'It Takes Me To A YouTube Video': Man Changes Oil In Toyota Tundra. Then He Has To Scan QR Code To Access Oil Filter

[dalton99a]

https://www.motor1.com/news/796671/toyota-tundra-oil-change/

‘It Takes Me To A YouTube Video’: Man Changes Oil In Toyota Tundra. Then He Has To Scan A QR Code To Access The Oil Filter
"At first, it seems like a normal oil change."
By: Chad Swiatecki
May 24, at 8:00pm ET

For generations, changing your truck’s oil pretty much required just three things: a drain pan, a wrench, and accepting that at least some oil was going to end up on your hands. But expectations on basic maintenance steps have officially changed, as we learn from a mechanic who recently discovered that an oil change on a Toyota Tundra Hybrid now also involves a QR code, a hidden electronic air dam, and a trip to YouTube before you can even reach the oil filter.

The viral clip from creator @joybarrett1961 starts with the 2024 Tundra up on blocks for a parking lot oil change. Once underneath, the narrator scans the camera across the access points involved. And that’s where the degree of difficulty and time on job start to ratchet upwards.

“At first, it seems like a normal oil change,” he said on the clip that’s been viewed more than 905,000 times. While not exactly convoluted and complicated at a Rube Goldberg level, one quickly gets the sense that Toyota engineered the truck in a way that made an oil change up on a lift almost a necessity.

The problems start once he discovers that the oil filter sits behind a protective cover held in place by four bolts. Two are easy to access, but the other two are tucked behind what appears to be an electronically controlled air dam mounted underneath the front of the truck.

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The idea is to force consumers to go back to the dealership and pay extortionist prices

Keep your old vehicles as long as you can

[Mysterian]

1. It's easy to change the oil in my '21 Cherokee

I like how the oil filter is mounted up top and easy to access.

[PCIntern]

2. I know exactly how this went:

The design engineers were all sitting around a table, and one of them said that the only thing a consumer could do on a car was change its oil. Someone else piped up and said what can we do to fix that?

Somebody said that we will make it very, very difficult to access the mechanism and a requirement that it be put up on blocks or a lift. That should discourage most people from doing their own oil changes. Of course, while they are at the dealership getting their oil changed, the technician will find 17 other things wrong with the car which need to be remedied immediately.

And, as an aside, did you ever notice that repairs to cars are in multiples of $600? It is uncanny.

[dalton99a]

3. +1. It is 'engineering' for dealership profit protection

They are doing it to the newest models across many brands

[PCIntern]

4. It's funny...

Well, not that funny. I used to be able to do some fair amount of maintenance and repair on cars in the old days, but I will tell you when I opened the hood for my Honda CRV for the first time, I did not recognize anything that I was looking at. The really interesting part came when I wanted to check the oil level and literally could not find the dipstick. It took me three or four minutes to locate it, first because I am an idiot and second because it was sandwiched in the weirdest place. You and I both know that in the old days when you lifted the hood, the dipstick was “right there“.

[dalton99a]

5. +1. You can't check the transmission fluid anymore in some cars

or power steering fluid (well, steering is electric now).

Many mechanics refuse to change the transmission fluid if they don't see a dipstick because newer vehicles have a hidden fill plug and they don't want to consult YouTube (which has videos). They just tell the customer "Oh, you have a 'lifetime' transmission. You don't need to do anything anymore!".

Lifetime means until your transmission goes out because you didn't change the fluid

[PCIntern]

6. Interesting. Thanks!

[miyazaki]

8. especially in CVT's. nt

[dalton99a]

9. Yep. CVTs actually need more attention than traditional transmissions

[keep_left]

12. Apropos, there's a "Mythbusters"...

…episode where Jamie is trying to change a battery on a late-model Ford (IIRC), and he discovers that the battery is not exactly in a place one would expect. It’s wedged into one of the wheel wells.

At this point in the episode, there’s a lot of “bleeped” language, along with Jamie’s cogent observation that “this is what happens when idiots design things on a computer”.

[Phoenix61]

7. I have a 2014 Ford Escape that I love except...

it's an hour and a half labor to replace the battery🤬🤬🤬

[dalton99a]

11. It is poor design to put a battery way in the back

where it is hard to service and remove

[Swede]

10. I was a part time shuttle driver at a dealership. I saw a few customers crying when they get the bill.

It wasn't pretty.

[hardluck]

13. Didn't seem particularly difficult

No special tools and a QR code to direct you to instructions. Turn car on do a couple quick steps and the air dam drops. Remove 4 bolts and you have access to the oil filter. Even has a drain - if he had added a $1 plastic tube he wouldn’t have made a mess.

Not as easy as my 89 or 94 Land Cruiser but quicker than the 2013 Land Cruiser where I have to remove half the skid plate to get to the oil filter.