Due to Covid I have been working from home for the last 9 months. I have put 1200 miles on my car since my last oil change 9months ago. I always have the oil changed at Lexus full synthetic. I know oil can degrade. Should I change it?

 

I would change it at 12 months.

 

Is it true that oil goes bad after 12 months regardless of mileage? Or is it just mechanics and dealers want $$$?

 

It does degrade with time.

 

I am guessing your GS is garaged.
Many people who don't put many miles on their cars go 2 years between an oil service.
I would wait a full year and then service your car.

What you might do is get a MityVac and suck the oil out the dipstick, leave the filter alone, and refill block.
You won't even get your hands dirty.

More important is to get it out and drive it for at leat 1/2 hour to burn off any condensation.

 

Synthetic doesn't actually degrade in such a short amount of time. Keep it in the car.

 

It doesn't go bad after 12 month, it does degrade, so many factors play into how much it degrades it is hard to give a answer. The startup, heat, cool down, driving cycles have to cause much more degradation in oil then just sitting in the engine.

With so few miles on the OP's car I wouldn't change it, just seems like a waste of barely used oil/money. I would wait until the normal mileage intervals unless it is going to take you 4 or 5 years to put 5K miles on it.

 

Speaking of dealers, my local dealers have been spam emailing and calling me, they keep saying that they haven't seen my GS in a while and to bring it in.

I guess dealers are losing a ton of $$$ from their service department due to COVID and people working from home?

 

The only reason to change it is to keep the new car warranty valid so they don't have any recourse if there is an engine failure (unlikely on a GS).

 

No need to change it.

Here's a link to a thread on a recent oil analysis on my '02 Sequoia, Valvoline Maxlife, a mix of 5W30 and 10W30... 8K miles, 15 months. A yawner.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/th...yawner.330544/



I had another analysis done before this one, 10W30, 5K miles and only changed it based on time, 13 months. Feedback was that I should have left it in there for another 5K miles and 12 months.

 

You should email them back and tell them the road works both ways.....they're welcome to come visit the car if it's that important to them...just bring some coffee and pastries

 

Hey Chinee, that's a very interesting report - is this something you get locally or do you send the oil off some where? On one hand that's amazing mileage but then again - it is a Toyota.

Thanks for sharing that site as well - just looked around a little bit, definitely interesting.

 

Oil changes are cheap insurance. I go 5,000 miles or 12 months.

 

No, not insurance... oil changes are inexpensive enough that it doesn’t hurt your pocket, and likely gives you peace of mind. It’s absolutely a waste of money and puts unnecessary strain on the environment with unnecessary recycling and dumping.

I’ve been doing 10k-mile changes since the early 2000’s and it’s clear that more frequent oil changes are absolutely unnecessary. If spending unnecessarily on too frequent oil changes gives you peace of mind, so be it. I’m sure there’s unnecessary stuff I do too, because it gives me peace of mind as well.

Okay.. jumping off my soapbox now.

 

Blackstone Labs, there are other oil analysis companies out there as well. They send you postage-paid containers to ship them a sample of oil, and the analysis itself costs about $30 or so.

The Sequoia is a tank, and only now beginning to seep a little. The 03 Infiniti G35 I had never really “settled down” with an oil. 5-6k miles was as far as I could go, before the wear metals started getting too high.

it’s an interesting and inexpensive hobby.