I hesitate to bring this topic up for fear of the dreaded oil wars erupting, but I'll take a chance. The Toyota version of 0W-20 seems to be somewhat more expensive and harder to find than other retail versions of Japanese/Mobil1 0W-20 brands. Is the Toyota/Lexus version really that much different than the others? Any reason not to use one of the others.

 

You can use any major brand of 0w-20 fully synthetic will be fine. Most of the oils are made by the same company's anyways.

And before someone jumps in and says: "The Lexus engineers know what is best for your car and they put in Toyota oil" that is not true. They put in the oil that meets the requirements they want and buy it from whoever will supply it for the best price and can guarantee supply. If cars were made by only engineers they would be bullet proof and cost prohibitively expensive. The fact is they are made by accountants just as much as engineers. Its just good business to sell thier own oil.

 

I agree. Car makers make cars not motor oil. They buy their oil from outside sources.

 

Dealer here in FL told me they use Kendall Oil, not very familar with it but I use Mobil or Eneos

 

The Toyota/Lexus syn oil may be Mobil 1. Before I authorized my first oil change on my 450h at my Lexus dealership, I ask specifically what brand of oil they were putting into my car. The service rep went off to find out and comes back and tells me that the oil is Mobil 1. That was good enough for me because that was my preference. Next time I go in, I'll ask if the Toyota/Lexus oil is rebranded Mobil 1 or if they were just using Mobil 1. On the Mobil 1 site, they list the cars that come from the factory with Mobil 1 and the Lexus LFA is the only Lexus on the list.

But to answer your question, Mobil 1 at the right formulation will be good. That is what I plan to use in my car going forward, unless my research turns up a better product.

 

I thought I would bring this thread back up and advise those who are reading this to visit BITOG forums for some in-depth analysis and discussion on oil. Go to www.bobistheoilguy.com

I have used Mobil 1 AFE 0W-20 SN for one oil change interval and so far find it largely unremarkable. It does the job for the required 5000 miles/8000 kilometres, but for those who live in the US, where OCIs are 10,000 miles, you may want to consider using Toyota Genuine Motor Oil (TGMO) 0W-20 SN instead. Out of the three used oil analysis I have done for my RX 350, I find the results for the TGMO UOA fa better than the M1 UOA I received earlier this week.

 

I put in mobile1 0w20 from auto zone. It's recommended for Toyota and Hondas.

 

Look in the manual, it will state what specs the oil needs to meet to be put into the car and to keep your warranty valid. After you know what specs you need finding oil that meets those specs isnt hard.

 

I think a few of you have missed the point I was trying to make. Perhaps I wasnt clear.

Mobil 1 is recommended for Toyota and Honda by Mobil.

The used oil analysis I had done on mine indicates (at least to me) that the oil may have a hard time retaining its active additive by the time it reaches 10,000 miles. For 5000 miles, yes -- no problem, but for 10,000? I need more convincing. So far the UOAs I have seen haven't convinced me. TGMO on the other hand, through numerous UOAs on BITOG has shown that the oil has no problem handling 10,000 miles. That's the point I was trying make.

 

Ya I change my oil every 5k. I feel more comfortable that way.

 

The bobistheoilguy forums have threads indicating the Toyota 0w20 is made by Mobil but has a much more robust additive package specified by Toyota to last the 10,000 mile oil change intervals. There are also VOAs and UOAs of the oil indicating it is better than Mobil One and has much more Moly in it, which is a key anti-friction, anti-wear additive. An oil engineer member at bobistheoilguy considered it the best 0w20 on the market. It is superior to Mobil 1 if you plan to go 10,000 between oil changes.

 

The 0W-20 is good up to 16,000 miles on normal driving... Again operative word is normal.
So if you belong to the fast acceleration, hard decceleration group..think other wise.
So an interval of 10,000 miles on a full synthetic oil ( 0W-20) is rational.

To answer the OP's original question. nope, the Toyota brand is the same as the Mobil 1 brand.
So you can actually save money by buying the 5 quarts ( less than $30) at your favorite auto store or even walmart.

 

How can you honestly say this ? Do you have proof that it's the same. If you look at the Add packs they are complete different

 

great response, well done sir!

 

No, it certainly is not.

As other's have mentioned, please visit BITOG. You will find plenty of UOA's and VOA's which show that they are not one and the same.

In fact, the Toyota 0W-20 is so highly regarded that owners that don't even drive a Toyota/Lexus go out of their way to get it to put it into their cars! Some of those people wouldn't be caught dead driving in a Toyota, but they will go out of their way for this oil.