>> I think Toyota did the right
>> thing when they eliminated the normal / severe service schedules >> and just
>> went to a 5K across the board schedule.
>
>
> This was because people were going 10-12,000 miles between changes > and
> sludging their engines.
So why did changing the recommendation alter the behavior of people? If you are going to ignore a 7500/5000 recommendation, aren't you just as likely to ignore a 5k recommendation? I suppose the maintenance required light might help, but I know more than a few people who are comfortable ignoring those as well.
I was there when the campaign was on.
In Europe Toyotas have 10K mile oil change recommendations (see page
12 of
formatting link
). I wonder why in the US, they specify 5K oil changes. My SO keeps telling me that her old Toyota (a mid-80s Camry) only required 10K oil changes - I think it actually required 7500 mile oil changes, but who am I to argue with her. Either way, it was not the engine that gave her the most trouble, it was the transmission. Ed