So I went in for 6 month service yesterday.. Car only has 2000 miles. The inevitable question of what oil would be best for our cars. I know there is a
thread discussing sythetic vs standard oil but I decided to do some of my own research. I called the service departments of 6 different Lexus dealorships.
I asked why conventional oil was recommended not synthetic but no one knew the answer.. They all said they used the standard 5w-30 oil that Lexus recommends..
When I suggested I may want to switch to synthetic, 2 service managers said they didn't see a problem.One manager was vehement that Lexus would
not recommend conventional oil for our cars if they didn't have a good reason. He said they are extensively tested and you should follow the instructions
in the manual. One service manager had over 25 years experience and said he had never seen a problem with Lexus V8 engines using conventional oil.Another manager said if it was his own car, he would do what Lexus recommends and use 5w-30 conventional oil and change every 6 months.
I was leaning toward using synthetic and changing once a year but now I think I will go with conventional oil and 6 month change per Lexus specification.
Anyway car checked out perfectly and 6 months in I'm loving it more and more!

 

Thanks for the research and input

Mine will go in next month to switch to the summer wheels and tires and I will follow up here with what was recommended to me.

I am still under 1000 miles with the car being on the road since early November 2020.

For reference, my NSX runs synthetic and my first change was done around 8000 miles, and over 2 years on the road, the dealer recommended going by the car's computer vs the owner's manual.

 

If that's what makes you feel good, run with it!

 

You may find this thread interesting:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rc-...hetic-oil.html

Pay attention to the posts by danielTRLK - He knows what he is talking about.

I use Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 10W30. I live in a warm climate (never reached freezing this winter) is the reason I don't use 5w30. I use a Wix XP filter.

Note - I never put conventional oil in my ISF (same engine code as the LC). AFAIK my LC came with dino oil and Lexus did the first oil change. Sine then I have done my own changes.

Lou

 

I read the oil thread and found it very interesting. Any reason you don't use the RLI that seems to be top one recommended by Daniel TRLK?

He is adamant that synthetic oil is better for our cars,going against what Lexus recommends. A little confusing.

 

^^^^No reason really - Ultra Platinum is also highly rated and I've used their stuff for ever

Confusing - Not really - Daniel gives reasons why. The folks you spoke to did not.

Lou

 

I get all the technical reasons Daniel gave and agree it makes sense. What is confusing is why Lexus engineers, who developed and tested the
car would recommend using conventional oil. And your right , they never give a reason why.

 

^^^^OK - The owners manual makes no recommendation as to the type of engine oil. It specifies the Viscosity and the Oil Grade Standard that must be met:




Pennzoil Ultra Platinum is rated at the next higher Oil Grade Standard GF-6A:



From what I read above GF-6A is a more rigorous standard.

Lou