Assalamualikum Brother. I have nothing against you nor your choices. To answer your queries :
Yes, 3S Toyota exists everywhere in Pakistan and yes Taglon 5W-50 was added into the lineup in 2014 or so. About the readily available issue, what I meant was all their products before Taglon 5W-50 were not available everywhere. (Other than 20W50, all products were not readily available back in 2012-14, they were short or whatever) I don't know why availability is not an issue, anything can be short in Pakistan. They are still shortage on the OEM Japanese 5W-30 Tin Oil in Karachi (just telling, not that i need it). Never said 20W-50 is better than 5W-50, I said it covers a better heat requirement than the 5W30 and 10W30 in different regions of Pakistan overall. ( All temperatures are covered by it mostly. )
20W-50 is better at covering hotter temperatures throughout the country and is a mineral based, low cost solution so the company prefers it to save their costs when putting it in the car. As for why would they put it in the car is simple ... they make it for Pakistan and cover the warranty. They manufacture a series of oils for all types of reasons including the way people drive or the climate/environment. They introduced the 5W-50 oil but i don't know why they don't put it in the cars unless the consumer/user demands it; same for the other oils. Mostly in the beginning people opted for the 1300cc XLi/GLi variant or the 2NZFE which easily worked on the 20W-50 series, and once the awaam (thanks to us and Pakwheels) awoke and other oil manufacturers entered the scene, they had to diversify. I am not saying 'x' oil is better than 'y' oil. What I am saying is that indus strategizes for the whole country and 20W-50 was their logical choice for the car and determined for running period and beyond. They introduced the 5W-50 oil and since I have not used that I will not say anything for it, nor against it. I will let the users decide that. As for the risk factor of the main 3 car manufacturers nearly 95% of all cases are blamed on the consumer. You changed the tyres and warranty is void,etc. 5W-50 is meant to replace the 20W-50 option in my opinion. <Engine Japan nay banaya hai, Pakistan main manufacture hota hoga> (A)
Lastly aap hi ki marzi chalay gee bhai kyun kay manufacturer aap say poochay baghair koi cheez nahi badal sakta. Agar woh bolaain pani ya miti ka tayl daal dain, motor oil ki jaga tu kiya aap dalwa dain *** ?? They recommend something, not state that if you don't do this you have no other option. As you yourself stated you wrote to the company and got no "convincing" response ... so you can understand they are busy making cars and their consumer support is bad. The only thing i can say is to use the advised oil in the guide is ok. Most of the workers in the 3S center are trained to fix the issue not give detailed part advice. They don't have 100% knowledge or information. I don't blame them for the lack of technical knowledge,etc. They do what they are capable of doing and what they are told to. Speaking to the responsible parts/sales parts guy might bring you some insight. One person from their management stated the tin pack (5W30 Synthetic) from Japan is not advised and will hurt the 2NZFE Engine. I said I can take the risk and guess what ... nothing happened. They have those things available for a reason.
Lastly are the rest of us actually following the OEM strictly ? We all sometimes change all parts like tyres, battery, etc and not every time it is from the 3S centre. (What I mean is we don't have to follow the instructions from the OEM 110% ... sometimes we can use other products in emergencies. Follow the manual and all will be well. )
Jazakallah and Peace Out !!
I am only offering you advise based on your query. I don't represent Indus nor any other manufacturer. I am stating facts. You may like something that I may not, but that does not make us enemies. We all are different. Lastly we cannot change the company policy, unless we all force the people responsible to serve the consumers for their rights. Maximum sales are of XLi/GLi variants and their service,etc gets the company their finances so why would they bother putting expensive oils that run long periods ?? Smaller timeframe between oil changes,etc will yield more money, don't you think so ?