3 years with no oil change

Hi,

I recently purchased a Gold Certified 2021 Tundra from a dealership in GA with 8,750 miles on it. According to CarFax, the vehicle was purchased new on February 16, 2021, with its first service performed on June 17, 2022, at 4,819 miles. The next oil change was performed on June 25, 2025, at 8,736 miles. I asked the head service man about the longer time between oil changes, and he said he would be more concerned if it had gone 20,000 miles without an oil change than if it had gone over six months. He also told me that before doing the certification, they had noticed the oil changes on the CarFax, and they drained the oil and looked at it purposefully; it looked fine. I have no idea if the oil was changed by the owner or a shop that does not report to CarFax, but since they said he was a disabled veteran who does not drive much, I am guessing he did not do it himself. Additionally, the truck came with some free oil changes, and two of those are left, according to my local dealership; however, I am unsure how many it originally had. The truck runs wonderfully and looks almost brand new inside and out. Moving forward, it will be done at the 5k mark, and there is a 100k powertrain warranty on it, for what that is worth. Should I be concerned about this, or is there anything I can do to reverse the effects of the longer oil change cycle in those years?

 

Welcome aboard. You've found the right place.

Maybe I'm missing something. A 2021 truck with 8,750 miles on it that has had two engine oil changes. Most recently 14 miles ago. Am I messed up?

Sounds like you've found yourself a very nice unicorn.

You can't kill the 5.7 liter V8 with fire. Many many many smiling happy miles to come for you. Hopefully you're capable of doing your own engine oil changes.

 

I wouldn’t be worried one bit.

 

Thank you for your reply. No you are not mistaken. I have been looking for a low mileage Tundra and when I found this one I drove to Georgia that day to look at it. It was traded in (according to the dealership) by a disabled veteran who does not frequently drive due to his injury. He and his wife had a child, and he wanted more room, so he traded it in for a crew cab. I wanted the double cab for the longer bed. The truck is almost perfect, and as mentioned, they Gold Certified it. I just got to thinking about the oil change and if he did not do them himself or take it to a shop that did not put it on CarFax, then that oil sat in there for 3 years, but it was only driven 4,000 miles in that time. I am concerned that it could have hurt the engine by getting sludgy or moisture. I have been reading up on all this, and like anything, people say so many different things; it is hard to know the truth. So I thought I would come here and ask people who know these trucks.

 

If it has 2 documented oil changes and less than 9,000 miles, I wouldn't worry about it. Create an account on Toyota Owners and out you VIN in and you can see any service history there as well.

 

To my understanding, Toyota's records indicate that it was purchased new on February 16, 2021. The first oil change was performed at a dealership on June 17, 2022, with 4,819 miles on the odometer. Then it was traded in, and another oil change was done, then on June 25, 2025, with 8,736 miles. I purchased it after that, and at the time of purchase, it had 8,750 miles on it. So, if it never went to any other shop or had the oil changed by the owner, it went three years with no oil change, and in that time, it was driven 4,000 miles. I overthink things for sure, but I want to make sure I did not screw up by purchasing it with that gap in oil changes, but little use.

 

I wouldn’t worry one but. I’ll just keep up with all the maintenance

 

Great find. I would not be concerned unless there is obvious moisture on the dipstick or oil cap. Even if there is a little condensation it’ll evaporate after a couple long drives. Enjoy that unicorn

 

Man, that was one lucky find! You shouldn't have anything to worry about. You found a unicorn!

 

What a find. I would not be worried at all.

I'd be more worried about other things that come with sitting undriven. Like any evidence of rodents getting in it or leaves or other organic junk accumulating in the intake plenum or fender wells.

If it sat in a garage for that time, what a find.

 

I wouldn't worry. My mind is wondering what you had to pay... im guessing near window sticker price... I wish I had 8k miles instead of 10X more than that.

 

Welcome aboard!! Yeah, I think you'll be fine. If you're correct about the disabled vet that doesn't drive much, he probably got it changed and then didn't drive it. If he bought it new then he decided he didn't want it for whatever reason, I think that spells a good deal for you.
That being said, I'd say the head serviceman would say just about anything to move cars. So whether the oil was "fine" is his opinion. He probably didn't even see the oil.
Whatever you decide will be the right choice for you. Good luck!

