The engines are broken in before they are installed in the vehicle.

 

most engine plants are not even in the same building as the assembly lines for the vehicles
think about it like this
how many times do you see a window sticker 40% us 60% japan
well not those exact numbers but along those lines
a power-train is build in one area then transported to finale assembly installed in the car

 

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Amen. Toyota plants are extremely environmentally friendly. There is no "recycled oil" facility at the Georgetown plant to handle that much volume..

I was going to post something similar ....... but I decided the notion of dino oil for break in was so absurd .........

The Mobil 1 website explains that the "no synthetic oil for break-in" is a myth and tells of all the cars which use it as a factory fill.

Yeah .... I can just see them pouring dino oil into all those Bentleys, Mercedes, & Corvettes, too..

 

Unlike Toyota I believe the Lexus is still made in Japan and exported to the US. I wonder what oil they use over there. Also if there was a year that Lexus changed over to syn. oil. I purchased my 1st new Lexus in 2008 and replaced it with a new one in 2010. Bought from the same dealer in downstate NY and both cars came with 5W-30 Castrol dino oil. I would imagine there is a significant cost difference using syn. vs. dino oil in every car produced.

 

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Dino is correct through MY 2012, But. on the 2GR-FE 3.5L V6 they switched to synthetic in model year 2013 for the LexusES & Avalon (which share the same platform). Toyota made the switch for 2012 on the Camry and 2011 on the Highlander. (My ex has an '11 Highlander SE AWD which uses 0W20 and 10K oil change interval).

From the lexus owners manual:

http://www.lexus.com/pdf/service/MY1...350_WSG_lr.pdf

Page 48........ 10,000 mile/one year oil change with 0W20 oil. 5,000 mile oil change is only required for "special operating conditions" which for the most part means short trips in cold weather.

 

And how many engines have you rebuilt? Zero?

Break in oil has higher zinc content. Amsoil, Royal Purple and Redline all make specific new engine break in oil, which is the topic. It is usually dino, but doesn't have to be.

No one but you made the absurd claim that break in oil has to be drained and replaced with non-break in oil when the engine goes in the car.

 

What did you end up doing? Dino or synthetic?

 

Just my 2 cents: I have always changed the oil / filter on my new cars after the first 1000 miles to Mobil 1. No engine mechanical issues ever.

 

The OP wasn't asking for a debate about whether or not he should switch to synthetic . . yaddah . . .yaddah . . - he's asking if it's OK to do so.

Correct asnwer: YES.

 

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This is correct. Along with the above post that says the OP just wanted to know if it's OK.

I use 5W30 Mobil 1 in my 09 2GR-FE V6. Sorry It's a Camry .. I got into this forum because my "ex" drove two Lexus that I paid for

[She now has a 2011 2GR-FE Highlander SE AWD and uses Toyota 0W20 from dealer every 10K miles.]

07-11 Camry V6 and 07-12 ES350 share the same powertrain with the same conventional 5W30 regular 5K oil change interval.

In my case, Mobil 1 5W30 synthetic beginning at 40K miles performs EXACTLY like Pennzoil 5W30 conventional oil did. Zero oil consumption ..... still looks clean after 5,000 miles ..... great gas mileage.

With Mobil 1 5W30 synthetic, I go 6,500 miles to even out the cost and still there is zero consumption and the oil still looks mighty clean the day before oil change.