I am looking for synthetic oil recommendations. I need to get an oil change and I do it at Toyota (nearest Lexus is 4+ hour drive away) and it costs me around $200 (cdn) for just an oil change. The majority of that cost is the oil which I get charged about $18/litre and I need 8 litres! So next service I will be providing them with oil to use so I am not paying their premium price for who knows what brand of oil.

So I am looking for what brand / type of synthetic oil should I buy for a 2006 IS350. What should a litre bottle cost me? Where should I buy it (I am located in BC, western Canada)?

Also, I do an oil change only once a year as I only put on about about 5000 miles per year. Do you think I should be doing it more often with so little driving?

 

If that 5k miles is a lot of short trips where the engine never reaches operating temp then -absolutely- you should be changing a lot more often like 3-4 times more often... at which point it's quite a waste to use expensive oil.

 

You do NOT need to change your oil more then once a year when you are only putting on 5K miles, regardless of what kind of driving you are doing. ANY brand of synthetic will be overkill! You can simply verify the condition of the oil by getting a used oil analysis (UOA) at 5K miles. You could safely use Dino oil with 5K oil change intervals (OCI).

Recommendation - Since you are in Canada, you may want to use 0w-20 weight oil.

Koz

 

That's simply wrong.

Well, the UOA is a good idea...and dino oils fine for 5k, but the trip part having no impact is simply wrong... if you're only making short trips the engine never has time to burn off contaminatation in the oil, making more frequent changes a very, very, very good idea compared to if you make longer trips.

Don't believe me? How bout the Society of Automotive Engineers?

http://www.aei-online.org/technical/papers/932838



Note that's 5000 km, which is just over 3000 miles.

 

As a side question to the op's original question anyone actually use royal purple in it? If so, did you actually notice a difference? I did in my truck so I am wondering if it will the is350 as well.

 

Praytell, why would someone from Canada have to use 0w20? What the hell does that have to do with anything?


In all honesty with the amount of oil you have to put in this thing we're talking about $80 alone (if not more) for the 8 litres of Royal Purple. Not worth it. I just put Castrol Syntec in my F... buy a whole crate for like $25 at Costco.

 

water is the oil killer for short trips....

I would change it twice a year

 

So more info:

Mainly drive to and from work which is about a 10 - 15 minute drive depending on traffic.

Not sure if tempature matters but it rarely gets below 0 degrees celcius and summer time is 30+ celcius (90+ farenheit).

So the only recommendation I have seen is Castrol Syntec and Mobil 1. I will check Costco to see the cost. Any idea what brand Toyota/Lexus rebrand to use?

Also what is the type of oil I should be using? 5w30 I think is the recommended type but I have heard of 0w30 / 5w20 etc... I think I will do 5w30 but not sure why others use diff types.

 

That short a drive, especially when it's colder, I'd certainly recommend, consistent with the SAE findings, reasonably frequent oil changes, more on the order of every 3 months, or at minimum every 6 (UOA should help you make that choice though)...

Honestly changing often I can't really recommend any expensive synthetic oil- the cheapest stuff they sell will work just as well as long as the car maintains oil pressure for those kind of change intervals.

Normally I'm a _big_ proponent of a high quality synthetic but that's when your driving allows you to take advantage of the extended drain intervals it allows, and yours really doesn't.

(and yes, 5W-30 is the recommended viscosity per Lexus)

 

That paper is written in 1993 and using SG oil. The current API SM and GF-4 rated oils are eons better! I used to do 1.5 miles trips to and from work 4 days a week in my 3mz-fe engine with SM rated Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 changed once a year with anywhere from 4000 to 5000 miles per year. I had the used oil analysis read professionally by Terry Dyson of Dyson analysis and he never once told me to change oil more often than once a year.

The key for a car driven short distances and accumulate low mileage during a one year period is to use a oil that is shear stable, able to withstand fuel dilution that reduces flashpoint plus also using a oil filter that has a synthetic media to capture the smallest insolubles possible in the oil. If you use a good synthetic and a filter that keeps the insolubles low, doing one oil change interval per year should be a breeze.

Taken into account that my 3mz-fe engine was really really hard on the oil, it's a known engine to really work the oil plus the fact that the sump was only 5 quarts, my oil analysis never once came back looking bad. Infact Terry Dyson was amazed how well those engines wear. In the IS, not only is that engine a little easier on oil but also holds 6.7 quarts. The extra oil that this engine requires also makes it a cinch to do once a year change with not a oil related problem to be found in sight.

I own an Acura TL that has 4.6 quart sump that sees the same 1.5 mile severe duty commute to and from work and will rack up less than 5000 miles in a year. This car comes with an oil life monitor and at 6 months and 2200 miles the monitor shows 70% oil life remaining. So most likely at 1 year the monitor still wont be close to warning me for an oil change but Acura requires us to follow the OLM or 1 year so I'll be changing out then. To boot this is on the factory fill conventional oil and a Honeywell(makers of ****ty fram) oil filter.

So to conclude, OP, if you use a quality synthetic, my personal favorite is Amsoil 0w30 or Pennzoil Platinum 5w20 and a quality filter, again my favorites are Purolator PureOne, Mobil 1, K&N or Royal Purple oil filters, you will have no problem running once a year changes.

To warn you, I am not sure if you have your warranty intact or not but I believe if you are still under warranty, Toyota Motor Co. requires you to change your oil at 5000 miles or 6 months which ever comes first. If you are still withing your warranty I would urge you to follow Toyota's OCI's and in this case I would use a quality conventional oil like Mobil Clean 5000, Pennzoil, Havoline or Valvoline 5w20 and still a good filter and enjoy your car for a long long time. With the little mileage you put on per year, if you keep the car long enough, you will have to worry about rust first before any engine related problem. Great car, enjoy it and stop worrying about oil.

 

You know anybody making synthetic filter media for the 2IS engine? Purolator doesn't... K&N doesn't... not even Amsoil offers one last I checked... if you're aware of one I'd love to hear it as it'd keep me from having to do 2x year filter changes...

(speaking of Amsoil, they were sure around in 1993... the ultimate point of that study was that short trips vs. long trips has a bigger impact on degrading oil quality over a period of time than the type of oil used does, and that constant short trips require more frequent oil changes than long trips where the engine gets a chance to burn off water.)

 

Yup you are right, I forgot that Lexus uses the cartridge filters now. But even using a denso is fine. My dad has a 2007 ES350 and it also has that stupid cartridge filters. I use it and do one year oil changes on that car, he's 70 years old and retired so he does a ton of short trips for grocery and dinner and stuff. I have done UOA's every oil change and the insolubles are usually less than 0.3% meaning it is doing a good job of filtering.

Ofcourse short trips vs long trips has a big impact on oil degradation but with the quality oils in the market place and some very good synthetics out there, doing 1 year oil changes with 5000 miles or less is not a problem anymore. I can tell you from experience and getting a professional tribologist to interpret the data from the oil analysis to verify that one year changes on severe service engines are perfectly fine.

You also have to take into account that not only has the quality of oil changed since 1993 but so have the automobile engines. They tend to have lower tolerences, run cleaner, produce less contaminants and also produce ultra low emissions too. Coupled these two things together, it is easy to see why one should not worry about changing oil once a year even on a severe service engine.

Finally, say the OP on an average doubles his yearly mileage and racks up 10000 miles. Now in 10 years that would mean he would have 100,000 miles. For todays engines, especially a toyota engine, that is not a lot of miles at all. It would be safe for me to assume that by 10 years the OP is probably tired of the IS and moved on to some thing bigger and better. There is a reason why car manufacturers usually have a 5 year cycle for each model because of research showing that majority of the population keep their automobiles for 5 years in the US. Isn't it also coincidental that most automobile loans are for 60 months? But that is diverting from this thread. JMO, FWIW.

I think we are both in the same boat, wanting the best for our engines but we are just looking at it in a different manner. You in a fanatical way and I in a more cost effective way.

 

So back to MY question Which types would you recommend then 5w30 / 0w30 / 5w20 etc...?

 

pssh like what? thats just crazy talk. 2IS 4EVAAA~!!!

in BC? i would go... 0-30

 

0w30 "should" have better protection....