[FKHeath]

Your car has a system that keeps track of when you need an oil change by checking your driving habits, conditions, and mileage. When it's time to change the oil, a light will pop up on your dashboard—usually an oil can icon or a 'MAINT REQD' message.

No. Toyota cars do not determine oil change intervals by driving habits, or conditions. The maintenance reminder light comes on just before 5000 miles since the last service. Says so right in the owners manual. The owners manual also shows how to reset the maintenance reminder in case it was not reset when the service was performed.

Some other manufactures (GM is one I know of) do the driving habits/conditions determination, but not Toyota.

 

[FKHeath]

Does a light come on? I have a 2021 XLE.

Yes. There is a maintenance reminder light that comes on just short of 5000 miles since the last service. But Toyota only specifies an oil change every 10,000 miles. The 5000 mile period is mainly a tire rotation.

 

[FKHeath]

Are you sure about that? I know about the light. But I doubt that driving habits and conditions have any impact on oil change. Perhaps some newer models.

Sure about what?

I am very sure that Toyota vehicles do not analyze the oil or track your driving habits to determine when the maintenance required light turns on. The light comes on just before 5000 miles, no matter what.

I am also sure that some other manufacturers do track driving habits; my son owned a GM vehicle that did that and adjusted the maintenance time as needed.

I am also sure the maintenance manual in the owners manual set says to change the oil every 10,000 miles or one year for normal driving; but for harsh driving it says to change it earlier. You, the driver gets to determine that.

 

[FKHeath]

I guess there was a misunderstanding between us. I see that your son determined everything by yourself. But at some point, I thought that there was a feature in the car that determined that. My bad

GM cars do determine the oil change interval by analyzing the driving habits and oil breakdown. Just happens my son owned a GM car that did that. Sorry if I implied that my son did the work; not so, the car did the work.

 

[FKHeath]

I change mine every 5000 miles. They must look at my history of oil changes and I’ll get a warning before the next 5000 miles. Or perhaps they always set it at 5000 miles? I don’t know. Sometimes they’d forget to set it when I brought my Prius in.

When the reminder is reset, the light will always come on just before 5000 miles. No one, including the car, does any oil analysis.

 

[FKHeath]

The amount of perfectly good oil dumped is criminal.

The vast majority of oil is now recycled.