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If you own a vehicle that you have serviced by your brand’s dealership, you may notice that the oil is often overfilled above the maximum mark on the dipstick. In addition to dealers overfilling the oil, it can happen when an owner changes it themselves and adds the recommended amount specified in the manual. This is precisely what has happened to both your author and a RAV4Hybrid owner we will call DZ, who posted a request for advice from fellow owners and who supplied our top-of-the-page image. Here is what DZ posted in the Facebook Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Owners’ Club this week:
Should I worry if the oil amount is about 1cm over the high mark? (Engine cold on level ground).
Overfilling a Toyota Engine: What Does the Manual Say?
We first looked at the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid owner’s manual to see what advice it has about oil changes and overfilling. To our dismay, it calls any oil over the high mark “Excessive.” It further says, “Avoid Overfilling. The Engine Could Be Damaged.” But the manual does not say how much is “overfull.”
Practically speaking, if a centimeter of oil over the dipstick line was dangerous, every vehicle I have ever owned would have been damaged. That’s because I usually buy new, have owned about a dozen brands, and every single one of the dealers I used overfilled the oil - except Ford, who thus far has filled the new oil precisely to the “full line” when I have had my Bronco Sport serviced.
Our Own Experience - Toyota GR86
We have a Toyota GR86 in our family fleet, driven mainly by Torque News contributor Ean Goreham. We took the vehicle in for its third service, and the Toyota dealer filled the oil up past the high mark, as we have frequently observed. Ean went back to the service department, spoke to the service writer, and explained the overfill. The service writer deemed the situation to be fine and advised him not to worry. This is something that other Toyota owners have also reported. For example, owner Michael Y in the RAV4 Hybrid club said,
It happened to me, too, when I sent my 2024 RAV4 in for service. I found it above the level of the maximum dipstick, exactly the same as the photo you uploaded here. I told the Toyota dealer that, and they said it's OK.
Other owners also sought to calm the nerves of DZ , offering these comments:
JR - “That little bit over will not cause foaming.”
JT - “That amount over won’t hurt anything. I have done it many times.”
AM - “It’s totally fine. Don’t worry about this at all. The dip stick is just a rough estimate of your oil level.”
Our favorite comment of them all came from RAV4 Hybrid club member JW, who posted, “Perfect level for wheelies!”
Some of the helpful folks in the GR86 Group on Facebook also say that a bit of an overfill is not a concern. Here are comments some folks offered on this subject:
JB - “The dealership put this much in mine.”
CC - “I did a full qt overfill for track day and left it like that, it's fine.”
AA - “That looks like the perfect amount.”
TH - “That’s about where mine is, and I haven’t had any issues with.”
MT - “It's fine.”
JL - “My car was actually filled at this level brand new from the factory.”
A Trusted Mechanic Weighs In - AAA’s Car Doctor
We reached out to John Paul, AAA’s Car Doctor and frequent President of the New England Motor Press Association. John says that it matters how overfull the vehicle is. A centimeter is not a concern. Here’s the advice John offered:
A small amount is unlikely to cause any issues. Extreme overfilling (like a quart extra or more) can cause problems. The crankshaft can whip up the oil and cause aeration, and reduce lubrication. Also, overfilling an engine oil by a quart or more can cause excessive pressure on the rear main seal
John said what many fellow Toyota owners say about changing oil yourself. They advise that the engine should be filled to roughly 80% of the amount it calls for in the manual. Then run till warm, allowed to settle for five minutes, and then top off the oil to the full line on the dipstick.
Watch Torque News Editor Armen Hareyan's take on this news from the Torque News Youtube channel.
Sadly, your dealer is unlikely to do that. Instead, they will drain the oil and change the filter. Next, they will refill using a hose system with a meter to put in the predetermined amount of oil for that model and call it good. Most will do a final check to ensure the car has oil. We recommend always doing that as well. At the dealership, or once the car is home and has settled, if the vehicle is delivered back following an oil change.
Whether you change your own oil or let a dealer or mechanic do it for you, there is bound to be a bit of extra oil on the dipstick following an oil change. There are some extreme cases, though. I once had a Subaru Forester’s oil changed by a dealer. Following the change, it was many inches high on the dipstick. When I alerted the dealer, they insisted that I let them redo the oil change service and apologized. Following that experience, I have made it my habit to ask the service writer to add “Please do not overfill oil” to the work order when I bring my car in. I realize this is a bit demeaning to the technician or mechanic who will do the change, but based on my experience, the oil is nearly always high on the stick after it is changed by a dealer. This leads me to the conspiracy theory.
The Overfull Oil Change Conspiracy Theory
Many models, particularly older Subarus and VWs, had a tendency to consume oil. This freaks out owners, justifiably. Dealers often fall back on the old adage that “A quart of consumption between oil changes is not a problem.” However, some Subaru owners were seeing a lot more consumption than that. Eventually, there was a class action suit, and Subaru has now rectified this issue. My conspiracy theory is that some dealers have a habit of adding a smidge more oil than full on purpose. This gives the car more to consume between changes and keeps the level above the low-level line, precluding owner complaints. Call me nuts if you like, but otherwise, why would dealers waste a buck’s worth of oil on every change they do?
Offer Your Oil Change Experience Please
If you have noticed that dealers often add a bit more oil than is called for, or have any other input on this topic, please add your comments in the space below.
John Goreham is the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his fourteen years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools.
Top of page image used with the permission of RAV4 hybrid owner DZ. Manual images courtesy of Toyota. Second oil dipstick image by Ean Goreham.
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