Poll:100% Synthetic oil - change frequency

[USK Coastie]

GM has had a program buit into to some of their cars (those equipped with a driver information center) that will calculate when regular oil is due to be changed. GM does not have it calibrated for Syn oil.
I have two GM products with this feature and change oil when the computer says to. Sure hacks off the dealer when he tries to sell a LOF job when the rig is in for a recall or warrenty work .

 

[bright eyed]

my partner works in service for cars and we change ours every 5-7k miles...3 is excessive. if the car is older he does recommend staying closer to the 3-5k range.

 

[Chuckanut]

Here's a rather long video from a former Toyota master technician who has opened his own shop. His comments on the 10K oil change recommendation are interesting. Basically, he thinks it comes from the marketing department not the engineering department.

He also recommends buying a good quality oil and changing it every 5000 miles versus buying Premium Oil and changing it every 10,000 miles. Yes, toss in a new filter every time you change the oil

It breaks my heart every time I speak with a Toyota Owner who has an oil consumption problem in an engine that wasn't affected by any manufacturing issue simply because they didn't catch the 10k oil change in time.

It is one of the worst ideas and one I wish would change in the future. Please change your oil in your Toyota engine every 5000 Miles or 6 months whichever comes first. Use good quality oil.

The owner of this 2015 Toyota Camry is one of the nicest folks I have ever met. He had to find out this way why a 10k mile oil change interval is not a good idea.

 

[Gumby]

I don't have an automotive engineering background, so all I can do is relate my own personal anecdote. I had a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid from late December 2007 to June 2019. During that time, I personally did every single oil change, every 9000 miles. I used only Mobil-1 full synthetic 0W-20 oil and OEM filters every time. When I gave it away to a friend's daughter upon my retirement, the car had 303,000 miles on it* and was still running like a champ.

* So that's 32 oil changes. I installed a new drain plug washer every time and kept the old ones in a baggie in my garage. It gave me great joy to count them when I did my last oil change.

 

[Chuckanut]

I don't have an automotive engineering background, so all I can do is relate my own personal anecdote. I had a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid from late December 2007 to June 2019. During that time, I personally did every single oil change, every 9000 miles. I used only Mobil-1 full synthetic 0W-20 oil and OEM filters every time. When I gave it away to a friend's daughter upon my retirement, the car had 303,000 miles on it* and was still running like a champ.

* So that's 32 oil changes. I installed a new drain plug washer every time and kept the old ones in a baggie in my garage. It gave me great joy to count them when I did my last oil change.

That's approximately 25,000 miles per year. Supposedly, that amount of driving is easier on a per-mile basis than my post Covid driving of about 8000 per year. I am not arguing with you and those great results. Just trying to account for another variable.

 

[audreyh1]

Never.

Oil? What do you need oil for?

 

[Ian S]

While I'm sure I could have used synthetic with my 12 y.o. car, the maintenance docs specified that I use the severe service timetable which was 6 months or 5000 miles and it didn't offer any other option if you used synthetic. Because I drive about 7000 miles annually mostly on the highway, my oil gets changed at the 6 month time interval and always at the dealer. No oil consumption at 71000 miles.

 

[travelover]

Here's a rather long video from a former Toyota master technician who has opened his own shop. His comments on the 10K oil change recommendation are interesting. Basically, he thinks it comes from the marketing department not the engineering department.
........

I follow this guy, too. I've switched form 10K to 5K intervals on his recommendation for my Highlander. Now that Costco and Amazon sell their own brands of synthetic oil, it is really not a major expense.

 

[skipro33]

I change the oil based on the warranty requirements. The manufacturer requires synthetic oil,.
California outlaws dino oil. Now all motor oil sold in California must be synthetic or synthetic blend.

 

[njhowie]

Dealership has a sign posted "Do not bring it for oil change until dashboard says under 10% oil life".

I do my own oil change at that point.

 

[freedomatlast]

This is not a "one size fits all" question.

Check your owner's manual or onboard oil life monitor for your specific vehicle and driving conditions.

 

[foxcreek9]

Once a year, which is generally 5-6k.

 

[REWahoo]

Just realized this is a zombie thread - dead for over 15 years before yesterday's resurrection!

 

[Gumby]

This is not a "one size fits all" question.

Check your owner's manual or onboard oil life monitor for your specific vehicle and driving conditions.

Exactly. My old Civic had a maintenance minder that came on about every 9000 miles, so that's when I changed the oil (and did whatever else it told me to do).

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I did not vote as there is not an "As Needed" option. For the most part Synthetic (Full) oil does not degrade, it just gets dirty. I have had lots of regular cars, high end and exotics and always used 100% Synthetic. Mobil one to be precise. I only ever changed the oil when I could visibly see it needed it. Depending on the engine that does vary, lower tolerance engines tend to get dirtier. Fast forward to 2022, most engines are now high tolerance. A 3 month oil change is a fallacy to line the pockets of the oil and service companies. My new VWs and BMWs only ever got changed by the manufacturer every year. I have had cars where the oil was never changed, but the mileage was in the 100s not thousands.

