Synthetic or "free" Conventional oil

[arich]

I have always used M1 on my 100 and it's going strong at 120K. Now that we have the new 2011 200 with a maintenance plan I am wondering:
1. Should I take the free conventional oil changes through 30K miles and then switch to M1
2. Will Toyota use synthetic if I request it and I pay the difference or I supply the oil??
3. Forget about the "free" maintenance and just change it myself. Do Oil changes need to be documented by Toyota to maintain warranty?

Truck has 8K on it now and it's had one conventional Oil Change.

THOUGHTS???

 

[mark71]

use royal purple synthetic, keep your receipts, and toyota will honor the warranty.

 

[JBHorne]

You might be in luck. For 2011, the new LC might actually use synthetic from the factory in which case you cannot go back to conventional oil.

It sounds as if you have a maintenance plan as well from Toyota. If so, they will use synthetic for the 2011 at no cost if this is true.

To verify this, check your "scheduled maintenance" guide. This is the exact guide that Toyota is required to follow.

A green book indicates you use conventional oil and have oil changes every 5k.

If you have a blue book, go to the 5K mileage page and see if it says "synthetic oil" in the footer. In addition, it will say "Replace engine oil and oil filter" every 10K miles.

 

[TLC101]

Good dig JBHorne. I have heard of this before, from synthetic back to conventional oil, what is bad for the engine? Wonder did Toyota have the word "synthetic only" on the oil cap. When I used to bring my LC to the dealer, I made sure the service writer type in the word "synthetic" on the order and validate it on the invoice. Enjoy your ride.

 

[arich]

Good dig JBHorne. I have heard of this before, from synthetic back to conventional oil, what is bad for the engine? Wonder did Toyota have the word "synthetic only" on the oil cap.

No it only gives the OIL SPECS

When I used to bring my LC to the dealer, I made sure the service writer type in the word "synthetic" on the order and validate it on the invoice. Enjoy your ride.

No it only gives the OIL SPECS

 

[arich]

I have always used M1 on my 100 and it's going strong at 120K. Now that we have the new 2011 200 with a maintenance plan I am wondering:
1. Should I take the free conventional oil changes through 30K miles and then switch to M1
2. Will Toyota use synthetic if I request it and I pay the difference or I supply the oil??
3. Forget about the "free" maintenance and just change it myself. Do Oil changes need to be documented by Toyota to maintain warranty?

Truck has 8K on it now and it's had one conventional Oil Change.

THOUGHTS???

What triggered this questions is I just got my Toyota Care Card. It says, "Oil Type: Conventional."

Went to the maintenance book and it doe not mention Synthetic. Dealer could not tell me if it had Synthetic from the factory.

I'm so confused.

 

[JBHorne]

I have heard of this before, from synthetic back to conventional oil, what is bad for the engine?

I've never bothered to do any research myself, however have always followed the philosophy once you go synthetic, never go back.

What triggered this questions is I just got my Toyota Care Card. It says, "Oil Type: Conventional."

Went to the maintenance book and it doe not mention Synthetic. Dealer could not tell me if it had Synthetic from the factory.

I'm so confused.

Well, it would be in the manual or maintenance guide. Look for the words "Replace engine oil and oil filter." Do they occur every 5k or 10k? If 5k, assume conventional. If 10k, assume synthetic.



For what it's worth, my wife's 2010 4Runner Limited scheduled maintenance guide says "synthetic oil" on the bottom of every page. She has maintenance included, and they do use Toyota synthetic oil for changes at no charge.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

The last new Toyota I bought(2005), I had the oil changes all done at the dealer until the warranty was up in 2008. I would supply a 6 pack of Mobil1 from Costco, and ask them to note that on the invoice. They never had an issue with it.

 

[arich]

What triggered this questions is I just got my Toyota Care Card. It says, "Oil Type: Conventional."

Went to the maintenance book and it doe not mention Synthetic. Dealer could not tell me if it had Synthetic from the factory.

QUOTE]

Digging up my old thread. The 2011 LC200 needs to go in for its first oil change. The maintainence books says Conventional so this is what they will use. Should I stick with the "free" conventional oil for the first 5 changes and then switch to M1 or just switch now? It appears toyota did NOT use synthetic in 2011 models.

Thoughts and opinions?

 

[hedydd]

'Synthetic' means diddly-squat. What matters is the official standard met by the oil. It must meet that standard as a minimum and in some cases you will find that synthetic oil will not meet standards that a good mineral oil will. Whether mineral or synthetic, make sure that the oil meets or exceeds the standards needed for your engine, both performance standards and viscosity.

