SYNTHETIC OR REGULAR OIL? TELL ME

[JetfireK]

The dealer puts a sticker on my car when its time to have an oil-filter change. I still have a couple of thousand miles left before I am suppose to come in but the expire date was April 30th, so I go in Tuesday
CAN YOU TELL ME:

How many miles before you change the oil?
Do you recommend Synthetic or the Regular Oil?

Thank you in advance, Judy

[bronsin]

There is no reason to use snythetic oil unless you live where its very cold like 0 degrees at night. Synthetic oil will flow better than regular oil so the car will start easier. Read your owners manual. Theres no mention to use synthetic oil in it.


Change your oil per the oners manual. I believe the interval is 6000 miles or six months, whichever comes first.

[kac]

How many miles before you change the oil?
Do you recommend Synthetic or the Regular Oil?

different people will answer your questions differently.

For ME... I use full synthetic oil and change it every 5000 miles. That being said synthetic is not necessary in the yaris...

[Happy Little Pony]

The dealer puts a sticker on my car when its time to have an oil-filter change. I still have a couple of thousand miles left before I am suppose to come in but the expire date was April 30th, so I go in Tuesday
CAN YOU TELL ME:

How many miles before you change the oil?
Do you recommend Synthetic or the Regular Oil?

Thank you in advance, Judy

Look in the owners manual. Do what it says, not what the dealer's little sticker says. The dealer and your local "quickie" oil change place want you to use the old "3 month or 3,000 mile" schedule, which is an arbitrary figure designed mostly to move money from your bank account to theirs. I don't know about the 2008, but my 2007 has a 6 month or 5,000 mile oil change interval. That's a very conservative time frame. Any modern, major brand conventional oil should have no trouble lasting that long.

If do use an oil change interval of around 5,000 miles, just use conventional oil and save your money. The Yaris 1NZFE engine isn't very hard on oil, and modern conventional oils are very good these days. If you lived in a very cold climate, I might say you'd have a case for synthetic, because one of the major benefits of synthetic is that it pumps easier in bitterly cold weather. You live in Louisiana, so that doesn't apply.

Having said that, if it makes you feel better, go ahead and use the synthetic, it won't hurt anything.

[mrb3990]

Hi Judy,
1. Owner's manual says to change the oil every 5,000 miles or six months. If you use the car for a lot of short trips (10 min or less) you could use a 3,000 mile or 3 months schedule. 3,000 miles/3 months is what is known as the severe use schedule.
2. Living in Louisiana, there is no need for synthetic oil unless you are drag racing your Yaris ;). Just use regular oil.

[vwtech]

only reason to use synthetic oil is to extend your interval. but 5k on regular oil is just fine, go by the owners manual and use quality name brand oil. my jetta has 10k oil change intervals and I love it I change the oil about once a year. Listen to the owners manual not your dealer.

[UTVitz]

Every 3000-5000 is a very good rule to stick to if you plan to keep the car long term-10 or more years and a few 100k miles.

Synthetic vs. Conventional-it's a personal and econmic choice. Both perform very well in all conditions when new, synthetic just tends to have a longer operating life in the engine. Just keep up on your oil/filter changes to keep the inside of your engine clean.

[Yaris Hilton]

There's nothing to say about oil that hasn't been said over and over and over...

[jambo101]

I do synthetic every 10k,usually works out to a change in the fall and another in the spring. Last 2 of my cars have done well over 220K with no oil loss between oil changes.

[TheSilkySmooth]

Just rememeber that an oil bottle labeled " Fully Synthetic Oil" in the USA market does not get you synthetic oil, but rather highly refined mineral oil with possibly more additive than Conventional oil. For example M1 5w30, Syntec and Synpower are not "traditional" full synthetic oils. Look at the data sheet on the manufacturer's website to insure you get what your Owners manual recommends or requires. Toyota recommends nothing more than conventional detergent oil for the Yaris. I drive aggressively and use a highly additised oil in mine that meets the older API SJ spec when more antiwear additives were allowed.

[Yaris Hilton]

If you look at oils first approved with a Diesel service rating beginning with a C, then approved for SM, they have the SJ level ZDP additive. Loophole in the specs. May be hard finding one in the viscosity rating you want...

[JetfireK]

Thanks everyone. I will use regular oil and I appreciate all the replies. Judy


CAN YOU TELL ME:

How many miles before you change the oil?
Do you recommend Synthetic or the Regular Oil?

Thank you in advance, Judy[/QUOTE]

[sickpuppy1]

I watch the sales at Oreily Auto or the like. I use only Purolator ONE or Wix filters in all my cars. In my opinion, you dont gain much by going from conventional to synthetic oil. But going to a good filter will extend the life of your engine for sure. Do some research on filters and you'll find a dramatic difference in quality. Fram advertises alot but the stats dont back up their claims.
If you watch the sale ads like I do, I got Purolator ONE filter and Castrol Synblend oil for 16.95. I may end up getting enough to do a couple of changes at a time.

[Vang]

plain old dino oil is what i use..

