Knucklebus

It all depends on the clearances they built the engine around. Tighter clearances will use lighter oil and still provide excellent oil pressure.

cnc369

i definitely agree tighter tolerances require a thinner oil for lubrication purposes. but ultimately it's still a toyota, and they realistically are not known for pushing engines to extremes and manufacturering with tight tolerances compared to lets say mercedes, porsche, honda, nissan etc. if toyota was so knowledgeable in building tight tolerance high output engines then they wouldn't rely on bmw, suzuki, or tsubaru (fuji heavy industries) to build their performance engines/car models.
btw 5w-30 is perfectly fine according to the owners manual. it's definitely thin enough and besides it's not like I'm using 15w-40 or 20w-50 which definitely is thicker in viscosity and can pose an issue to parts such as hydraulic lifters, chain tensioners, vvt sys, oil jets etc...

charley95

All the years I've owned cars I've never had someone change my oil and hopefully never will. After my tire buying experience from Lexus the other day, I am not trusting anyone to touch my cars.

JeffKeryk

The nice thing about the dealer service is that they do an inspection, air up and rotate the tires, etc.
Some dealers use a bulk oil, which is not necessarily bad. You could always bring in a jug of your own oil.

By the way, i subscribe 5K to 6K or 1 year oil change intervals. It is cheap insurance.
There is another option... Get a MityVac and do top-side oil changes; leave the filter alone. Bring it to the dealer (or mechanic) every other service.

pd7702

I wouldn't pay for the ultra premium brands. Any full synthetic from the big name manufacturers will work. You can be sure they've put millions of hours of testing into these products.

The important thing is you get them done, use quality filters, and adjust the interval according to your usage scenario. Lots of short trips where your engine never fully warms up? Might wanna go with a time based interval (like maybe every 6 months or so).

Edit: BTW I pay $70-80 every 6-7 months. I think my mechanic uses Eneos.

Hues10

Considering I have had the 2013 GSH now for over 2 1/2 years, and have put around 6k miles on it, I may have gotten the oil changed twice by the dealer under CPO. Though it may be since Oct 2020 when they did the last one. That was probably 2500 miles ago though. I just check the level and it seems fine. I am going to go a while longer I think, since it seems such a waste to continually change oil after one year with low miles on it. I don’t think cars malfunction cause of older slightly used oil, as opposed to low oil levels. Seeing how oil can sit in a jug for years, what is the difference if it sits in my oil pan or a jug?

Knucklebus

The oil in a jug is sealed. The oil in your engine has been exposed to combustion gasses and may be acidified. If you run the car at least 20 minutes every time you start it, it likely isn't an issue. Short trips will build more contaminants than highway driving. If the oil on the dipstick smells of fuel, it is contaminated and likely needs changing.

I park my car in a heated garage and always get it hot enough to burn off contaminants so i don't worry about time. I change usually be mileage. If this is your type of driving, you likely won't have any issue either.

MX73

I agree with the comment about sealed versus opened oil. Oil that has been used in a ICE engine and is just sitting around can corrode the internals. All the reaction in the combustion chamber, blow-by, etc will make the oil more acidic. I would highly recommend that you change your oil sooner than the 1 year mark. I think the severe OCI is recommended in this case.

Hues10

OK, you all have guilted me into changing my oil. Will be my first time on this car. I just ordered the oil filter wrench thing and filter medium on Amazon. Getting drain plug washers from eBay. Where is the jacking point in the front if I want to lift the car a little and put jack stands under the jacking points on the side? Also, do you actually do the oil filter drain plastic plug thing, or just take the canister off and dump the oil in it out. Have never changed a canister filter yet, and have read both ways. Thanks all for the guilt trip. Just kidding!

Knucklebus

Generally, I would jack my car up on the driver's side at the jack point and put the jack stand under the sub-frame pivot of the control arm. I don't need a jack much these days.

As to the oil filter, if your drain pan is placed properly, I just yank the whole housing off. It is quicker and never really saved me any clean up.

While you are there, inspect your belt.


Tall Jack

Hues10

So I did change my oil on my own. Wow, this car is much lower than even crawling under my 2011 RDX. How do I know? Well I changed the RDX oil first today. What a slight pain to get the Jack under the center of the engine and up enough to get jack stands at the two front side points. Then the oil drain plug is way back there. It was at some weird angle, but I guess it makes it easier to drain. I took the little plastic cove off for the oil filter, and I said no way. I was done for the day and did not want the hassle of the potential mess. That will be the next oil change in another year and 3000 miles later. Just figured I have at most 3000 miles since October 2020, so I can always take it out and replace. At least the filter is towards the front of the car. Sorry gents, I am getting too old for this stuff it seems.

ViperTim

Some people enjoy to believe that they save time by not doing it themselves.

I use Toyota 0w20 in mine. Could I use anything else? Of course.
Toyota wanted $120 for a 5 Liter jug of oil which almost made me crap my pants.
Its $60 online.

Hues10

Probably 90 minutes from start to finish for the two cars yesterday. That is from getting everything out, cleanup, and then taking shower, so not too bad. I do not like to spill one drop of oil on the driveway, so I take my time and have paper towels on hand for getting the oil off hand if needed. I just remember the DIY Dan video, and he had oil all over his arm taking the oil filter housing off. HIs 2013 GS had the bottom plate stick the plastic thing in the bottom to drain the filter, but when I looked at mine, it did not. Surprising, I had even purchased a metal “plug” with a tube to drain the oil. I imagine when I do change it, it will be a pain to get off from being torqued too tight. One other question, when filling up the oil, what was that metal “flap” thing that didn’t move right under the screw cap? I could barely put a funnel in. Or does it move and I just didn’t know how? I don’t know what else to do to maintain this car since I only have driven it 7000 miles in (three years in May).