There's likely a ton of discussion on oil change interval best practices. Likely some do every 5k (or 3k even) and some do every 10k as Lexus recommends for all RX models. My question pertains to the 350H (maybe the 500h, not sure): Given there is actually less time that the engine runs is that a variable to factor into this discussion? The trip summary on most of my drives shows the EV driving ratio of 30% or more. This would lead one to think less engine runtime means you can go more miles between oil changes versus a non hybrid. Is my train of thought invalid? To keep things simple lets only consider miles driven not time between oil changes since oil does break down with time.

 

I've always followed the OEM recommendations for oil changes while under warranty. Some vehicle manufacturers, such as GM, provide an oil-life monitor that looks at various conditions, but that is not the case for Lexus. We followed the 10k recommendation for our 2013 RX350 and the engine was still running great at 160k. We'll be doing the same with our RX450h+, even though the engine will rarely run in normal driving. Once it is out of warranty, I'll probably reconsider that and maybe extend the intervals based on mileage or annually, but that's years down the road.

 

Thirty percent sounds high to me.

We've had an RX 450h for ten+ years, and now the 500H, and thirty percent doesn't sound right, but if you say that is what the vehicle figures out who am I to say differently.

 

Oh Boy, another OIL topic!



The most useful advice is to have an oil analysis performed with your used oil...that way you can measure the EXACT condition of your motor oil under the conditions that YOU drive. Then, you could adjust your oil change frequency as you desire. <---don't go longer than Lexus' recommendations under warranty, though

This is one popular provider of oil tests, it will cost you $35 currently.
https://www.blackstone-labs.com/prod...ree-test-kits/

++++++++++++++

Who else remembers Toyota's engine sludge issues of the early 2000s?

 

At 6k on the ODO on my 350h, the oil is still so clear, it is hard to see on the dip stick. I am going with the Lexus recommendations.

 

Glad to hear...this is what I am getting at. Maybe for turbo non-hybrids 10k is pushing it and I would opt for 5k or 7.5k oil change intervals. I'd like to believe 10k is a good interval for the 350h due to less engine runtime.

 

I have the 350h and I did my break in change at 1000 miles, then at 5000, and will do it every 5k there after. Oil is cheap and an engine rebuild is expensive. See video below. Per the car care nut

Toyota Owners PLEASE NEVER DO THIS TO YOUR TOYOTA! I have been talking about this for as long as my channel have existed and I hope you all follow this recommendation to avoid issues and have your Toyota for a very long time without issues. It breaks my heart every time I speak with a Toyota Owner who has an oil consumption problem in an engine that wasn't affected by any manufacturing issue simply because they didn't catch the 10k oil change in time. It is one of the worst ideas and one I wish would change in the future. Please change your oil in your Toyota engine every 5000 Miles or 6 months whichever comes first. Use good quality oil. The owner of this 2015 Toyota Camry is one of the nicest folks I have ever met. He had to find out this way why a 10k mile oil change interval is not a good idea. Hope this helps everyone avoid issues with their car with proper maintenance, care and understanding of why things are done at specific times and intervals.

 

Clarity is not a good indicator of oil effectiveness or life remaining.

Many oil brands become dark within a few hundred miles of use. This means that the oil is holding impurities in suspension, which is good.



If you don't feel like spending $$ to have your own oil tested, you could read some of the test results on www.BobIsTheOilGuy.com.
Try to get the ones that have the same criteria as your vehicle. (2.5L normally aspirated, 2.4L turbo, and the hybrid equivalents of those engines might test different)
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/fo...is-gasoline.3/

 

‘I keep my vehicle no longer than when the warranty expires. Why would I want to worry about this?

 

I change my oil every 5k since I plan on keeping it longer but I agree that if you are not planning to keep the car past the warranty, go with the Lexus 10K and save the $140.

 

On a side note: one has to assume a vast majority of folks follow what the maintenance guide suggests and I am pretty sure a vast majority of folks don't end up with broken engines and do just fine with 10k oil changes. Taking 'play it safe' approach for your hybrid is great, you lose nothing but the cost of an oil change and some time...it's cheap insurance against a potentially costly engine repair.

But back to my topic, the question I have for those who are more mechanically inclined than myself is: does less strain on an engine (since the battery does some fraction of the propulsion) equal a lesser need for 5k changes as the car care nut suggests. The point I am trying to make is made more clear with plugin hybrids vs mild hybrids. Lets say you own the 450h+ and you drove 5k miles in 3 months, 4k of which were purely on the battery...surely your oil would still be good if the engine only turned over for 1k of those miles ? Mild hybrids...albeit to a much lesser extent follow a similar conundrum.

 

The car care nut's personal car is a 2022 Toyota Camry hybrid. He recommends 5k or 6 months time which ever comes 1st. While I agree with the 5k, I'm conflicted with the 6 month thing. Maybe 5k or 1 year? He drove the Camry 1000 miles and still changed it at 6 months. I think we will all agree that short drives where the engine barely gets up to operating temp is harder on an engine/oil. If you only drive 1000 miles every 6 months it would take 2.5 years for 5k miles and 5 years for 10kmiles. I'm sure most of us will agree that 1 oil change every 2.5-5 years is not good for a car. As far as a Hybrid car's engine, although the battery helps out, the ICE also starts up and shuts off more often which may actually put more strain on the engine/oil?

 

Actually, assuming ( which I don't believe ) that oil changes at 5k will make a difference, and that ( as is common these days for most cars and with standard maintenance ) the engine will last at least 200k miles in any case , you are paying 20 * 140 USD = 2800 for the extra oil changes to reduce the risk of early engine replacement. In my book that is an easy decision - regular oil changes at 10k are perfectly fine. Note also that the car care nut argued that most dealers will use low quality oil and that is why you need more frequent oil changes. Well, in that case make sure that you use good quality synthetic oil at 10k intervales, and live should be good

 

people can do whatever they want as this horse has been beaten to a pulp,

Just in terms of your theorycrafting.
You cannot make a direct comparison between a pure ice and hybrid/phev solely on engine duty, you also need to take into account the oil volume. Often there is a design of a higher oil capacity on the pure ICE, meaning that there is more additive available and each oil molecule is utilized a little bit less. So the volume balances out the extra duty.
​​​​​​When the long ocis were first coming out by the German brands, they often had like a 9qt oil capacity.

But then even if oil capacity is the same, on the low duty/low volume flipside, for extremely low usage oil will collect moisture if it does not reach sustained operating temp periodically, which will also reduce the oil lifespan on that front vs the sustained high temp usage you get in the ice. So it balances out that way too

 

I change my own oil, got EOM filters in bulk @ $5.00 a piece, walmart Mobil 1 in 5 qt $27.00 , $32.00 x 20= $640.00 takes about 1/2 hour which is about the same amount of time it takes to drive 1 way to the dealer; then wait another hour if lucky, then 1/2 drive home. Half hour vs 2 hours.