bought a used car - opinions please

[Burny]

Hi, I've been using Castrol conventional oil for years in my 4runner, nissan maxima, lexus GS300 and have had no problems. All of these cars were bought brand new by me and I used same oil consistently. Now I have purchased a 2007 Lexus GS350 and do not know the history of oil used. I do know it was changed every 5,000 miles but at different places. I pulled the stick and the oil looks clean right now.
My question is what would you suggest I use on this car. It has 66,000 miles and will be driven around 50 miles per day with a 15-20 minute crawl each way to get through a tunnel.
For the past 30 years I have always changed my oil every 3-4k or 3-4 months whichever came first. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Stick with the Castrol dino.

 

[bourne]

Whichever syn 5w30 is on sale if you want full syn. You can even try Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy 0w30. For dino , im partial to Valvoline conventional, Pennzoil Conventional and Formula Shell. Or stick to Castrol GTX if thats been working well for you.

 

[tig1]

If your engine calls for a 30 wt. oil then I would go with Mobil 1 0w30 and do 10K OCIs.

 

[JHZR2]

An expensive car like that with no history - sounds expensive if things go wrong - id want to be proactive on everything.

I'd try to re-baseline ALL fluids. Id personally run m1 in the right viscosity per the OM, and be done with it. Motor oil is likely the least of your worries wrt fluids.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

close your eyes in the 30 wt oil section, ask someone to spin you around, and around.. the first oil you touch take it home and love it

with such short OCI's there sno real wrong choice.. buy whats on sale.

 

[beast3300]

5k or 6 months on pretty much any motor oil you want.

 

[fdcg27]

You've bought a real Lexus, not a Toyota in drag.
Congrats on that.
I'd use any 5w30 labeled as synthetic.
There are usually good deals available.
Check the relevant forum to find what's available at a deal.
I'd personally load up on a few changes of the oil I selected, and use it for at least a few OCIs.
You probably wouldn't go wrong using Pennzoil Conventional or Quaker State Conventional, but I'd be inclined to use something a little better in your new ride.
If you're doing fifty miles a day, then you probably don't need to change the oil more often than every 5K.
You could even do a used oil analysis after a couple of 5K runs of the same oil just to see how it holds up in your car as you use it.
I hope you enjoy your new ride. They are very nice.

 

[Burny]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
An expensive car like that with no history - sounds expensive if things go wrong - id want to be proactive on everything.

I'd try to re-baseline ALL fluids. Id personally run m1 in the right viscosity per the OM, and be done with it. Motor oil is likely the least of your worries wrt fluids.


I know what has been done to the car, just don't know what type of oil was used in it. receipts show Lexus dealership did a couple, local garages did the others. I may stay with Castrol Dino, but have considered M1 synthetic or Castrol Edge 5w30. Just did the differential with M1 gear oil and stuck some new iridium tipped plugs in it. Old plugs looked pretty worn considering they say go 100-120k before changing them. The transmission uses some toyota [censored] called [censored] - world transmission fluid that they say never needs changing. I am very uncomfortable with that. No power steering fluid as it is all electronic. very easy car to work on and maintain.

 

[Burny]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You've bought a real Lexus, not a Toyota in drag.
Congrats on that.
I'd use any 5w30 labeled as synthetic.
There are usually good deals available.
Check the relevant forum to find what's available at a deal.
I'd personally load up on a few changes of the oil I selected, and use it for at least a few OCIs.
You probably wouldn't go wrong using Pennzoil Conventional or Quaker State Conventional, but I'd be inclined to use something a little better in your new ride.
If you're doing fifty miles a day, then you probably don't need to change the oil more often than every 5K.
You could even do a used oil analysis after a couple of 5K runs of the same oil just to see how it holds up in your car as you use it.
I hope you enjoy your new ride. They are very nice.


It is my wifes car, I'm still partial to my 91 4runner that has never leaked a drop of any fluid. The main concern I have with the new Lexus and oil type for it is the idling for 15-20 minutes twice a day while she crawls through the [censored] tunnel.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: Burny
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You've bought a real Lexus, not a Toyota in drag.
Congrats on that.
I'd use any 5w30 labeled as synthetic.
There are usually good deals available.
Check the relevant forum to find what's available at a deal.
I'd personally load up on a few changes of the oil I selected, and use it for at least a few OCIs.
You probably wouldn't go wrong using Pennzoil Conventional or Quaker State Conventional, but I'd be inclined to use something a little better in your new ride.
If you're doing fifty miles a day, then you probably don't need to change the oil more often than every 5K.
You could even do a used oil analysis after a couple of 5K runs of the same oil just to see how it holds up in your car as you use it.
I hope you enjoy your new ride. They are very nice.


It is my wifes car, I'm still partial to my 91 4runner that has never leaked a drop of any fluid. The main concern I have with the new Lexus and oil type for it is the idling for 15-20 minutes twice a day while she crawls through the [censored] tunnel.


That won't matter if you plan to stick with your 3k intervals. If you'd like to extend, then you should consider stepping up to a better oil.

There is the peace-of-mind factor, so while her car won't care one iota, it might make you feel better to use something better, regardless of the interval. In that case, take the above advice and use whatever cheap synthetic you want; it really won't matter at such short intervals.

 

[fdcg27]

I dpn't think that the tunnel crawl will hurt anything.
Since you seem to like GTX, you could use it with no problems, although I'd likely use something else.
Why not run the GTX a couple of 5K intervals in this car and then UOA it?
That would let you know that the oil is equal to the task.
Incidentally, I wouldn't worry too much about the maintenance history on this car.
It isn't like it's a really touchy BMW or Mercedes.
Toyota built this car to use, not to worry about, and it only has 66K.

 

[Gene K]

If the 3-4k interval makes you feel better keep doing it. That said no reason to change after 3 months.