Ok so I don't have the owner's manual in front of me as the TCH is my wife's car...what is the first service for the TCH? My dealer was saying we should bring it in at 3500 miles and Toyota.com doesn't have 2007 listed as an option for model year and no years listed for the TCH so I can't get it to give me the info. The 2006 ICE Camry had the first service at 5000 miles and it was an oil change and tire rotation.



Having just passed 3000 miles should I be scheduling the car (or doing it myself) or am I waiting for 5k?



Also lets look forward to my doing this job myself...I have always used Mobil 1 in all our cars and I assume going with the 0-20 Mobile 1 will be just fine for the TCH. Any reason to think otherwise? Also I use Purolator PureOne filters as I have read some reports on oil filters...any reason to go with something else?



For a high mileage car what should I do differently than in the past (never maintained a vehicle getting this kind of miles before)? We have only had our CH for a little over a month and it already has passed 3k miles...clearly my wife is going to be putting like 30k-35k miles on this thing a year and I want to make sure it lasts as long as possible.



Thanks

 

The service intervals on all Toyota's is 5000 / 6 mo's. There is no special service to be done on the TCH in fact it will likely save you service dollars over a normal ICE vehicle.

Change the transaxel coolant at about every 60K and that's about it on the hybrid system. You will likely be surprised at how long your brakes last. 100K+?

 

I have my first oil change scheduled for tomorrow (5005 miles). I see no reason to go beyond the Toyota recommendation. I also see no reason to spend the money on Mobil 1 if you're going to follow the 5000 mile scheduled recommendations.

 

Great thanks. You know I would be VERY suprised if the brakes lasted 100k miles...my wife has a bit of a heavy foot (though she seems to be changing that a bit with the new car) and here in Central PA we have a lot of short but steep hills so there is a lot of braking on steep twisty decents.

 

here in Central PA we have a lot of short but steep hills so there is a lot of braking on steep twisty decents.

I have the same terrain in Central WV. I believe though unless you're coming to a full stop or making hard sudden braking actions that the resistance from the motor/generator is actually slowing the car rather than the hydraulic brake system. Thus longer brake wear and less brake dust.

Have you noticed how clean the wheels stay?

 

Not really, my wife is a bit of a car washing nut...she doesn't do it herself but in a month the car has been washed 2x...no time for dust to collect.

 

Well, for once you and I disagree! I'm a big fan of Mobil-1 despite the fact I still change at the recommended interval. I did some research years ago with mixed results: some sources claimed clear benefit, while the most negative simply said the results were not conclusive. I think SO much of the wear-and-tear on an engine is in the first few minutes after a cold start. Synthetics flow so much better at cold temperatures that I'm willing to believe in them. I'm willing to spend $400 extra over the life of the car (assuming I keep in 100K miles) for the peace of mind. YMMV.

 

I bought a F-150 20 years ago and put 250,000 miles on it, with many miles towing a 5,000 lb horse trailer in the mountains. I used Mobile-1 in it (mostly 10W-30). It still has the original engine with good compression, and uses (drips mostly ) a quart every 2,000 miles after all that use.

I'm also going to be using Mobil-1 in my TCH despite the extra cost.

 

I don't have an opinion on this. Although....I have never owned a car that suffered any problems that could be attributable to engine wear. Neither has my wife. Neither has anyone I've ever met. I always wonder....with a modern car...what exactly are you worried about happening? (Loss of horsepower over time? Engine failure? Blowing a head gasket?) And why hasn't it ever happened to anyone I've ever met?

Has anyone on this board ever had engine failure that could possibly be attributed to oil? (Modern cars only.) And, if it happened, did you change the oil per manufacturer's recommendation? Was it a defect?

 

Interesting question you pose. My question is how many folks here have frequently driven cars well beyond 100K miles? If you trade in early, you may never see the benefit of synthetic oil, except as a selling point. I sold my sister my 1993 Altima at 125,000 and it has nearly 300,000 miles now without requiring any engine work. Synthetic oil responsible? Of course I cannot say definitively.

Any way, I still prefer following the manufacturer's recommended interval with synthetic as apposed to those who change their dino oil every 3000 miles "just to be sure". (I wonder if I'm helping to save the synthetic dinosaurs, or just providing extra funds for the synthetic Middle East?)