I bought a 2021 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid LE brand new two years ago. I have gotten all my oil changes and maintenance done at Toyota dealerships since I bought the vehicle. I am a bit OCD about maintenance and always check their work after I get my vehicle back. I notice that everytime I get my oil changed they overfill it. I always check the oil on a flat surface and every time the oil is always above the full line by about a half an inch to an inch. The car has 40K miles on it now and I have followed the Toyota maintenance plan: getting the oil changed every 10K miles. I recently asked my service advisor about it and he asked a technician who replied that the oil level was "within spec." Should I be concerned about them overfilling it? Will this wear out the seals in the long run and eventually lead to oil leaks in the future? I just don't understand why they can't fill it to the full line instead of going over it everytime. Thank you for considering my question.
above the full line by about a half an inch to an inch.
An inch over is too much. I would have adjusted it. Toyota indicates a safe range on the dipstick for a reason.
getting the oil changed every 10K miles
That is also too much. Unless you're doing pure highway miles, I would stick to 5,000mi.
Ideally, you want to keep your dipstick at maximum, and never overfill it. Overfilling it can cause seals to blow, etc, and cause a lot of internal damage over time. There is a safe range printed on your dipstick, usually a Max and Min. anywhere within the safe range is fine. If you exceed the Max, it will eventually cause damage. I would stop going to the dealership you speak of. Oil changes are the easiest thing you can do for your car. If they can't get that right, they can't work on a car. Your owner's manual states this. Which engine, and precisely what kind of oil it takes. I've always put the maximum amount of oil in my engines, and the oil level has always been on Max.
Should I be concerned about them overfilling it?
Absolutely! Too much oil can damage your engine. Remove the excess oil asap. 1/2 to an inch on the dipstick is usually a quart over-filled. (If it were only slightly above the full mark by say a millimeter or 2 then not a big deal)
Do NOT listen to this 10k mile oil change nonsense. 40,000 miles and 3 oil changes? That's too long between oil changes and it will cause premature wear.
Honestly, I would be furious with that dealer
when you check it make sure the engine has been off for a few minutes maybe 15 or so to make sure the oil has drained all the way down
I’d be more worried about the 10K mile Oil Changes. That’ll cause more harm than having the oil a bit too high off the dipstick. Manufactures usually draw those H & L lines with moderate consideration with overfilling and under filling in mind. Cause think about it. If a car is burning oil and it gets to the L line on the oil dipstick. The engine doesn’t “blow up” and stop working. It just means that’s it’s near the lowest level of oil that the engineers would design it to run on, meaning that you should add oil quickly, not that if you reached L on the line your engine would blow up. The engineers have maintenance tolerances, and they design those dipsticks with a tad bit of “wiggle room” as people say. Because if the H was at the absolute HIGHEST level of engine oil that would be insured that the engine would blow up if it went any higher than H, mechanics wouldn’t try to fill it up to the H when doing oil changes would they? They would want to go probably 3/4ths of the way to H, to insure they don’t overfill it and blow the engine. Plus if engineers actually did that, the manufactures would be having to replace a lot of engines which would not be favorable towards the engineers. I hope you understand the analogy. But half a inch over H line, is a bit high. Too much oil can bend the rods. So please, if you have anyone in your life who can do your own oil changes. Ask them to do it for you. If they won’t do it for free, just pay them what the normal cheap oil change shop would charge. Cause dealerships rip you off, they have so much overhead it’s insane. Why I know? Is because I’ve worked for a few. 👍 so I’d use a siphon and remove some of the oil. Do not remove the drain plug, it will uncontrollably leak more oil then what you intend to remove.
mechanics wouldn’t try to fill it up to the H when doing oil changes would they? They would want to go probably 3/4ths of the way to H, to insure they don’t overfill it and blow the engine
Are you suggesting, the Saints have descended from Heaven and are amongst us to care for our cars??
Hope you will tolerate, I do not share your views here. Mechanics do not care our cars, they care their own.
I have had bad experiences with most mechanics which touched my cars.
To the engine oil level: they should fill to the top-line on the dipstick, the surplus is for making money with oil that will be burned.
Okay you clearly didn’t read the whole message. That is not meaning some mechanics aren’t here to rip you off. I wasn’t referring to car mechanics? I was referring to the analogy that I brought up. That if the manufacture set the H to be the absolute MAXIMUM amount of oil the car could run on without it blowing up, the mechanics would be on the safer side, instead of the way they are now (aiming to hit the H line) they would rather be 3/4th the way between L and H to insure they wouldn’t overfill it and the engine wouldn’t blow up. Please read the entire message, before making ignorant remarks please. Thank you.
@nathaniel-j
easy fellas. It's just oil.