In Feb 2019 I bought an 8yr old, 2011 Camry 2.5L w/45,000 miles. Bought car from elderly couple. Vehicle's oil & filter were changed once yearly using Mobile 1 synthetic after their "Toyota Care" expired. Realizing the Camry had only been driven approx. 5,600 miles a year, I wasn't too concerned about 'yearly' service intervals... So I thought I had made a 'good' purchase... That is until today when I discovered the FIRST oil change was at 14,700 miles!!! The original owner took the car in for "Toyota Care" service a year after he purchase it; 5,700 miles- no oil change. 2nd year of "Toyota Care" at dealership; 14,700 miles- oil changed.
First oil change at 14,700 miles! Finding this was horrifying, I'm astounded I missed this.
Right now, at 60,000 miles Camry runs great, doesn't burn oil. My concern is I bought this car to run & drive it for a several 100k miles. Now I wonder if engine will even last to 100 - 150k miles?
Edit: 90% of mileage driven is city/stop & go mileage!
it'll be fine
@mm thanks. Still getting over my initial 😯
If you are really concerned about the overall condition of the engine, go to and independent mechanic and get a compression and leak down test. It will tell you exactly how good (or bad) your engine is in terms of its volumetric efficiency.
Maybe the first owner took the car somewhere other than a Toyota dealer or did the first oil changes themselves. There are no records for oil changes on my vehicles because I do them at home.
Good idea to keep receipts for everything and note the date and mileage.
Agreed
Great advise, thanks!
Should be OK as long as you continue with maintenance. By this time it has had several oil changes on schedule that should have cleared out any gunk that accumulated in that initial period.
At 60K miles now, you're overdue for a transmission fluid and filter change.
That’s unfortunate, but at least you (the second owner) are on top of the maintenance now. You should be OK. Be sure to change the transmission fluid/filter (drain and fill) every 40,000 miles as well.
Transmission was flushed at local dealership @46000. I had asked service writer for only drain & fill but transmission was flushed instead. Spoke politely but firmly with service manager and he agreed to warranty my transmission for 90 days. That was totally acceptable to me as I've had a very good relationship with this particular dealership for several decades.
Because of the age of other car fluids, I decided to drain/fill power steering fluid & antifreeze via local mechanic around 50,000 miles. Same mechanic did a brake fluid flush a little later on...
Oil/ filter changes at 5000 mile max intervals using M1 synthetic.
Please 86 the dealership. They will screw up a maintenance job (like they already have) and tell you it's your fault. This is what they do, besides overcharging for everything.