mylexus350

I change my oil every 5000 miles or 6 months which ever come's first. It usually ends up being 3000 miles. Should I use regular motor oil or full synthetic oil? Does brand make a difference ?

kls

Being a bit of an oil junkie, which is a useless pastime, you won't notice any difference with any brand - regular or synthetic - when you're changing every 3K miles. On my previous Lexus I changed the oil every 5K and sold the car to my daughter with 155K miles on it and it didn't burn a drop of oil.

But, like I said, I'm a junkie. On my recently acquired ES 350 I'm going to switch to synthetic and change it every 7,500. I'm going to try to do some tests on the mileage it's currently getting, and see if the synthetic improves it. As much as I obsess over oil I have to try to recall how many engine failures I've seen that were related to oil (current count is 0). Many people get attached to a brand (like me and Castrol) and say it's always worked for them, but what does that mean? My engines have never blown up, but neither have my transmissions and I have no idea what's in there. Use the recommended viscosity and change it every 3-5K and you'll never have an oil related problem.

Cartune

iTrader: (3)

with

jagtoes

If you change every 5K miles then any 5W-30 dino oil will do. If you change every 10K miles then any 5W-30 syn oil will do.

Lawman68

I just purchased a 2008 Lexus ES350 for the wife. It only had 25,000 miles on it. I just had the oil changed. I went to an independent and they put in synthetic and charged me $55 which I thought was a fair price. I was told I did not need to change the oil for 5,000 miles. I would think with Snythetic oil I could go for 6 or 7,000 miles.

kls

I would think with Snythetic oil I could go for 6 or 7,000 miles.

I agree. I'm not ready to go a lot longer than that because my understanding is that although the viscosity on a synthetic will hold up well past 10K, the additives begin to deteriorate. I'm thinking 7,500, and Ill do a test on the oil and see how it's holding up. If it's doing fine, then synthetic won't cost much, if any more than regular oil.

Lawman68

Hey KLS

After doing the test on the synthetic 7,500 oil can you post the results? That will be a good guide for me. Thanks

kls

After doing the test on the synthetic 7,500 oil can you post the results? That will be a good guide for me. Thanks

I'm trying to do a MPG test, and see what change I get with synthetic. Then I'll do an oil analysis at 7,500 and see what happens. If the synthetic gets just 1 MPG better, it becomes more economical than regular oil. I don't think it will happen, but hopefully I'm surprised. I'll post when I figure something out, which may be 6-8 months.