Well since I bought the wife a RX to drive she insisted I keep the 2010 ES as my work car. (was perfectly content in my Civic) I have always did my own oil changes except on her ES. Our son was a service writer at a local Toyota dealership so she let him get oil changes done there at his cost. Well since this ES (bought new in 2010) is now my DD and our son no longer works at Toyota I decided to service it myself. Other that the filter drain plug being over tightened, this was one of the easiest oil and filter changes I've ever done. I knew I would be diligent and do whatever it takes to change the oil but had no idea it would be as easy as it is. Good design!
Al

 

 

 

 

With a lot of newer cars going to top mounted oil filters and suction extraction of the oil the old design of this system is outdated . Although I have a lift in my garage it is a PITA to remove the filter and clean it and insert the filter. Also the location near a hot exhaust doesn't help . Unfortunately there are millions of these 3.5l engines which have changed very little since they were 1st built. So we'll live with what we have.

 

I change my own oil, too. I honestly dislike how messy an oil change is on the ES with the two stage housing for the filter and having to use a scraper to get the washer off the oil drain housing. Someone had highly over-tightened the filter housing and I had to spend nearly $40 for a new housing. I also dislike that I have to use two different torque wrenches on the filter housing. I dislike changing the oil on this car more than any car I've ever owned. It is too time consuming and too complex.

 

Dang guys, I can change the filter on the ES350 barehanded and not get any oil on my hands. Impossible to do that on the Corolla or Camry. Can also do barehand on the Tacoma which has an inverted filter and easy to access on top. The O-rings come off easy with a pick. The trick is draining the canister using that drain plastic piece. Depending on the filter brand, you'll get one of two drain pieces, a press-in or a screw-in. You only need to remove some of the oil, so that you don't spill any when you remove the canister.

 

 

Less waste if you just throw away the filter element. I actually like this new design.