One caveat was I always changed the oil filter every 6 months, need it or not. For my own peace of mind, but not the oil unless it visibly needed it, or the filter indicated it was needed.

As most oil filters now can be changed at home, it is an easy decision.

 

[VanWinkle]

My 2019 Highlander recommends synthetic change at 10,000 and rotation every 5000. I do both at 10,000.

 

[REWahoo]

Here's a rather long video from a former Toyota master technician who has opened his own shop. His comments on the 10K oil change recommendation are interesting. Basically, he thinks it comes from the marketing department not the engineering department.

He also recommends buying a good quality oil and changing it every 5000 miles versus buying Premium Oil and changing it every 10,000 miles. Yes, toss in a new filter every time you change the oil

I'm a Toyota Highlander owner (a 2014 and now a 2021 hybrid) who has been following this guy's YouTube videos for a while. He has convinced me to do an oil change at 5,000 miles (when the onboard reminder says) rather than follow the 10k mile schedule in the owner's manual.

His "engineering vs. marketing" explanation makes sense to me. In essence, Toyota marketing asked engineering if the engine will experience any problems within the 60 month/60,000 mile drive train warranty if the oil change interval was 10K miles. Engineering tells marketing the 10k oil change interval may lead to problems, but not until after the warranty period. Marketing says great, lets use the 10k reduced maintenance requirement as a feature to sell more cars!

 

[Aerides]

Chuck, how is it even possible to bump a 15-year-old thread?

 

[VanWinkle]

His "engineering vs. marketing" explanation makes sense to me. In essence, Toyota marketing asked engineering if the engine will experience any problems within the 60 month/60,000 mile drive train warranty if the oil change interval was 10K miles. Engineering tells marketing the 10k oil change interval may lead to problems, but not until after the warranty period. Marketing says great, lets use the 10k reduced maintenance requirement as a feature to sell more cars!

I'm calling BS on his explanation. Toyota does not do business that way. Some other car companies would be more likely to meet this quote.

 

[ERD50]

Chuck, how is it even possible to bump a 15-year-old thread?

Have you tried? I just get a warning and a box to click to acknowledge it is old.

Perhaps the 'app' version does not provide this option, but the browser does.

-ERD50

 

[REWahoo]

I'm calling BS on his explanation. Toyota does not do business that way. Some other car companies would be more likely to meet this quote.

Maybe, maybe not. Doubt we will ever know which interpretation is accurate, but I am going to go with the 5k oil change frequency that 1) the onboard computer notifies me to follow and 2) is the more conservative of the two options.

YMMV, of course.

 

[ERD50]

...
His "engineering vs. marketing" explanation makes sense to me. In essence, Toyota marketing asked engineering if the engine will experience any problems within the 60 month/60,000 mile drive train warranty if the oil change interval was 10K miles. Engineering tells marketing the 10k oil change interval may lead to problems, but not until after the warranty period. Marketing says great, lets use the 10k reduced maintenance requirement as a feature to sell more cars!

I'm calling BS on his explanation. Toyota does not do business that way. Some other car companies would be more likely to meet this quote.

I'm also not buying it. Doesn't Toyota also have 100,000 mile spark plugs, long-life coolant, etc?

So many people take cars to 100,000, 200,000 or more, they'd get a bad rap and it would hurt sales.

I just skimmed the video, it's long, but is this based on just one (or a few?) examples? I recently had this discussion with someone who instead their 20046 GM required oil changes at 3000 miles, and that the manual said so. No, I found the manual on-line, and some GM tech papers. Follow the oil-minder, it generally comes on ~ 5,000~10,000 miles depending.

The old "I change my oil every 3,000 miles and never had an engine problem!" is phony logic. You very well may have also had no engine problems if you followed the oil-minder (based on total revolutions and temperature). In the process of doing some searching, I found plenty of posts to an owner's forum where people reported getting 250,000~300,000 miles following the oil-minder. Sure, that's anecdotal as well, but if the oil-minder was that aggressive, you'd think that would be almost impossible.

Remember, the oil-minder is taking driving conditions into account. You don't need to adjust for 'severe' driving vs highway driving, it does it for you.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Maybe, maybe not. Doubt we will ever know which interpretation is accurate, but I am going to go with the 5k oil change frequency that 1) the onboard computer notifies me to follow and 2) is the more conservative of the two options.

YMMV, of course.

Now I'm confused - I didn't think anyone was suggesting going beyond the oil-minder, I though they were just saying don't go beyond 3,000 miles?

Yes, follow the oil-minder, whatever miles are on it.

-ERD50

 

[REWahoo]

I just skimmed the video, it's long, but is this based on just one (or a few?) examples?

I agree it is a long video, but the guy (a certified Toyota mechanic) cites a number of examples (a few? more than a few?) of excessive levels of oil consumption in high mileage Toyota engines. He attributes these to 10K oil change intervals as discussed above.

BS or no? As I said, I've been following his YouTube channel on Toyotas for a while and he seems credible to me.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

I change the oil and oil filter in my 2019 Honda Pilot when the maintenance minder says to. That works out to about 7,500 miles using the OEM specified synthetic oil. About the same for my 2014 Accord hybrid.