Hey everyone,

I'm about to change my oil for the first time on my "new" 98 ES300. I know the oil has been changed recently in terms of miles (less than 1,000) but the car has sat for quite awhile - about a year - before I got it, so I want to get some new oil in there.

I've already picked up a filter and gasket from a Toyota dealer. Seems logical and easy just to stay with OEM filters - and the cost was pretty reasonable at $4 and change.

I read a few threads (like this poll) and it seems most people put either Castrol or Mobil 1 in their cars.

I was considering getting either of these:
Mobil 1 High Mileage 5W-30 Full Synthetic Motor Oil: $26.48
Castrol GTX High-Mileage 5W30 Motor Oil: $17.67

As you can see the Castrol is about $10 cheaper so I'm sort of leaning on that one. But I'm really not sure!

Obviously the difference between them is that M1 is full synthetic and the Castrol is 0% synthetic.

Any help you can offer is appreciated! I'm off to google the benefits of synthetic vs conventional.

By the way, the car has 167,800 miles on it. I don't think the oil was changed diligently/religiously at recommended intervals, but I have no way to confirm it for sure.

 

Just go with Synthetic....

 

go oem recommendation - castrol conventional

 

I don't understand high-mileage oils. I would go with regular oil if I were you. No need for synthetic if you're changing every 5 - 6 thousand miles.

p.s.: I use full synthetic

 

I like Pennzoil Platinum. Good price for a syn, especially at WalMart in the 5 qt jug.

Why cheap out on oil in an older car?

I change it twice a year, (about 4K per change).
OEM filter BTW

 

i use Mobil One 5W30 from Costco and use Bosch oil filters. I drive about 1500 miles a month so i change it myself every 2 months.

 

Since your car is older if it hasn't had synthetic oil in it I wouldn't switch to it. Synthetic oil cleans a lot better than conventional oil (thus the longer interval between changes) but this can cause your car to leak. Conventional oil and a good filter like Mobile 1 will keep your engine very clean if you change it every 3,000 to 5,000 miles.

 

That's a bit excessive. You can easily go three months without causing any issues. The oil is still fairly clean at 5000 miles.

 

Old wives tale! Won't happen.

 

I use Valvoline or Mobil 1 depending on where I am purchasing the oil from.

 

You'd think so wouldn't you? I can say from experience I have had a couple old cars that I tried synthetic on and found this same issue. Plenty of reports I've seen from others too. It seems to be an observable phenomenon: leaks that show up when running synthetic, goes away when going back to organic.

I don't think the issue is actually that Synthetic "cleans" better, a pretty dumb conclusion if you know about oil. Perhaps the Synthetic having a lower viscosity when cold or more uniform molecule size has an effect with an older car with seals that may have shrunk or otherwise aged.

 

Depends. On a car from the 70s, mabye. after that , I don';t think so. Never happened to me, and I have used Syn on plenty of "old cars."

 

I had this experience last with my '88 MX-6 GT. Not saying every car would have the issue and it may very well depend on the oil used. Just an FYI to watch for, more for the others but feel free to get the last word in so you can win on the Intarwebs ;-)

 

I use synthetic blend, usually Castrol whatever is cheap at F arm and Fleet. Change it at about 5000 miles and use a Frame filter. Over 200,000 miles and no issues with the motor.

 

Castrol #1