[TheSilkySmooth]

..
If you watch the sale ads like I do, I got Purolator ONE filter and Castrol Synblend oil for 16.95. ... If Castrol Syntec is not real synthetic :iono: what is in their Synblend?! Castrol is BP. Do you want to give British Petroleum your continued business? :thumbdown:

[ctrj]

Buy some Amsoil Signature Series Oil 0W-30 and a Mobil 1 oil filter. Run 15k miles between oil changes and that oil and filter works out to be about $18 every 5k miles. Don't think your oil can last 15k miles, get it analysed and see. Running 5k miles on synthetic is wasting your money and time.

[Yaris Hilton]

My neighborhood oil change shop (where I get my Castrol GTX put in) and my neighborhood BP convenience store/gas station are run by local folks who don't deserve to pay the penalty for BP's mismanagement of their drill rig. I suppose I could get the oil change place to put in Valvoline or Pennzoil next time, though.

[Hershey]

PENNZOIL conventional 5w-30 be fine . The new YELLOW BOTTLE is now a SN oil . Apparently a better performer .

[1stToyota]

I'll be sending in my oil sample to the labs for a UOA, probably this week or next. Using M1 0w30 right now. Anxious to see how well their additive package held up for the 5k miles. Just guessing, but if it was conventional oil the TBN would probably show that the additive package was pushed to its limit. :iono:

[Yaris Hilton]

No, I don't think 5K miles under normal driving conditions will "push to the limit" any properly spec'd conventional oil either.

[1stToyota]

If I wasn't clear I was referring to the conventional oil being pushed by the 5k mark, and when Amsoil rates their XL series oil at only a 7,500 mile oci I'm still figuring that most conventional oils [their additive packages] will be feeling pretty tired at 5k, but not so with synthetic. Blackstone will let me know with their TBN for the M1 and recommend a better guideline for what OCI is best for it.

[Yaris Hilton]

I understood quite well, and that's what I'm arguing against. The 5K change interval is a conservative one. I'm NOT suggesting extending it. But I think it's silly to suggest that the base number analysis would suggest that the additive package of a GF-4 conventional oil would be nearly exhausted at 5K miles, but not in the synthetic. Base number analysis only indicates how much acid (mostly produced in combustion) has been neutralized by the basic additives in the oil. This kind of quasi-scientific talk really doesn't tell us that the engine is going to run better or last longer with an oil having better numbers, anyway.

[1stToyota]

I understood quite well, and that's what I'm arguing against. The 5K change interval is a conservative one. I'm NOT suggesting extending it. But I think it's silly to suggest that the base number analysis would suggest that the additive package of a GF-4 conventional oil would be nearly exhausted at 5K miles, but not in the synthetic. Base number analysis only indicates how much acid (mostly produced in combustion) has been neutralized by the basic additives in the oil. This kind of quasi-scientific talk really doesn't tell us that the engine is going to run better or last longer with an oil having better numbers, anyway.

Common sense would indicate that numbers that are suckier won't be as good for the motor.

And since you're eager to argue I'll be sure to be the one that backs up my feelings with UOAs on the M1 vs a premium GF-4 conventional oil. Yes, I'll pay the $10 extra bucks on each UOA to have the TBN that tests what's left of the additive packages. If I found out that Blackstone tells me to push that conventional oil another several thousand miles because it's still fresh as a daisy you'll be first to know. :smile:

[Yaris Hilton]

Fine. If you're doing oil analyses you have some basis for determining when the oil really needs changing. Doesn't make economic sense to me, but it's better than going by oil company ad claims.

[1stToyota]

Fine. If you're doing oil analyses you have some basis for determining when the oil really needs changing. Doesn't make economic sense to me, but it's better than going by oil company ad claims.

Doesn't make economic sense to me either because I'll probably always stick to a 5k OCI, using synthetic oil, but I guess it's worth it to run conventional oil once to see how it and its additive package holds up against a popular synthetic. However, it would be well worth it to the owner that wants to run synthetic and base their OCI on what the lab's TBN showed in a UOA.

[Yaris Hilton]

Whatever. I've been in an argumentive, cranky, vile, generally SOBish mood the last few days, and apologize if I've been offensive. But practically, I think good enough is good enough, and will stick with the factory recommendations.

[127.0.0.1]

I don't use any oil at all. I use water. the need for oil is a big scam by the government to
oppress and keep you down. water works better anyway and it is free.

[127.0.0.1]

Whatever. I've been in an argumentive, cranky, vile, generally SOBish mood the last few days, and apologize if I've been offensive. But practically, I think good enough is good enough, and will stick with the factory recommendations.

LOL is every 'oil' thread on the internet it is 99% what you describe above




the only people who need to do oil analysis are:

racers
anyone who modifies the engine in some way
engine designers

and then those who do it because they feel it fills
some emptiness inside themselves knowing yet some more useless data
about something they own :bellyroll:

[STC]

My Yaris is almost six months old with 4,700mi. I'm using 5w-30 dealership regular oil and filter! I don't even know what brand oil and filter the dealership uses???

