Hey Scotty I recently invested in a 2018 Toyota Rav4 LE with the 2.5 4 cylinder AR-FE engine with 31,000 miles. How should I maintain this vehicle? What engine oil should I use? It calls for 0W-20. Would the new 0W-16 work better? What are the pros and cons of this vehicle? It also has an automatic 6 speed transmission. Just looking for done advice to make this car last as long as possible. I also have the manufacturer's warranty of 100,000 miles and 7 years from the day I bought it which was the 2nd of Jan 2021 that covers everything but there wearable parts on the vehicle. They will even replace tires and wheels if damaged.
A similar question was asked here:
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/what-is-the-basic-car-maintenance/#post-51833
Also, check your owners manual for service intervals. Remember, the dealership will try to sell you stuff, but the manufacturer knows your vehicle best.
2018 Toyota RAV4 Owners Manual
Change the oil every 5k, use only what is recommended in the manual, full synthetic.
Cars are meant to be drive , the more the better.
Keep your transmission fluid clean and do a full flush every 50,000 miles.
For the transmission, you mean drain and fill.
Scotty highly recommends drain and fill over flush when it comes to servicing your transmission.
For high mileage cars that have never been changed, not one with 30k
definetly do a drain and fill, flush could cause extra problems
Thank y'all. I appreciate your feedback. The dealer gives me 2 free oil changes and they insist every 10,000 miles. I don't like this so I'm going to ask if they will do it at 5,000. I don't want to do something myself and screw up my warranty. I'm used to doing my own car work/maintenance so it's weird having a warranty and someone else working on my vehicle.
If you bought a Toyota oil filter, how would the dealer know you changed the oil? The filter you replace has no housing, so there is no clear way to determine if the oil was changed between the regular 10,000 mile oil change intervals.
Exactly what I planned on doing..
Service interval every 5000miles or 6 months
Use the engine oil that owners manual recommended.
Go to Toyota dealer or find a guy like Scotty, they understand and know your car.
Just don’t get the monkey like who tried to fix my car use impact wrench with 180 lb-ft destroyed my 85 lb-ft bolts and nuts.