 

[hedydd]

What triggered this questions is I just got my Toyota Care Card. It says, "Oil Type: Conventional."

Went to the maintenance book and it doe not mention Synthetic. Dealer could not tell me if it had Synthetic from the factory.

QUOTE]

Digging up my old thread. The 2011 LC200 needs to go in for its first oil change. The maintainence books says Conventional so this is what they will use. Should I stick with the "free" conventional oil for the first 5 changes and then switch to M1 or just switch now? It appears toyota did NOT use synthetic in 2011 models.

Thoughts and opinions?

Do not change to a synthetic oil too soon. If they recommend a mineral oil to a certain specification for a certain period, that is what you should use. High performance oil, whether synthetic or mineral, can stop the proper running-in process which is a 'bad thing'. Once run-in for an extended period and if hard driven, then change to an oil that exceeds the recommended specification.
It is not something worth losing sleep over.

 

[SWUtah]

The engine in your 200 series will last just as long using conventional oil provided by the dealer as it will using synthetic, as long as you follow the recommended interval.

 

[Mtnbike]

I'm using synthetic. Biggest benefit is oil changes are every 10k vs 3-4k and it's better for your engine.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD

 

[Carl L]

I'm using synthetic. Biggest benefit is oil changes are every 10k vs 3-4k and it's better for your engine.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD

Conv oil change intervals are 5k. Doing them at 3-4k is asinine. I agree with you that the intervals on European cars using synthetic are far more acceptable in this day and age. 10k-20k depending on vehicle and usage makes for a lot less time spent at the stealership or covered in oil on your driveway.

I'm doing mine at 5k as it's free and under warranty, but I'll be going to 10 in a couple of years.

 

[SWUtah]

Conv oil change intervals are 5k. Doing them at 3-4k is asinine. I agree with you that the intervals on European cars using synthetic are far more acceptable in this day and age. 10k-20k depending on vehicle and usage makes for a lot less time spent at the stealership or covered in oil on your driveway.

I'm doing mine at 5k as it's free and under warranty, but I'll be going to 10 in a couple of years.

I agree with your post only exception for me is that I only drive about 7K miles a year and alot of my driving is 4-5 miles and park. Even though I live in a perfect climate I will change mine every 5K with the Toyota 0w20 as required for my 2010 FJC. My used cars have always been something people want to have

 

[Carl L]

I agree with your post only exception for me is that I only drive about 7K miles a year and alot of my driving is 4-5 miles and park. Even though I live in a perfect climate I will change mine every 5K with the Toyota 0w20 as required for my 2010 FJC. My used cars have always been something people want to have

Good man. Your are quite right, I included the disclaimer in my above post regarding "vehicle usage" and stop start driving is certainly tougher than freeway miles. Also, despite me being quite relaxed on oil changes I would always change the oil every year (I'm sure you and most already do this) even if you do less than 5k.

It's certainly all personal choice, I just get annoyed when I see Jiffy Lube/EZ Lube ripping off old grannies by telling them they have to change their oil every 3,000 miles.

 

[soslo]

This is an old thread I know, but it's worth mentioning that while synthetic oils may last 20k, the oil filter cannot continue filtering indefinitely. At this point the oil changes are more for the filter than for the oil.

 

[arich]

Glad this thread is still alive. I was going to post new today.

I started this tread a while back. Now that my 2011 has hit 33,000 I just switched to Mobil One 0W-20 with a Toyota Filter.

Wondering what others are doing for intervals with Synthetic. I would NEVER go 20,000. I was thinking 7,500-10,000. ALL ON ROAD DRIVING. Nothing extreme.

Thoughts opinions. What say the Mud?

 

[elkaholic]

As a point of reference, the Toyota USA service interval for oil & filter changes for 2013 models that come with synthetic oil from the factory is 10,000 miles. Going in for my first change in a few weeks.

 

[arich]

As a point of reference, the Toyota USA service interval for oil & filter changes for 2013 models that come with synthetic oil from the factory is 10,000 miles. Going in for my first change in a few weeks.

Good to know. 10,000 it is. Curious to see if the thinner synthetic oil makes any difference in the MPG this weekend up the the mountains.

I downloaded te CarManager app. Going to start tracking to see if the Toyota computer is off. If the synthetic yields just a 1 mpg increase that's about 50 gallons of saved fuel over 10,000.