Hi,

After reading the experiences people have had (like the one over in Mossy Toyota in San Diego), I decided to ask the service guy at Kirkland Toyota about what type of oil they used.

I went over there to get the all season floor mats, and since the service area is right next to the parts area, I asked one of the service guys about the oil they use for the TCH's. He initially replied "10w-30 synthetic - that's what we put in all the cars". After I told him that the manual and oil cap clearly states 5w-20 or 0w-20, he proceeded to say that they also have 5w-30. I dont know why he was hard of hearing. I said 5w-20 or 0w-20 again and emphasized the "20" part. He then told me they don't carry 0w-20. After again stating the oil type, he said they carry 5w-20 for "those type of cars".

I then went in to get my all-season mats and noticed that the parts department stocked 0w-20 oil.

Makes me wonder what they really put in the vehicles.

I now plan to get a fumuto valve, assuming it fits on the TCH's and continue to do my own oil changes. In case you're wondering what the valve is, it's a oil valve that replaces your oil plug and makes chaning oil a hell of a lot easier. Check them out at: http://www.fumotovalve.com/

I started this thread to see if other peeps in the Washington state area have investigated other dealerships to see what type of oil they put in the TCH's.

let me see, my 2001 Honda Accord was one of the first cars designed for the new 5w20 oil (along with some other Honda and Ford models) and that was 5 years ago. It is true that back then 5w20 oil was very hard to get, but now just about any oil company makes 5w20 oil. Probably switching to 5w20 oil is new this year for Toyota so maybe we need to give service guys some time to get used to it, but when I asked my dealer what oil they'll put in my new TCH, he said 5w20 synthetic without even blinking. I read some article about thinner oil and the writer claimed 5w20 will reach all parts of engine faster than 5w30 etc, but I doubt wrong oil would actually damage the engine or have any other negative impact overall, as long as it is changed on time. In other words I will be putting 5w20 or 0w20 synthetic in my car but wouldn't loose my sleep if they did put regualr 5w30. Of course I intend to change the oil myself in the future (except for the first oil change done by the dealer) so i will know exactly what oil is there.

Unfortunatelly, I do not trust dealerships for oil changes or some other mainatenace I am able to do, so I do them myself knowing the kind of oil my Toyota vehicles will have. As an FYI, my local dealer insisted that no matter what we put 5W-30 on 2007 TCH as well, I said ok, but surely not in mine... I plan to use the 100% fully synthetic Mobil 1 0W-20 and I hope by the time I do my first oil change Mobile will have out the more advanced formual Super Syn that is good for up to 15,000 miles (of course I will never go above 5-6k miles).

Actually, since the viscosity at cold is the same for both 5w20 and 5w30, there isn't any difference in the time for oil to spread to all components at start. 0w20 would reach all parts the fastest and then maintain the same viscosity as 5w20 at operating temperature.

Exactly, precisely and that makes me wonder why someone would choose 5W-20 over 0W-20? Perhaps in the very very hot temperatures but not in the initial start up of the engine, as I would still choose 0W-20.

Btw, I called Mobil 1 tech support today and verified that the best grade to use is 0W-20 for a vehicle that can take 0W-20 or 5W-20. In the end you are ok with either one grade and it comes down to personal preference.