Mostly short tripper with some highway ever couple weeks. Been using ST 0w20 twice a year but seems like a waste of good oil. I know you can't measure the condition of oil just by the color, but the oil looks almost new when I change it. Toyota recommends 10,000 or 1yr with 0w20 oil. Should I just run out the ST 0w20 to one year, switch to a different brand for the 1 yr interval, or keep doing twice a year changes.
2012 Corolla 6,000-7,000 miles a year
- Thread starter Corollaman
- Start date
Keep doing what you're doing. You can always run the filter for a year if you want.
Once a year should be not be a problem for 0w20 supertech. Especially at 6000 to 7000 thousand miles
I would get a MityVac and service oil every 5K; change filter every 3rd time.
Kirkland 0w20, on sale, for the win.
Kirkland 0w20, on sale, for the win.
Toyota recommends this. Why overthink it?
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
Once a year should be fine but man I’d be worried with that SuperTech in my engine but that’s just me. Don’t do the 10k oil change that is simply to get the car out of warranty.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
That’s a good oil there.
I would stay with twice a year personally. I daily drive an 86 K20 and run synthetic blend 10w30 from the local farm co-op. Costs me around $22 for 2.5 gallon jug. I change it every April and October with a B7 or similar long filter. My commute is 5-10 minutes with a run to the next town over once a week or so.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
Twice a year would definitely make more sense to me. Once a year I would be kinda worried but I’ve let my truck go that long right now it’s at 11 months because people here told me I was wasting oil lol 
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.I'm in a similar situation with my wife's Corolla. She works less than a mile from home and shops a couple of miles away. That accounts for 90% of her driving in a given week.
So to combat all that short tripping, I cut the 10k OCI in half to 5k. I also switch to M1 EP 5/20 as it seems like a pretty robust oil from info I can gather here. It also comes in at a 9 at 100°C. So it's a pretty heavy 20.
I also use Shell V-Power fuel....not for any performance gain. But for it's added detergents. From the research I've gathered it can actually help keep the fuel system clean over the long haul. On average she only burns about a 1/4 tank a week. So the cost is negligible.
And I'm typically up early. So on Sunday mornings I take it out on the highway for a few miles, gas it up, wash it and stick it back in the garage. It's 2.5 years old and just now hit 20k miles....and that's only because she took it on a 2k mile trip last summer.
Hoping to keep this one a long time and hand it down to my 13 year old in a few years.
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Not sure if you can conclude that. All we see is an oil that appears to be in acceptable condition for the time/mileage it was used for.
Nice. Do not neglect the other fluids. Trans I'd change every 40k miles or three years, coolant drain and refill every three years, brake fluid every two years and I would throw in gumout cleaner every oil change.
Also make sure you use a synthetic wax as need be. Keep the paint healthy and from hazing over due to UV exposure etc. If you treat a Toyota right it'll treat you well for ten years or more easily.
No worries on any of that. I'm a clean fluid kind of guy. And with all the time this car spends in the garage and the care I put into the finish, it ought to look new 10 years from now.
We're a Toyota family....and for good reason.
For 6000-7000 miles per year, normally I would say do a 1-year service interval. Since you're doing lots of short trips, I also suggest an oil analysis but do it around 9-10 months of service. ST synthetic is good oil and doing the analysis at 6 months will only tell you it can go longer. My $0.02
The ST synthetic once a year will be fine for your Corolla 
I would use the cheapest name brand oil for one year if I drove that little.
