Oil Level and Service interval question

[Anonymous]

I've just purchased a 51 plate 2 with 40K on the clock. I was going through the service history and it was last serviced by Toyota at 23K. Some people i've spoken to say the service interval is 20K and other say its 10K. What's the recommendation?

My main concern was that the oil level was low and needed 750ml to get it up to the lowest level on the Dipstick then another 1.3 to get it to the top. I am hoping that the previous owner was just lazy and never checked the oil level rather than there being another problem such as precats, oval bores etc and it's just normal oil consumption from 23k to 40k.

I've road tested the car and can't see any smoke, particles in the exhaust etc and the engine sounds fine (no pinking or rattling) and pulls nicely from 4000rpm.

I guess my question is how forgiving are these engines on having lower than normal oil levels? - have i basically been lucky and got away with it? - the previous owner has only covered 7K in the last 12 months.

I'm putting it in for a service next week in any case and probably wont drive it much until then. I will certainly be keeping an eye in the dipstick levels every week from now on.

This forum is great by the way - unfortunately i found it after i'd commited to purchase the car - i would have been a lot more picky if i'd known then what i know now from here.

[edward.carter]

was it private or a dealer, i would keep a very close eye on the oil level, have you since checked the precats condition ?

[SimonC_Here]

I've just purchased a 51 plate 2 with 40K on the clock. I was going through the service history and it was last serviced by Toyota at 23K. Some people i've spoken to say the service interval is 20K and other say its 10K. What's the recommendation?

The book says it's 10k OR every year, which ever is the sooner. It should have had a 30k one. The 23K could have been it's 3rd year one although it would have to been driven some to put 17k on under a year.

It's 20K major, 10K minor service intervals.

Simon

[Anonymous]

Service interval is 10000 miles or 1 year which ever is the earliest.

Was it a private sale or dealer??? I'm guessing private as a dealer would have checked the oil.

Get it serviced as soon as possible and maybe get the precats inspected to put your mind at ease.

Hopefully, no damage has been done but no engine runs without oil without doing some damage.

[Anonymous]

was it private or a dealer, i would keep a very close eye on the oil level, have you since checked the precats condition ?

Private - first time i've ever done it.

Thanks for the warning - I'll be getting the precats inspected during the service next week - hence my comment about not driving it much until then.

Fisrt Service was at 9346 and the second at 23000, with the brake fluid change - so it looks like the 30K one has been missed out or not put in the book. There was an advisory on the 23K service that all 4 tyres were below 1.6!! Looks like it was not getting much TLC.

[Anonymous]

Well i just got the car back from its 40K service and had the precats inspected at the same time.

The one on the nearside has just started to crack - the right one is still fine.

I'm getting them both removed next week. Hopefully i've caught it in time!

[edward.carter]

one side of mine was cracked for ages and the other was fine, had them removed eventually and all is ok    s:) s:)