arentz07

I think if you drive very casually, or "efficiently" if you will, going on 10k is probably fine. Is it good for the typically-long life we associate with Toyota/Lexus? I don't know if there's any data to say one way or another. One thing is for sure, people who drive the car like I do (going on spirited drives on pretty much a weekly basis) should likely consider a 5k oil change regardless.

For another comparison, my 2016 GTI also had a manual that recommended 10k oil changes, but I could tell just from the level and color of the oil that 10k would have been a stretch - especially with spirited driving. I changed it twice in less than 10k miles while I owned the car.

JNP1227

iTrader: (1)

I'm not if this has been your experience as well Arentz07, but for your GTI or even 330i since they are both turbo cars - I'm sure you had to top off at some point before the 10k mark? Reason I ask few friends with 335i and S4s said before they started modding they always had to top off before they changed their oil- more now that they are tuned, intakes, etc

s3v3n

iTrader: (3)

Yes some people will agree and most people will disagree on the early oil change intervals. No issues with that. My advise to these people is just do what works for you and don't question if someone is not doing something everyone else is supposed to be doing. A simple analogy is "that is why cars comes different colors!".

In my case, got a tuned engine, doing spirited driving whenever I wish to(and whenever my radar is quiet), and most of all driving in manual mode almost all the time, so I won't wait for it to hit 5K before changing the engine oil.

arentz07

Yep, with the GTI my very first oil change was because it was getting close to the bottom hash-mark of the dipstick. It hadn't had an oil change in about 6k miles at the time. Seeing the dipstick prompted me to go look up the service history again.

With the 330i, we've not had it long enough to say. We just crossed the 3,000 mile mark. According to the infotainment, oil is fine at the moment.

StPretz

Hi, I think the there a couple of considerations beyond time and distance… the generation of the vehicle and the storage location/climate.

older engines were more open to the elements, more infusion of “moisture “… sealed systems…

climate… moist climate with big temp swings, more condensation more potential for moisture driven corrosion.

all that said, I change oil at least once a year, even though all but my old Ranger PU are kept inside..

seriously, do I have to post 30 times in the next 30 days to stay on this forum?

cheers,
steve

arentz07

Great first post, Steve!

And no, it's not a requirement to stay on the forum. However, to create an avatar and do some other things, yes. Unless the rules changed and I missed something.

mopudding

I keep my IS350 in an unheated, un-insulated garage. So it's a slightly more stable climate than outdoors and obviously considerably drier. How would this (or does it at all) affect the duration between changes given low mileage (less that 3000kms/1800 mi) per year?

unioncorps

Thanks everyone for your input and replies. I ended up getting an oil change at a local honest shop today. When they saw my mileage of 3300 miles and saw the oil looked clean (ie. yellowish/still newish), they recommended that since it's synthetic I could still go another 3-4000 miles and said there's no need for an oil change now. Given that my car was still under warranty for another year, I still had them change the oil. The same oil has been in the car since July 2019 when I had my 1 year complimentary service, including oil change, done at Lexus.

I'm in the same boat. Car stays garaged most of the time, but the garage is not climate controlled. From what I read and heard, oil itself sitting there doesn't degrade but it's the moisture/dirt that can get in there over time that breaks down the additives in the oil. So my understanding is every time you drive the car, you need to drive it long enough that the oil gets to operating temperature enough to burn off the moisture to prevent that contamination and additive breakdown - normally this is achieved within 15-30 min of driving at highway speeds.

So in theory if you followed this every time you drove (unless you're driving crazy or on a track), you should be fine particularly for cars with low mileage. However, I do know that others on here state to change oil every year regardless if you don't reach the recommended oil change interval by mileage to be on the safe side. It seems the only concrete way of knowing how much longer you can go is really send out an oil sample for analysis.