Woman says Lexus dealer says 1st oil change is at 10,000 miles. 2013 ES350
Are Lexus filters extra good?
I check her oil for her and want to change the full synthetic now at 8k.
Thank you
Yes Lexus says first oil change is due at 10000 miles or 1 year,WHICHEVER COMES FIRST!
Many posters here think that is way too long and would change at 5000 or 7000 miles. If this is a new Lexus, the dealer should be doing the oil changes for free for the first two years-but only 2 free oil changes. I took my Toyota in at 6000 and 12000 miles and the rest of the oil changes are now on me.
Does the Lexus have an oil life monitor? I expect that any luxury car would. If not, I would also expect that there would be a severe service interval that would be substantially shorter than 10,000 miles. What model Lexus? Is it a 2013 or 2014?
The Lexus requires 0-20 grade oil be used which is only available in super-premium full synthetic oils…The filter is a cheap-looking canister type shared with many newer Toyota-built vehicles. It takes a special filter wrench to remove and replace the canister…And yes, 10,000 is pushing the upper limit on motor-oil serviceability…If you plan on keeping the car for a long time, 7000 miles might be a better change interval…Then there is the “service soon” reminder light that must be reset or ignored…
Lexus dealers feel this service is worth $150…
the price of owning a lexus
Why is it that so many people (including, apparently, the people at this dealership) seem to forget that virtually all car maintenance–and certainly something like an oil change interval–has both an elapsed-time value and an odometer mileage value, with a “whichever comes first” proviso?
So, under totally ideal conditions (virtually no local driving, no driving in extreme temperatures, no trailer-towing) it might be possible to go 10k miles before changing the oil, but I wouldn’t wait until 10k under any circumstances. If “woman” drives like most people do, the oil life monitor on her dashboard will light up well before 10k miles, and she would be…foolish…to try to push the envelope to that 10k number.
Personally, even with the synthetic oil that this car uses, I wouldn’t go more than 8k miles, and I am willing to bet that the oil life monitor will tell her to change the oil around 8k miles–if not before.
The OLM could be about 10K. That’s about where zero life left is on our Cobalts (2009 and 2010). Zero is about 7500 miles on the 2003 Silhouette. I also prefer changing a bit earlier and it is recommended that you start considering the change at 20% remaining so that it will be changed by 15% remaining.
2013 ES350
Closest Lexus dealer rips everyone off for $95 oil change. $23 labor $72 parts and oil.
Tool to remove canister is $75.
Dealer uses 0-W20 Valvoline. Would Mobil 1™ be.tter?
She learned from me to drive gently, steadily. No aggressive accelerations.
I’ve never personally been comfortable with 10,000 mile oil changes. They might be okay when the engine is new, but as the engine builds up wear it becomes subject to the same issues as every other engine, namely particulate contamination, dilution due to bypass, and heat damage (although synthetic is less subject to the last). A 10,000 mile oil change schedule is not a good habit to get into.
My recommendation would be to do it every 5,000 miles. The goal, after all, is to prolong the life of the engine, NOT to prolong the life of the oil. Engines are expensive. Oil is cheap.
Sure, let’s do the oil changes much more frequently so we can advance the economy, especially the dealership’s. Get used to it. In the next 5 to 10 years, 10 k mile oil changes will be commonplace for the average car. If you must, after 5 k miles, have your oil tested; then at 7500 miles after the next change until you can comfortable with it.
I bought a 2011 Toyota Sienna when they came out in April of 2010. The manual specified 0W-20 synthetic oil and the oil be changed at 5000 miles. The maintenance light came on at 5000 miles. When I took it to the Toyota dealer, I was told that the new recommendation from Toyota was to change the oil at 10,000 miles and the service writer just turned off the light. I wasn’t too happy, so I talked to the service manager. He said the same thing as the service writer–he said that he didn’t want to take my money for an oil change that wasn’t needed. I went back home and was tempted to go to my independent shop. However, two days later I received a letter in the mail from Toyota that the new interval for oil changes is 10,000 miles and this recommendation replaces what is stated in the manual. However, the maintenance light still comes on at 5000 miles. My independent shop says they can reprogram the system for the 10,000 interval. However, since everything works right, I’ll just have the light reset at the first 5000 check point.
