rassuls

Per manual for 2012 ES 350 the oil needs to be replaced every 5,000 miles and I understand that 2013 ES 350 oil needs to be replaced every 10,000 miles with a full synthetic oil. My question is, can I replace my 2012 ES 350 oil with a full synthetic oil every 10,000 miles. The dealer says no. What do you know/think. Thank you in advance.

lesz

I can't say that what your dealer is telling you is wrong, but I would be interested in knowing the reason why that is the case because I thought that the 2013 ES was using the same 3.5 liter engine that the 2012 uses.

ElliotB

For warranty purposes, you should follow whatever is recommended.

LexBob2

I agree. If you follow what's recommended you'll be changing oil more frequently but at a lower cost each time.

lesz

While I'm not questioning the suggestion to follow the manufacturer's recommendations, I would still wonder about the question that I posed in my previous post. If the 2012 ES350 and 2013 ES350 both have the same engines, is there something different about how they are set up that would make it okay to use synthetic oil and the 10,000 mile oil change interval with the 2013 model and not make it okay to do so with the 2012? And the related question would be, if the 2012 ES can use conventional oil (with the 5000 mile oil change interval), why can't the 2013 ES use conventional oil and a 5000 mile oil change interval?

bc6152

Visit this web site for additional information:

http://www.valvoline.com/faqs/motor-...tic-motor-oil/ You will find that one can change over to synthetic from regular oil or vice versa without problems. You can add regular to synthetic or synthetic to regular. Here is a response to a question regarding extending service intervals:


""Can you go longer between oil changes if you use a synthetic blend or full synthetic motor oil?"

"Synthetic or synthetic blended oils are not intended to extend oil change intervals. These oils are recommended for use in harder working engines and to assist with gas mileage, not to extend service intervals beyond what the manufacturer recommends."

I would, however, go by the manufacturer required oil change schedule to maintain warranty coverage at least until the warranty expires.

bc6152

The answer is that the 2013 ES350 CAN use conventional oil and change at 5k.
Check out http://www.valvoline.com/faqs/motor-...tic-motor-oil/

LexBob2

That is a good question.

Kind of like when premium unleaded was required/recommended in the 2007-2010 ES350. A lot of owners questioned the need for premium when in all of the Toyota models (about 6) using the engine regular was recommended. Beginning with the 2011 and beyond, regular was recommended. The only difference was -4 hp. vs. with premium.

lesz

Similarly, I'm curious about something else. Toyota is using the same 3.5 liter engine throughout a good number of its Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Yet, for some Toyota vehicles, even within the same model year, the manufacturer says to use full synthetic oil with a 10,000 mile change interval, and for others, it says to use conventional oil with a 5000 mile change interval. It is hard for me to understand how it could be better for some of these vehicles to use the synthetic oil with the longer interval, while they are saying that it is better for other vehicles made in the same year with the same engine to use conventional oil with the shorter oil change interval.

Related to fuel requirements, the manual for my GX says that premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 is "recommended", but it also says to use fuel with a minimum octane rating of 87. I've been using 87 or 89 octane fuel in the GX for almost 9 years. I've never heard a single engine knock, and my mpg is about 1 mpg higher than that for which the vehicle is rated. While it may be the case that my horsepower is down by a couple of horsepower, any performance difference is so small that I wouldn't notice it, and it is certainly not, to me, at a level that would justify spending $.30-.40 more per gallon for the premium fuel.

Rlarson56

May be time to go back and ask the question to another service advisor

mcomer

We switched to Mobil One in our 1999 Toyota Solara V6 at 3k miles and then once a year until trading for the Lexus in 2011, twelve years! Put on less than 10k miles per year and enjoyed zero oil consumption throughout.
Toyota sent us the Oil Gelling letter, never had any issue with that. Same engine (with out Variable Valve Timing BTW) that the ES350's had at the time. The dealer must toe the corporate line and tell you that your engine is not "certified" to extend the change interval but a million chat threads will have you tell you as I am that it is going to work out fine.

bc6152

The simple bottom line is this: The Avalon, the 2012 ES350, the 2013 ES350, and I think even the V6 Camry all use the exact same engine. It is even designated with the same ID number. I have an oil filter left over from my 2006 Avalon that I plan to use on my 2013 ES350. You can mix dino and synthetic, change from synthetic to dino or dino to synthetic. Like Lesz I cannot explain why Toyota requires different oils and intervals for the exact same engine. However, the warranty protection is the overriding issue regarding any changes. I could see a dealer refusing to honor a warranty issue due to one using "incorrect" oil.