chi123

iTrader: (12)

Is one year too long of a wait to change the oil using synthetic Mobil 1? I've been changing my oil on my IS350 every six months with synthetic but I'll be getting a new daily driver around the end of the year. That being said, my IS will only see about 1-2K miles a year while the other car will see about 2-3K.

So if I'm only driving 2000 miles a year with Mobil 1 oil, can I just change it once every year? I feel like it's pointless to change the oil every 1K miles especially when it's 6.7 quarts and synthetic.

VTsuckah

iTrader: (1)

The molecules making up oil break down and separate over time, which negates the lubricating properties. The golden rule for conventional oil is 3 months, regardless of mileage. Synthetic is longer, but I can't find a definitive number. Six months seems to be popular. Personally if it were my car, I wouldn't go more than 6 months.

darkdream

I use amsoil synthetic oil and change once a year.Never have a problem. I drive few miles. Mobil one breaks down faster than most oils. If you do this get a premium 100% synthetic (not full synthetic) oil like amsoil.

dtl

You could get 5 quarts Mobil1 Synthetic oil at Walmart for $22! At that point it's so cheap you might as well DIY and keep the engine oil nice and new.

robtwo

Once a year is fine. Just get it hot when you drive it.

tom_s

I drive my car only 5000-6000 miles per year. I only change the oil once a year. I use Mobil 1 Extended Performance.

When it first came out Mobil 1 proclaimed that Mobil 1 EP was good for one year or 15,000 miles. Since then they have dropped the one year claim but I still believe it and have had no problems with my IS350 and my 2004 Toyota Sienna, both run with Mobil 1 Extended Performance for one year between changes.

If I used regular Mobil 1, I would change it every six months.

Your mileage may vary. Good luck to you.

NYKnick101

Motor oil has a shelf life of 3 to 5 years(even more in special products), so even in the car, If you had a car that you didn't drive for an extended period of time I'm sure you will be fine even if it was more than a year. As long as you drive the car periodically and lubricate all the major engine components so that it does not dry out or gunk you will be fine. Technology of motor oil has come a long way and makes oil last a lot longer than it used to so in a car that is not driven regularly you would be fine...

The only reason why I am positive that you can go longer with out an oil change is because my dad has an old Porsche 914 that only accumulated about 2,300 miles in the past 2 years and and 1 oil change back in April of 2012. Changed the oil this past July and sent it out to blackstone a to get analyzed and they verified that the oil could have gone longer if needed to be as it had very low levels of metals, carbon, and contaminants; and its viscosity was still fairly high for year(s) old oil. If the car is going to sit though, there is far more other maintenance things you need to worry about. (If it makes any difference, it was a synthetic oil with oil stabilizer when we first did it. This is what we do at every oil change tho)

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

do an an oil analysis and youll see how much money youre wasting.

VTsuckah

iTrader: (1)

Also something to think about...the oil may last a long time, but the filters will not. The Toyota/Lexus 'paper' filters will degrade far faster than the oil, especially by not being driven.

VTsuckah

iTrader: (1)

If you cannot afford <$80 in synthetic oil and a filter every 6 months, perhaps you should not own a Lexus. That's a small price to pay for peace of mind. Just my $.02.

NikonGuy

iTrader: (1)

It's not a question of cost. If you don't need to do it than it's wasteful. If OP is only driving 1K miles a year, no reason to change it at 6 month intervals. Once a year is fine.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

whatever floats your boat its your money, but telling people to unnecessarily change every 3 month "golden rule" leftover from the 1970s is straight up misinformation. Never mind the past 40 years of better oils and cleaner running engines. It's wasteful on money, time, and oil that is still good. Notice on recent Lexus and Toyota models they say every 10k miles or 12 months using 0W-20 synthetic.

If the Total Base Number (TBN), is greater than 1.0 the oil still has additives to resist acidic breakdown which is what causes oil to start sludging. Sludging is what causes oil to lose its lubricating abilities. I've done an an oil analysis on year old M1 oil on my moms LX470 with 9000 miles on the oil and the TBN was still 3.6, new oil TBN is ~15.0. I can easily go 12,000 miles on that. I've done other vehicles that confirm a TBN will last until 10,000 miles. TBN reflects this molecular breakdown over time but it is nowhere near the 3-6 months, especially on 1k mile old oil that the OP has. None of my oil analysis have any indications of any oil filter breakdown either.

People on the BITOG forums have done oil analysis on garage queen oil and TBN still exists even after several years:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...1712432&page=2

chi123

iTrader: (12)

Looks like I'll be changing the oil once a year then but will use Mobil 1 Extended. Was hoping just to use the oil for one year and get it analyzed but as NYKnick101 and 4TehNguyen said, the results were good when they got it done. It honestly just feels wasteful and pointless to do an oil change with synthetic every 500 miles. The other car I plan to get as a daily is an S4 which uses 8 quarts of synthetic oil which I will be driving 2K miles per year. Audi recommends oil changes every 10K and many people do that regardless of time just because they don't know about their cars. If they're going 10K intervals and I'm going 2K, wouldn't expect it to be a problem.

NikonGuy

iTrader: (1)

Your daily driver car will only get used 2K milies a year? I wouldn't call that a daily driver, maybe weekly driver

embolism

yeah, maybe you should reconsider getting an S4 if you'll have a 350 sitting idle... that seems more wasteful to me