The service manager at Toyota is an older person and his explanation is that the engines and the oils have improved since the days of 3000 mile oil changes as specified when we were younger. I actually remember 2000 mile oil changes. My 1965 Rambler specified an oil and filter change at 4000 miles, so it seems plausible that with full synthetic the oil change interval is 10k.
Do what you want but I had our Acura changed at 5000 and the OLM at 50%. The dealer even suggested going longer but conceded there was no problem doing the first change at 5000. Cost me $75 for 0-20 syn so $100 is not that far off. Another reason why buying used is going to get to be a real crap shoot with all of these extended maintenance intervals.
If Mobil1 meets the oil specification levied by Toyota, then it is every bit as good as the Valvoline the dealer uses. Assuming the Valvoline 0-W20 meets Toyota’s requirements. I don’t think best is the right term here. Good enough to meet Toyota’s standards is more appropriate. And 10K is the absolute max. Chevy recommends 15% to 20% life remaining, which works out to about 8000 miles for us.
so it seems plausible that with full synthetic the oil change interval is 10k.With a brand new engine I am most concerned about break-in particulates suspended in the oil. I'd expect the first oil change to be 5k and then 10k after. Or am I being overly paranoid as I often am?
This is correct. The service light is still set at 5k because there is still a need to rotate tires, check your fluids including oil level and make sure the nitrogen in your tires is up. All kidding aside, oil changing is just one facet of car maintenance. Fluid level checks and the condition of your components are actually the most important. Now, if you feel confident in doing it yourself, you can save money on that extra 5k light up. The dealer I bought my car at says, regardless of what the factory recommends, they will be happy to take my Money for too frequent oil changes with synthetic 0w-20. They are happy to accommodate in any way. I would not make up" oil chnge recommendations for a 1965 Rambler that was expressly made without synthetics in mind. Not that it doesn’t work, but the company that made the car never tested longevity using synthetics. I have no doubt that many cars can benefit but things like softer metals used in some parts of “very” old cars make switch modern oils into them problematic without consulting forums and others who have done it successfully. Rambler ain’t around anymore to help.
Not really, Robert. Your logic has a very rational basis, and in the old days before manufacturers started doing initial breakins at the factory and when manufacturing lines were operating to the design tolerances rather than to reducing variation in the parts, particulates and bypass during breakin were at the highest they would be for many thousands of miles. But with parts fitting much more precisely in modern engines, and with many (perhaps all) manufacturers doing initial breakin at the factory, particulates and bypass are probably at their lowest at time of delivery.
Times have changed. The parts all vary far less from their “optimum” dimensions than they used to. New engines run very, very clean now, and that includes those things that caused oil to need changing. That very reality is much of the basis that manufacturers are now using to recommend longer oil change periods. In the old days we used to change oil every 3,000 miles. I’m not comfortable with 10,000 miles periods, seeing as how the goal is to keep the engine running good, however I now use 5,000 miles as a comfortable standard. I would never have gone 5,000 miles between changes on my '64 Fairlane.
" Do not “make up” oil chnge recommendations for a 1965 Rambler that was expressly made ô without synthetics in mind. Not that it doesn’t work, but the company that made the car never tested longevity using synthetics".
I didn’t make up this 4000 mile oil change for the 1965 Rambler. This statement was in the owner’s manual and the oil to be used was 10W-30 year round. I was used to a 2000 mile oil change before I bought the Rambler and used straight weight oils–10 weight in the winter, 20W-20 in the spring and fall and 30 weight in the summer. My point was that, as oils improved over the years, the intervals between changes increased. I remember when some cars didn’t have oil filters and the non-detergent oils in use at the time were changed every 1000 miles.
@Triedaq
My good friend…
I don’t know what happened to my original post but that comment was in reference to you assuming that 10000 could be used using synthetics instead in your 65Rambler. “So it seems plausible that a 10000 mile oil change could be used with a full synthetic”. I said “recommendations were made without synthetics in mind”
I would just do what the owner’s manual says and stop obsessing over it.
@RobertGift
I actually prefer Mobil 1 over Valvoline synthetic
As far as that $75 tool to remove the canister, where are you shopping . . . ?!
My brother’s 2008 Toyota also uses a canister, and the tool to remove it wasn’t anywhere near $75