I own a 2015 Toyota Sienna van. The warranty is almost up. My question has to do with the oil change interval shown in the maintenance manual. It stipulates a 6 month/5k miles interval between changes. I've been using the dealer for oil changes while under warranty. I will use 0W-20 synthetic oil as recommended by Toyota, but it seems to me that 5 month intervals are too short,,especially for synthetic oil. I think that time frame can be stretched considerably (I don't put on a lot of mileage, mostly around town).BTW, there is a brand of synthetic oil (I think it's Mobile 1) that guarantees a year between changes. Your thoughts? Thanks.

I looked in the manual. The maintenance schedule that you're quoting is for towing. They specify 10,000 miles or 12 months for normal usage. I'd stick with what Toyota specifies. Oil is cheap. FYI, in-town miles are much harder on a vehicle than highway miles are.

10,000 miles on full synthetic is nothing. But to peove it to yourself send an oil samply to a lab like Blackstone.

Stick with the Toyota guidelines. They have done the research and know better than anyone what the fuel contamination and other values are to come up with that specification.

I would go 10,000 and ignore time as long as you do not run consistently short trips. As long as you put it away hot I don't worry about time.Nothing wrong with the 10k or 1 year in the manual either.

pauldub wrote: I'd stick with what Toyota specifies. Oil is cheap. X2, cheap insurance.

Oil Change Interval | Good Sam Community

37 Replies

amxpress
Explorer
Jul 02, 2018
The quality and quantity of the additive package found in Amsoil is a primary reason they have extended drain intervals. I send in an oil sample every other oil change and the test results always show a big level of additives that are still present in the old oil. Say fooey all you want as everyone is an expert on oil, or so they think. It’s a very subjective topic as there a lot of “fake news” about oil floating around the internet.
mr__ed
Explorer
Jun 27, 2018
I've seen some pretty good reviews on Walmart's Super Tech Synthetic oil.

I've never before used synthetic oil in any vehicle I've owned....always dino oil, and my vehicles always ran well with no oil related problems. Even so, I'm pretty sold on synthetic now, especially since my latest vehicle, a 2015 Toyota van, calls for 0W-20 oil and newer engines often have tighter tolerances between metal parts. I may go with the Super Tech synthetic and pair that with a good oil filter. Truth of the matter is, it doesn't matter which brand of oil one prefers, as long as it's changed at the right time.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jun 25, 2018
From what I've read, Royal Purple has better advertising than lubricating properties. It's rated pretty low in many tests, I wouldn't run it in my lawn mower. But it costs a lot so people think it's really good oil.
turbojimmy
Explorer
Jun 25, 2018
SidecarFlip wrote:
I find Amsoil to be mostly fooey. If Amsoil was the 'holy grail' of lubricants, everyone would use it. It's not. Amsoil, Lucas, Golden Spectro, all are mostly advertising hype.

I'm with you there. My newly-licensed son recently bought an '03 Grand Prix GTP with 70k miles on it. The original owner used Royal Purple in it exclusively its entire life (filter, too). When it's cold it had a horrible lifter tap. Changing to dino oil and the Delco filter cured it. Maybe he wasn't using the right weight - I dunno.

I've always waited for the computer to tell me when to change the oil on my vehicles (well since the new millenium anyway). They're not just time/mileage things - there are sophisticated algorithms that factor in load, heat, etc.
mr__ed
Explorer
Jun 25, 2018
Synthetics shine in another area. They are able to get into tighter clearances more easily, which is another reason some car manufacturers recommend them. If a good filter is used, that should help extend the life. Some folks change the filter regularly between oil changes, but that can be messy and also waste some oil. I would go for that if the filter was located near the top of the engine (mine isn't). I think Mercedes Benz has that arrangement.
JimK-NY
Explorer II
Jun 25, 2018
mr. ed wrote:
JimK-NY wrote:
The 6 month oil change policy comes from Toyota and other manufacturers. I have no idea why that is necessary and what data supports the requirement. Personally I cannot understand how oil is going to deteriorate sitting inside the engine.

It's true. Oil itself doesn't deteriorate but certain additives can. Plus, there is contamination from other sources inside the engine (combustion byproducts, for example).

So engine oil additives deteriorate over time and additional deterioration occurs due to exposure to combustion byproducts. I would think those same factors would cause deterioration of expensive synthetic oils. Many of us are not going to see any improvement in longevity with synthetics because they will still need to be replaced every 6 months.
mr__ed
Explorer
Jun 24, 2018
JimK-NY wrote:
The 6 month oil change policy comes from Toyota and other manufacturers. I have no idea why that is necessary and what data supports the requirement. Personally I cannot understand how oil is going to deteriorate sitting inside the engine.

It's true. Oil itself doesn't deteriorate but certain additives can. Plus, there is contamination from other sources inside the engine (combustion byproducts, for example).
JimK-NY
Explorer II
Jun 23, 2018
The 6 month oil change policy comes from Toyota and other manufacturers. I have no idea why that is necessary and what data supports the requirement. Personally I cannot understand how oil is going to deteriorate sitting inside the engine.
mr__ed
Explorer
Jun 23, 2018
fj12ryder wrote:
An oil change every six months is a waste of oil and money. Since it's out of warranty, who really cares if Toyota wants more of your money by doing your oil changes.

X2. The dealership likes to have repeat customers as often as possible. Allows more chances to upsell on other services which may or may not be needed. You've gotta expect that. After all, businesses need to make as much money as possible.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jun 23, 2018
An oil change every six months is a waste of oil and money. Since it's out of warranty, who really cares if Toyota wants more of your money by doing your oil changes.

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Oil Change Interval

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