 

Thank you for all your replies. The truck is very clean and shows no signs of rodents or debris. On the roof, where the black rubber sits in the two grooves over each door (sorry, I'm not sure what that is called), I find green pollen underneath. I found a small amount of green pollen under the engine cover. There is a small dent on the passenger side that I suspect had a small scratch, which they attempted to cover with a paint pen, but did not do a great job on. The console in the middle has a little area with a few scratches. Besides those things, the truck is like new.
With dealer fees, tax, tag, and title, and it being gold certified, I paid $39,000 OTD. I had been looking for a long time, and this was not the color I wanted, nor was it 4x4. However, as I told my wife, it met all the other requirements I had, and I don't go off-roading, so 4x4 was a nice-to-have but not a necessity. Her car is white, and it is not my favorite, but now we match, I guess. It is the SR5 SX, so, besides the huge SX on the back, the badging is minimal, and there is no chrome. It is the double cab, so I have a longer bed, and that is what I want. I don't think I got a crazy excellent deal on it, but I also wasn't going to let it slip away, and I think it was a fair price. I have seen them go for more in way worse shape. If you think I took a bath on it please feel free to tell me.
I will be out of town today for work, but I will take some pictures tomorrow.

 

Agreed, on the service guy. I think the disabled vet part was probably actually true due to the running boards being Folds of Honor edition. The guy seemed to know what I was talking about, but I 100% do not trust people in these situations.

 

Considering you can't find them anymore and yours has less miles than 99 percent of that year you did fine on the price. I paid 40k new for mine, but they were sitting on dealer lots new back then. I wish Toyota could have done what Ram did. Make the older truck along side of the new truck for a couple of years.

 

I agree, but Ram ruined the Hemi by making it only available with the Etourqe system now.

 

No, and you shouldn't. Yeah, I'd say it being owned by a vet is probably accurate. Do you have any pics of said truck? We like pics here.

 

I

 

I am not driving my truck today, and I don't want to start it, pull it out, and then put it right back. I know it may seem silly, but I prefer not to start my car for just a second unless I have to. So, I snapped some pictures as it sits in my carport right now.

The next pictures are from the underside, taken two weeks ago today. I am not sure how to post them in a better way since I am new to the forum, but I will figure it out when I have more time.

 

Nothing to worry about.

Welcome from NY.

 

Nice Truck. Thanks for the pics. It's nice to see another proud 2WD SR5 member on here! If your worried about the oil, I'd change it out at 3k for a couple of oil changes. Then do 5k oil changes

 

Based on what 2.5 Gens with a LOT more miles are going for, in whatever trim, I think you got a good deal. There is very little evidence in the pics that the truck is several years old. You DEFINITELY did not "take a bath" on it!

 

Beautiful truck, that is one hell of a find!!

 

"3 years with no oil change"
If its not on carfax, doesn't mean it hasn't been changed. If you were to look up my truck, you'd see 15 years with no oil change. That's because I do my own maintenance, apart from more wrench-intensive stuff.

Maybe the disabled veteran did it by himself or stopped by at lube place to have it done instead of driving to the dealer?

Truck looks good, great mileage. Nice find.

 

Very nice truck!

 

I may have done the same thing on my 2010 Crewmax. I retired in May 2020. We also had lockdowns. I didn't go anywhere that much. We have a Corolla at that time and that's what we were using. The only driving I did with the Crewmax was just around the area just to make sure the engine, transmission, ac, heater, 4HI, 4Lo got some run time. Also bought battery tender to keep it charged. Sometimes it'll be winter and I still have summer blend gas in the tank and during some summers, I would still have winter blended gas. So I stopped filling up the gas tank. But no hiccups on the truck. Also, I had it loaded with broken concrete on the bed and other things. That's probably almost thousand pounds. At that time the truck probably has 134,000 something miles.

 

They said that he has a hand injury so my guess is he would not be doing the work. So, for me, I am assuming that the truck did not have an oil change for those three years, 4,000 miles.

I am going to drain the oil tomorrow and possibly do that a few times over the next 5,000 miles, to ensure everything is well. It will cost me a few dollars, but to me it will be worth it to see if anything comes out questionable.

 

Makes sense. What about an engine flush? Not sure if it's a thing, but they do that for transmissions(mine had one done at 100k)

 

I have never heard good things about doing those for the most part. I have checked multiple sources, and the consensus is that I should change the oil a couple of times or so over the next few thousand miles, ensuring that nothing bad comes out. If not, then there should be no issues. I was also told by someone who owns a transmission shop that I trust that, being in the South, the temperature changes are not that dramatic to worry about moisture buildup in the engine. I spoke with several dealerships around, and they all say it is fine. If there had been a question, it would not have been Gold Certified was also mentioned.