They bought back my 2000 Taco. It was like winning the lottery, so I put the $ down on a new one. ItÆs my first new truck. I have always change oil and filter at 3000 miles. I figure the manufacturers have extended oil change intervals so the vehicle has to be replaced more often or so they can advertise low maintenance costs. I am not waiting even to 3000 miles for my first oil change. When would you guys recommend the first oil change?

Whatever the manual says to do. Oil changes at 3K miles using dino oil is a thing of the past and is a ploy by the oil companies to help them make more money. I also believe it's just a waste of resources as well. Oil manufacturing and oil additives are far more superior than when compared to your dad's or grandfather's days when they were driving. Tolerances in engine building are much better too. With newer cars and trucks, I've seen change intervals at 7.5K with dino oil, specified in the owner's manuals. They have extended intervals because vehicles are made better these days, not because the car companies want their cars to breakdown faster as you put it. What car company wants to have that reputation? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I agree with humanoid. It's just the fact that the autos really are that much better and cleaner-running these days.

However, I'd recommend forking out the extra dough for synthetic oil, and sticking with it for the life of the truck.

The lubricating agents and its resistance to breakdown are far superior to conventional (or dino) oil, and the change intervals are usually between 10,000 to 15,000 miles! Plus, you can use a thinner oil like 5W-30 (which has been said to increase mileage) and still have the protection of a higher-weight dino oil. I've been using full synthetic in my truck since I got it (every 6000-10,000 miles), and I'm at almost 190,000 miles on the truck and it still runs strong. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

I change the oil in my 2001 Tacoma around 6-7k miles and the oil doesn't even look dirty yet. The oil in my old jeep looks old after a couple hundred miles.

Toyota recommends 5W-30 dino oil. It can be run safely and is not too thin. Yes it offers less resistance than 10W-30 and maybe better mileage. Synthetic is fine also but everything that I've read says that change intervals are increased maybe a couple thousand miles but certainly not 10k - 15k. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" /> Remember the oil may last longer but the filter doesnt. Conversely youre paying extra money for the couple extra thousand miles and I like to lube the shafts every 5k so while under there might as well change the oil.

Yea you're right about the change intervals to some extent. Looking them up now, most synthetics are only about 7500 miles, so I partially take back that earlier statement. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />
But, many synthetic manufacturers are coming out with "extended performance"-type synthetics that do have those longer change intervals, including Amsoil and Mobil 1. I could've sworn Amsoil used to make some crazy 10 or 15k oil (I don't know if they still do), but it was super expensive! But if not, then I was dead wrong.

My girlfiend's Acura calls for something like 7500 miles between changes, but I don't know if they're using synthetic from the factory or not.

OEM recommends the 5W-30 and it does get better mileage (supposedly), but my biggest thing is that I wouldn't put all my faith in super-thin dino oil in a 115-degree desert environment! Especially if -- like me -- you tend to run a little over 3000 miles between changes.

In my own humble opinion, the synthetic will be far superior to dino in the long run, whether it's changed at 3000 or 7500 miles. Just my opinion though <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" />

Found a good article about oil change intervals:

http://tinyurl.com/3uy37x

Everything oil....Bobistheoilguy.com <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Back to the original question-- just like a breakin of a rebuild, change your oil after the first 500 miles and put whatever you're going to run in it for the rest of its life.

That includes the filter. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

If you're in that harsh of an enviroment then I would run synthetic and change every 5K and filter just for peace of mind. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />