Isaac88

Is it any good? I always assumed my dealer used Toyota/Lexus synthetic, today I found out they've been putting Pennzoil Platinum in my 350 this whole time. Not sure how I feel about it.

What do your dealers use?

E46CT

Uh. Penzzoil Plat is factory fill at Ferrari. That's how you should feel about it.

Put it this way, I was one of the "oil gurus" over at the BMW side for years.

Guess what I'm using in my Lexus next oil change? Amazon 0W-20

short story is most off the shelf oils are great. it's more important to change it w/ filter than to worry and bicker over brand.

Isaac88

I guess I'm just a little thrown off that they're not using Toyota/Lexus oil, but if it's good enough for Ferrari I'm good with it.

I've seen videos of the Amazon oil, pretty good stuff from what I see.

E46CT

I'm sure you know all manufacturers just order and spec their branded oil from the big oil makers. Volvo, Mercedes, etc don't make their own oil.

My dealer used Castrol 0-20 on my IS200t when i got its first free oil change. FWIW. i don't think there's a standarized brand lexus asks their dealers to use, they may give an allowed list. not sure. as long as it meets spec, brand doesn't matter

TOPENDMS

You would expect genuine Lexus everything. I think they should at least disclose the fact.

E46CT

Not even Lexus says they use "Lexus oil." They say Genuine Toyota. Then they go onto say you can also use equivalent. As every manufacturer says. There's no expectation by any reasonable person that "Genuine" oil is used unless that's promised in some way, which it's not. My local dealer Newport Beach Lexus used Castrol 0W-20 on my free change. Does not matter one bit as long as oil meets grade.

I wouldn't really want Toyota or "Lexus" "motor" oil anyway. From what I recall, they have low viscosity and lower on the HTHS score than their competitors. If I'm shopping within a viscosity class, and I have a chance, I'm going for highest viscosity at temp and highest HTHS, particularly on a car I drive aggressively.

But really I wouldn't put all that much thought into it overall. Just if I had a choice, all things being equal.

mak8504

Pennzoil Platinum is good stuff, don’t be concerned. My Lexus dealer used Mobil 1 during my complimentary oil change. I’m more of a Pennzoil guy so when it comes time to change, I’ll use that.

Go over to ProjectFarm on YouTube and you’ll see that he does quite detailed reviews on oils. Both the Amazon basics and Walmart Supertech synthetics are excellent oils. In reality, id be more concerned about the techs not doing a good job of actually changing the oil. I’ve seen techs overfill and even not properly tighten drain plugs.

E46CT

yep. the actual installing of the new oil is where something is likelier to go wrong. under/overfilling, not tightening something, stripping/damaging something.

the guys at all these dealers people seem to worship? they're (with few exceptions) usually 20 year olds fresh out of tech school thumping rap music in the back, calling eachother bro. they're not always that bright or that concerned with your cars well-being.

they're not the takumi craftsmen you've seen in those videos. lol

HOMER350

+1 for Amazon synthetic 0w-20.

I returned the Mobile 1 I had ready for my next oil change and will get the ~$20 5 quart Amazon

E46CT

i'll likely be dumping amazon into my Lexus hybrid this weekend. first time ever going with a non-big name. but i'm confident based on all the info i've seen out there.

evident

I use pp for everything. No issues

sirdizzle

Penzoil Platnium is the only oil I have used that I actually felt a difference with. Living Northern CA, the weather doesn't play a role much, but felt the engine was happier and less sluggish on colder mornings. (This was on my 2nd gen IS350 with 130k miles a few years ago). Any decent oil with the right weight is good enough for our cars, but only with PP did I feel a minor difference in how the engine acts on cold mornings.

Flash5

Let us know how it holds up. I know the reviews and research says it’s pretty good. It also has a SN Plus rating which is supposedly the highest the API hands out. I’ll probably give it a try, but I want to see what an actual person trying it out has to say about it too. Someone might want to do an oil analysis on it after, I would but idk that I can ship used oil overseas haha.
EDIT: Not the SAE but the API for the SN Plus rating.

Flash5

I also just noticed Amazon pulled all the competitor oils lol. Anybody else seeing that?
EDIT: Nvm, I think it’s because I’m in Germany it isn’t showing oils.

Flash5

So in the manual, is Lexus/Toyota recommending that if the car is used at high speeds or driven hard, that we use something a little higher than 0W-20?