2025 Toyota Rav4 engine oil update, 5w-30

[The_Sheriff]

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It sounds like the dealer didn’t want to do the work and quoted an outrageous fee. It wouldn’t be the first time a dealer did such a thing. Did she get more than one quote? I wonder how the warranty reads, because that just doesn’t seem right. Car manufacturers….PIA!
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[GaryMX5]

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What car brand did you have that had a CVT? I ask because the eCVT in Toyota and Ford hybrids is all planetary gears. Not the soulless belt/pulley type of CVT found in other brands. The eCVT in a Ford or Toyota can feel soulless depending on which mode you choose, but the CVT in my Maverick is the best transmission I’ve ever had. I’ve had just about all of them. Manual, traditional torque convertor automatic, and dual clutch. If I choose sport mode it’s, dare I say, a beast. It’s way more fun than I would have ever thought.
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I had a Subaru Impreza possibly the epitome of a soulless car. A well made but rather blah competent daily driver. I have had the opportunity to drive both of my SIL's Rav4s a fair amount. One is a hybrid with the ecvt and I'll admit it is much better than the Subaru. It gets outstanding fuel mileage in the city. It still has some CVT hesitation under heavy acceleration but ni where as near as bad as the Subaru. However, passing on 2 lane highways can be testing. Here's where the electric motors don't help a lot and the NA motor runs out of breath. You have to give yourself ample distance to assure a safe pass. My other SIL has a non-hybrid and it has the traditional 8 spd auto. It's a smooth shifting vehicle and gets surprisingly good gas mileage on the highway. It's not much better at passing but you don't feel like the transmission is winding (?) up like the hybrid seems to do. We're all in or close to our 70's now so we're not in as big a hurry as we may have been. I still appreciate handling and a satisfying overall engaging driving experience. Mazdas have been my go to for that for years now. I have 2 new mazdas and they have some of the smoothest shifting transmissions I have ever experienced. Both are more responsive than either RAV4. Rowing gears in my old RX7, Miata, and GTI, however, put the biggest smiles on my face.

 

[The_Sheriff]

I had a Subaru Impreza possibly the epitome of a soulless car. A well made but rather blah competent daily driver. I have had the opportunity to drive both of my SIL's Rav4s a fair amount. One is a hybrid with the ecvt and I'll admit it is much better than the Subaru. It gets outstanding fuel mileage in the city. It still has some CVT hesitation under heavy acceleration but ni where as near as bad as the Subaru. However, passing on 2 lane highways can be testing. Here's where the electric motors don't help a lot and the NA motor runs out of breath. You have to give yourself ample distance to assure a safe pass. My other SIL has a non-hybrid and it has the traditional 8 spd auto. It's a smooth shifting vehicle and gets surprisingly good gas mileage on the highway. It's not much better at passing but you don't feel like the transmission is winding (?) up like the hybrid seems to do. We're all in or close to our 70's now so we're not in as big a hurry as we may have been. I still appreciate handling and a satisfying overall engaging driving experience. Mazdas have been my go to for that for years now. I have 2 new mazdas and they have some of the smoothest shifting transmissions I have ever experienced. Both are more responsive than either RAV4. Rowing gears in my old RX7, Miata, and GTI, however, put the biggest smiles on my face.

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I hear ya! Mazda makes fun cars. I’m a gear rower from way back too and am in my 70’s, and an avid motorcyclist to boot. Talk about rowing gears! Good stuff.
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[MaximaGuy]

I have the very same engine on Rav4 and read an article the wears numbers of 0w16/20 is more than 5w30. Folks who have this engine p.. chime in - my other cars use 5w30.

 

[Nessism1]

I have the very same engine on Rav4 and read an article the wears numbers of 0w16/20 is more than 5w30. Folks who have this engine p.. chime in - my other cars use 5w30.

Some old time guru's from this site will tell you that you can't judge wear from a UOI. I'm not positive this is true, but it's certainly not definitive. Most will say that a thicker oil won't hurt. Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30 being the forum darling, currently.

 

[OilStained]

Maybe already mentioned, but your first post states 0w-16, but the emails referenced state 0w-20.

 

[blueglide88]

Why would it affect the oil pump based on this. Or is it sarcasm.

View attachment 289577View attachment 289578

Where is this owners manual from? This not a US owners manual. But it's certainly very interesting that they list so many viscosities, yet the US manual only lists 0w-16

 

[We're Metals]

At 104,000 miles on my 2020 Hybrid. Only had 0w-20 its entire life. Engine death by oil choice will not be what kills this car with whatever you run.

 

[JavierH19]

Where is this owners manual from? This not a US owners manual. But it's certainly very interesting that they list so many viscosities, yet the US manual only lists 0w-16

It's from Australia but I made a post about the specific EPA regulation document given to automakers giving them guidance on how to comply with their mandate. In essence they're not allowed to list grades that they did not test with. if you tested with 16 grade you can't list a higher grade but if you tested with a higher grade you can list that and lower grades but you can't get the fuel economy figure from the lower grade and tell people to use a higher grade all the time at most once and switch back. It's the EPA telling automakers to say that to their customers. It's your typical moronic bean counter nonsense. Countries outside of the US don't have these absurd regulations so they can list the true viscosity range.

Edit- Found the post where the epa doc is linked.

Edit 2 - Attached the older revision from 2010 which says the same thing so this has been going on for a while. I remember seeing US manuals before 2010 listing multiple grades. I know hyundai kia used to list 20 to 50 grade before 2010 or so but that went away after this. https://iaspub.epa.gov/otaqpub/display_file.jsp?docid=22579&flag=1

Post in thread '0W-8 in 2026 Toyota Prius'

Sep 20, 2025

I'm impressed. The page from the owners manual explains more about oil than any owners manual I've ever seen, and OK's the use of .... even that "heavy" 10w30 oil , and explains that it may be more difficult to start when the temperature is below zero.
I'm used to seeing the implied threat of complete engine failure if you don't use the oil spec'd by the manufacturer and labeled on the filler cap.

Toyotas and other brands like nissans, kias/hyundai, mitsubishi and others all say you can use many more grades in the exact same engine sold here in the US but they can't say to use...

• JavierH19

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[STREETFIGHTER50]

Yeah, been doing that all night! I will probably go with a 0w30 actually, 3.5 hths, vis at 100c of 12 or higher, and ash at .8 % or less. Right now, I am glancing at Motul 8100 X-Clean EFE 0w-30. Liqui Moly Top Tec 4210 and Castrol Edge Extended Performance are also contenders. Castrol is kind of like Mobil, not real open with their PDS information, tight lipped. There are too many choices, especially when I could just use Super Tec 5w30 and be fine. But this is actually kind of fun. I have been screwing around with this for months now, since I bought the car. I still have the 0w-16 Schaeffer 9000 in it, I have to use more of that up, so I still have time to torture you guys! LOL!

So no Mobil 1 ESP 0w30 for ya?

 

[CleanSump]

Redundant post here; If the fleet mileage testing was done and reported to the US Gov as having been done with xW-y oil, the owners manual is required by regulation to recommend xW-y oil. The manufacturer is going to use what will get them over the fleet mileage regulation hurtle. Otherwise, yeah, it would be same as ROW. Blame Congress and bureaucrats for the regs, not conspiracy by the manufacturers.