ky2002

My wife does not drive her 2013 ES350 much. Only about 3000 miles a year. I wonder if I can do the oil change with longer interval? Manual says 1 year/10,000 miles. Can I do it every 2 years/6000 miles? Does it hurt my engine? Please advise.

The dealer is so far away. I just do not want to spend half day just for oil change

atoyota

Interesting question. I don't know that much about the synthetic oils or the extremes of their life expectancy, but there could be issues with the change in viscosity and possible oxidation of the oil over time that would make it preferable to change the oil at least yearly. I would talk to the dealer or a reputable third party trusted mechanic.

BIGABQ

I am in the same situation. I have 1000 miles after 6 months. Everyone I have talked to all say chance oil once a year. This from Lexus and independent Lexus shops.

bc6152

Agree with the other members here. I drive less than 5000 miles a year - we have 5 cars - and I change the oil in the Lexus every 12 months. I did ask the SM at the dealer and he stated that with the pure synthetic and low mileage, a yearly change is more than sufficient. Document it...

ISSHIN

Blowby gasses in the crankcase condense to form all kinds of nasty acids that can literally eat up your engine. On a car that is driven every day these condensates get "boiled off" by engine heat, but on a car that only takes short infrequent "trips to the store" these condensates can build up in the engine. So you should change the oil every 6 months to a year regardless of mileage.

By doing an oil change once a year, you will maintain your warranty. If cost is an issue or a Lexus dealership is to far away, you can always take it to a local Toyota dealership and they charge almost half or less of what the Lexus dealers charge. Ask for just and oil and filter change which will also saves you money instead of the scheduled maintenance which for the most part is a waste of your money IMHO, since there just inspections.

gemigniani

Depends of how long you plan to keep the car. If 20 years then change every year for sure to avoid expensive oil seal leak problems later in the car's life caused by acids in the oil that cause deterioration of the engines oil seals.

bc6152

My understanding is that the "nasty acids" are not an issue with pure synthetic oil only dino oil.

Nelexus88

You could send an oil sample to Blackstone Labs at the time the oil is changed (after 1 year or later). They specialize in used oil analysis and seem to have a good reputation, however I have not used them myself.

winsalem

Hey bc6152,

"Dino oil". I'm stealing that, hope you don't mind.

So clever...

bc6152

Full disclosure: I read that phrase somewhere on here... Go for it...

Arty101

It's a common term that some of us old farts know.

1QWKGS4

iTrader: (3)

I've done Blackstone Lab Analysis on my synthetic oil.. (I have a car that is my show/race weekend type I had left park for an extend period of time due to being out of the country)

Check out this thread.. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...nterval-7.html

In the tread, my car had been driven 2875 miles in 4.5 years! (Car had about 48K miles at that time)

I did an oil analysis and oil was fine, it had decent amount of life left. Go by Miles and not Time.. Oil doesn't break down as fast as what Marketing world / Dealer says.. I have oil analysis to prove my findings..

This is for Mobil 1 Synthetic oil.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Wow!
I would think in 4.5 years,the oil filter filtering compound would start to fall apart but I guess not.
I still wouldn't be comfortable leaving oil and filter in a vehicle that long.
My GS is basically a pleasure drive vehicle for around 5K miles per and I do a yearly change for around $69.95 at my dealer.

Arty101

Amazing, but I'm sure that's not the same with dino oil.

1QWKGS4

iTrader: (3)

This was not a normal activity for me. I usually change my oil every 5K miles regardless.. Sometimes in my second car, it would take almost 2 years to do 6K miles is usually the longest I usually go.. But this other car sat in storage for awhile and i took it out and had the oil change change prior to 3K miles in 4.5 years (yes, I was scared) and surprisingly oil was still ok.. I wouldn't suggest anyone try it.. But I Def can say its safe to do 2 years for 5K. (But because of special circumstances, I had an opportunity to Test Oil in long-term conditions)