niteflite

ok, so this is my first lexus - gs300 awd. first car close to luxury. have had hondas and toyota and vw.

so my first question is, what oil grade should i be using? is 5w-30 sufficient? is it good enough? is there a particular brand or line i should use? i have an independent mechanic who owns a gs350. i plan on taking the oil and have him do the labor.

how about fuel? does it have to be 93 octane? will 91 be good enough?

iron_lungs

Just read the owner's manual. It'll tell you what grade of fuel and oil to use. As for me, I only use premium fuel and synthetic oil (courtsey of the dealership. Since your mechanic owns a gs350, he should steer you in the right direction as well.

steviej

iTrader: (1)

yeah, what iron lungs said.

personally, I use Mobil 1 Synthetic (not the extended performance, just standard synthetic) 5w-30. As for gas, I use 93 octance because there ain't no 91 octane in this here neck of the woods.

steviej

LexFather

Welcome and nice upgrade. Its a Lexus, run Premium fuel so the engine gets the best fuel and runs with the most HP and efficiency. You might think you are saving a few buck buying regular as the car will run but you will get less HP and less fuel economy.

This is a PREMIUM vehicle, so buy PREMIUM fuel, as recommended by the manual.

As for oil, here is a great thread on the best kinds
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...?highlight=oil

I have used conventional Castrol in all my Lexus and I've never had any issues (i've changed my own oil since 1997). I am using Royal Purple Synthetic in my 450h now and its been great. I've used Mobil1 in other cars.....

Since you are in VA and not in extreme temperatures, 5W-30 is fine but oils of near weights will be fine too.

Stormforge

mike, quick question for you: if you follow lexus oil change maintenance schedule, do you really need to go with better oil? if i change my oil at the dealership every 6,000 KM or 6 months (whichever comes first), it should be fine?

LexFather

Honesty no. I do it for extra piece of mind and I just like some good drink for my baby. Thats what oil is, the food that makes the engine go. Once you change it on the regular and don't drive like a bat out of hell every time or live in extreme cold/heat, the car will be fine. This particular engine seems to really be state of the art once you change the oil.

Some people insist on German made Castrol for instance, some insist on Amsoil. I've used Castrol in my other Lexus and never had any engine heating/wear/sludge etc issues. Since 6km is what 3600 miles for us here, that is actually overdoing it to me. I would say 5,000 miles on the regular, thats what I do. So thats what 8KM? If you want to stick the regular maintenance level that is great, but dont' worry if you go over.

I have to change my oil soon

Stormforge

thx for the advice. you may be right, it could be 8,000 KM for the next oil change.

Lexzam

Since you live in BC, I suggest to go for 0W or 5W for the better cold starting properties. Frequency of oil change is probably the most important, as said.

For my 2G Lexus I used to have the oil changed at every 5000 miles for the first 20000 miles, after that only at regular services at every 10000 miles (as recommended by Lexus Europe). The dealers would have used Castrol or Shell Helix. I have however normally brought them with me (all fully synthetics): Esso Ultron 5W40 and now more recently Mobil1 0W40. At 85k miles in the clock never needed to add a drop of oil between the regular oil changes.

I8ABMR

follow whats in the manual as far as grades, but in the case of the oil try to se synthetic

THE.K.W.C

I run 94 octane but if a $250000 bently can run on 87 then im sure we dont need to run on top gas, But i like to cause it makes me feel like a boss

steviej

iTrader: (1)

octane recomendations are not related to the price of the vehicle but rather to the compression ratio of the engine used in said vehicle.

niteflite

well i went in for my second oil change. the first time the dude just used conventional 5w-30 and whatever filter and charged me $23. this time i eyed the mobil 1 5w-30 synth and they said ok and whatever filter and charged me $65!! so, since i paid triple can i put more than 5k miles on it before the next change? what changes should i notice?

EyeKutr

iTrader: (5)

thats cheap for a synthetic change, you will notice no diff, zip, nada

BinaryJay

Just change the oil as often as you should, or sooner, and you're fine... there really isn't any need to use synthetic unless you plan on extending your oil change frequency.

The G Man

IT depends if you are still under warranty, if you are, then I would stick to the factory recommanded oil change interval.