toyo's on it. It really rides nice now, and the few times I've had to drive on snowy/icy roads, it has done it like there was nothing there at all. When I go to get the oil change done, I'll have the tires rotated. Pretty soon now...

Anywho, that's how we've treated my lovely wife's 4Runner. We're trying to keep it as factory fresh and new as possible. The engine compartment is pristine...

Oh yeah, we paid $5,000.00 for it, with a $1,000.00 charge to have it shipped down here. Pretty good deal, IMO. All the "stuff" we've had done has added up to about another $2,000.00, but I think it's been a small price to pay for the truck we have now.

Pat☺

 

18k miles on my 2023. Every 3-5 miles, TGMO 0W-20 and OEM filter. Costs me a tank of gas to do the oil change, and 20 minutes. So why wait till 10k

 

I've been using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum on my Grand Cherokee, but what an amazing oil it is. 160k and going strong

 

Wow. Any pics?

 

Oh my lord.

1k oil changes here.

I bet there are some that don't need oil changes due to leaks. Just keep topping her off.

 

1k oil change only after a dusty adventure, like really dusty

 

I just say 1k because we got about 90824092834098234092 oil threads.

For me its once a year because I can't even hit 5K in that time frame.

 

The only oil consumption problem I've ever had was on a 2002 Prizm (Corolla) with a 1.8 liter engine that apparently had a design flaw that reared its ugly head once you crossed 150k miles. Otherwise, I'm on my third 4Runner, about 130k on my 2019, and do the recommended 10k intervals. My 2001 and 1988 got oil changes at varying intervals as high as 15k miles, and went 265k and 305k respectively with no oil problems. Plus a bunch of other Toyotas in my 1.5 million miles of driving Toyotas. In fact, I've never had any engine problems of any type that had anything to do with oil type or oil change intervals.

 

Our 1990 22RE has only 240k, but 75% of the miles were hard around town stop-go soccer mom miles the first 14yrs with name brand synthetic every 5K.
Since 04 it has been Rotella T4 or T6 in the 22RE because of having large quantities of it around for the 3Gal Cummins oil changes. The 34yr old 4R uses zero oil between changes.
The 2022 4R has only 6K on it……Garage Queen.

 

10k or more intervals with whatever synthetic is on sale. 230k miles so far