Changing oil every 5K or 3K miles on Toyota Tacoma?

I have an 04 Tacoma also. Oil changes are recommended every 5,000 miles. I'm not sure why anyone would change it any sooner. I also had a 90 toyota pickup that I drove for over 200K miles, and then sold it. Oil changes were done sporadically and it didn't fail me.

Toyota Tacoma Oil Filter

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Changing oil every 5K or 3K miles on Toyota Tacoma?

I've just recently got a 2004 Toyota Tacoma. I've always driven a GM vehicle and am new to the import brands. It says to change the oil every 5,000 miles. I've always changed my own oil and have been taught to change it at 3,000. Do I use regular oil? and will it hurt it at all to go...

If you've gotten in the habit of changing your oil every 3000 miles then you should stick with that. A good maintenance routine IS the best thing for your vehical.

As for as oil goes synthetic oils do lubricate better. However, given the high quality of today's conventional oils, the high cost of synthetic oils, and the other factors involved in determining oil change intervals (and therefore cost-per-mile), there may not be an advantage in using synthetic oils for normal operation. If you're putting a lot of stress on your oil, you might consider a change to synthetic oil and staying with a short change interval. This provides the protection of synthetic oil, although your costs will increase. Those costs should be balanced against the possible cost of premature engine repairs due to excessive wear from harsh operating conditions.

There's no easy answer to the question of conventional versus synthetic oils. The answer depends on your driving, your maintenance, and your personal preferences. Generally, if your vehicle is subject to extreme conditions, synthetic oils may well be worth considering.

I have a Toyota also and here's what I chose to do. If you pile on 5,000 miles quickly (6 months or less) It's OK to have it changed at a Toyota Dealer at the recommended interval. When I bought mine Toyota was in the middle of their oil gelling, gumming, sludging and varnishing problem. I chose to use Mobil1 full synthetic only because of that possibility. I figured a little four cylinder Camry needed all the protection I could give it. Toyota bottled motor oil (non synthetic) is canned by Mobil to their specifications.

At that time the dealership allowed me to inspect some of the V6 and four cylinder motors that were caked up so bad they had to resort to hammers to remove the valve covers. One in particular was oned by an old lady who had given the car to a grandchild. The dealership had on record that the woman had chainged the friggin oil ONCE. It had 73,400 miles on the odometer. I dug deeper. It seems all Toyotas have 180 degree thermostats in them. In my book their choice is BAD. The motors never get hot enough to drive off contaminants.

Today my 04 looks like a hospital operating room inside the valve cover. What ever you choose to do stick to the 5W-30 viscosity oil your truck calls for. Please no cheap discount store oil filters. Fram and no-name oil filters are junk. Stick with Toyota, NAPA (made by Wix) Purolater or Motorcraft ( made buy Purolator)

You can change your oil every 5,000 miles with conventional oil, or if you're like me, I've used Mobile 1 synthetic for about 12 years. I've worked in the automotive trade for 27 years, and never lost an engine.

I change my oil every 3,000 regardless of the manufacturer's recommendation, and I normally get tired of my cars long before the engine wears out. It's the cheapest way to keep a car running for a long time. (Sold the last one after about 15 years and it still purred like a kitten.) As long as the oil change interval isn't too LONG, you won't hurt anything. (Changing it daily is fine if you want to waste a fortune - but it won't harm the car.)

I prefer to change oil every 5,000 miles using Synthetic oil and high end filter oil.

I would change the oil at 5,000 if I use the Toyota oil filter and 3,500 if I use Frame or Walmart.. etc... oil filter.

Actually, my car is changing oil every 15,000 mile cause I use Merc. oil filter and Mobil 1 synthetic oil.

if you mean 5000kilometers or 3000miles this would be about the same distance.either one would be proper the distance before an oil change.