2013 Toyota Corolla Oil Change Interval

Joined
Aug 26, 2020
Messages
9
Location
Prince Edward Island, Canada
My daughter’s 2013 Corolla has 150,000 kilometres (93,000 miles) and has been rolling along on a diet of 0W20 synthetic oil (various brands). She has a long commute and drives approx 40,000 kms (24,800 miles) per year.

However, she really doesn’t know what oil change interval she has been following since she moved to another mechanic but lately she seems to be changing the oil quite frequently. I was just going to suggest that she tell her mechanic that she wants to ensure that he is using premium oil filter, synthetic oil, and a change interval of between 8000 - 10,000kms (5000- 6200mi). I figure she would be safe with that. Any thoughts?
 
If all highwa on synthetic, she likely can go longer. But 5kmiles is a good time to do a tire rotation too. So make it easy and do both at the same time.

doesn’t this car have a maintenance light that goes off every 5kmiles or so?
 
If all highwa on synthetic, she likely can go longer. But 5kmiles is a good time to do a tire rotation too. So make it easy and do both at the same time.

doesn’t this car have a maintenance light that goes off every 5kmiles or so?
No, I believe it was built before the days of maintenance monitors.
 
I'd stretch to 8K with full synthetic oil and due to the long highway commutes, also stretch tire rotation to that interval. When in doubt, send the used oil in for analysis.
 
My daughter’s 2013 Corolla has 150,000 kilometres (93,000 miles) and has been rolling along on a diet of 0W20 synthetic oil (various brands). She has a long commute and drives approx 40,000 kms (24,800 miles) per year.

However, she really doesn’t know what oil change interval she has been following since she moved to another mechanic but lately she seems to be changing the oil quite frequently. I was just going to suggest that she tell her mechanic that she wants to ensure that he is using premium oil filter, synthetic oil, and a change interval of between 8000 - 10,000kms (5000- 6200mi). I figure she would be safe with that. Any thoughts?
6 to 7k, my sister has one too, at about 6k you can smell some gas.
 
5000 mile changes on premium syn and filter with highway commuting and a mechanic doing the work is an economic waste.

My wife's old Malibu Maxx OLM tripped at 7500+/- miles with 5W30 conventional and I confirmed it was fine via UOA.

If it were my kid's car, I'd go with 10K mile changes at least and toss in a UOA to confirm. I just saw a UOA posted here from a member with a 2.7L EcoBoost F150 who did 10K+ miles on ST 0W20 and it looked great.

If you don't feel comfortable with 10K, then I'd go with @Dave9 's recommendation.
 
5000 mile changes on premium syn and filter with highway commuting and a mechanic doing the work is an economic waste.

My wife's old Malibu Maxx OLM tripped at 7500+/- miles with 5W30 conventional and I confirmed it was fine via UOA.

If it were my kid's car, I'd go with 10K mile changes at least and toss in a UOA to confirm. I just saw a UOA posted here from a member with a 2.7L EcoBoost F150 who did 10K+ miles on ST 0W20 and it looked great.

If you don't feel comfortable with 10K, then I'd go with @Dave9 's recommendation.
With that much highway miles, I'd go 10k miles OCI.
 
Get a MityVac, some filters and Kirkland 0w20.
Every 5K break out the MityVac and suck out the oil. Service the filter every 2nd or 3rd time.
Nuthin' too it.
 
But there is value in having a vehicle inspection performed every 5K, especially on an older vehicle.
There may be for some and that's perfectly fine. With a lot of highway driving, I don't see the need to inspect the vehicle every couple of months. A few service visits a year coupled with a state safety inspection (if applicable), are fine.

Get a MityVac, some filters and Kirkland 0w20.
Every 5K break out the MityVac and suck out the oil. Service the filter every 2nd or 3rd time.
Nuthin' too it.
I don't think his daughter is going to buy a Mityvac for oil changes. I know my daughter wouldn't. LOL
Remember, Dad is only recommending an interval. Heck, if she's like my kid, I'd tell her 5K and I'd see her at 10K anyway. I will give her credit though as her OLM hit 0% last week and she stopped by this weekend.
 
Not quite the same, but I did 5k-7.5k mile intervals on my 99gs400 w/ M1 5w30 HM. It saw 88mi/day work commute w/ most of the fwy time above 85mph going with the SoCal racetrack/freeway flow. Just rolled 347k mi today, over 30k mi a year the past few years.
 
I’d check on the maintenance light, I thought Toyota had those across the board back then. It’s just a “dumb” light, I want to stay it will flash at start up around 4,500 miles; then come on always at 5k. It’s using zero thought about it, just a straight 5k timer. Myself, I look at the odo often and just do stuff on 0’s and 5’s, every 5k, as over the years my FWD’s have shown a need for rotations at that frequency. I’ll either change the oil at that time or every other, depending on my mood. Keeps it simple for me to do.
 
Get a MityVac, some filters and Kirkland 0w20.
Every 5K break out the MityVac and suck out the oil. Service the filter every 2nd or 3rd time.
Nuthin' too it.
Although fine for a home mechanic, it would be hard for most people. I used to run Ford filters 15,000 miles (three oil changes) on a Ford 4.6 modular, and the insoluables would drop EVERY TIME. Filters get more efficient up until the time they clog up. No harm, and perhaps some benefit, in going every other oil change if you are doing 5K oil changes on this engine.
 
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