I live off the Allegheny Plateau in Central PA so regular 5w oil should be sufficient for the PA Winters.

If I plan to change to full synthetic it would probably be over 30,000 miles. Mainly, I'm sticking to conventional oil because of price. Also, I'm an easy driver.

I'm making double and triple payments to knock it (payments) down to under 2 years, so I don't have to pay as much interest to the criminal oligarchy of wealth and privilege... the BANKERS... :barf: I just can't afford synthetic oil right now...

Cheers!

[Hershey]

I think TOYO oil is MOBIL Clean . Not 100 % sure .

[1stToyota]

LOL is every 'oil' thread on the internet it is 99% what you describe above




the only people who need to do oil analysis are:

racers
anyone who modifies the engine in some way
engine designers

and then those who do it because they feel it fills
some emptiness inside themselves knowing yet some more useless data
about something they own :bellyroll:

Yeah, you're so right. Guilty as charged. I just caught myself feeling so down and empty after committing myself to a $35.00 UOA on this 0w30 M1 I decided to pick myself back up about 10 minutes ago and put a deposit down on a 4000 sq ft shop; just sold my 6 bay shop and should be out of it June 15th. It's so unfair. :cry:

[sickpuppy1]

If Castrol Syntec is not real synthetic :iono: what is in their Synblend?! Castrol is BP. Do you want to give British Petroleum your continued business? :thumbdown:



I'm not arguing synth vs conventional in that statement, but rather that I feel a good filter would do better at longevity rather than oil, given a good change interval with either one. But as far as the statement about castrol being own by bp. I guess you wont use valvoline, quaker state either? since they are owned by Shell, which is based in the Netherlands and main offices in Great Britain!
And of course no Mobil 1 since they are actually ExxonMobil, you know, the Exxon Valdez debacle.
Pretty much all the oil giants are scum and get away with anything they can. I base my purchase of oil and filters off whats good for my car.

[TheSilkySmooth]

I didnt mean to direct the syn oil comment at you personally. Just general info. Valvoline is not owned by BP but Ashland, But, Yes: Shell, QS and Pennzoil are owned by Royal Dutch Shell; My wife is Dutch - so she is OK with that ;) but she wont allow me to do her OC's with EXxon-Mobil due to the Valdez incident :iono: Me, I use the bigger WIX on my Yaris too (the one for the Camry) its about a 1/4"-1/2 longer and it works very well on the Yaris - much better than the dealer Thailand made Denso which is NOT ANYTHING like the Japon Denso filter that came on the car which was a thick foam material media not "paper". Anyone know if the Mann w610-3 cross references to our car or a subaru?

[sickpuppy1]

Now thats good to know about the wix filter! The four banger Camry I assume?
The Mann filter for the 1.5 Yaris is the ML 1009 and most all Subaru's use ML1014

[Hershey]

if you call CASTROL to get how much the ratio of synthetic to conventional oil is in their syn-blend the techs say that info is not available . What's the big secret ? Maybe that there's no synthetic in their blend . If you ask tech for S.O.P.U.S. ( PENNZOIL , SHELL , QUAKER STATE ) or CONOCO PHILLIPS ( KENDALL , 76 , PHILLIPS 66 , MOTORCRAFT (?) ) they'll give you the ratio for their syn-blends with no problem . Was told the S.U.V. Blend ( now GOLD ) from PENNZOIL is 30% synthetic and the MOTORCRAFT or KENDALL are 40% as told by their techs .

[TheSilkySmooth]

I found Korean MSDS require full component disclosure and USA do not, so if you can search a MFG website for Korean MSDS (in your native language) you should see the syn %. Most all Major US 5w-30 FULL SYNTHETIC have less than 10% syn in them !!! Figure that BS out.

[ddongbap]

I found Korean MSDS require full component disclosure and USA do not, so if you can search a MFG website for Korean MSDS (in your native language) you should see the syn %. Most all Major US 5w-30 FULL SYNTHETIC have less than 10% syn in them !!! Figure that BS out.

Time to brush up on my korean.

Though, in Korea, they prob don't give a rats ass in what goes in their car. Their aftermarket scene isn't that great.

[zachryboles]

im pretty rough on Yarii so i tend to stick to synthetic myself..... been using royal purple in all my vehicles since............... well forever and ive never had an issue.

[ddongbap]

im pretty rough on Yarii so i tend to stick to synthetic myself..... been using royal purple in all my vehicles since............... well forever and ive never had an issue.

They say Royal Purple is famous in Japan...

..For blowing up engines.

[smell my finger]

So conola oil I use to make popcorn is not what I should be using?

[R2D2]

The BIOSYN I use is veggie oil based.

[Yaris Hilton]

I thought it was made from beef fat.

[Billiam]

Damn...this oil thread has ended up just like every other oil thread. "My oil can beat up your oil". Who gives a sh!t? :iono:

The "best" oil is the one you're comfortable with. If you want to buy an $8 quart of oil, that's cool. But the person buying the Wal-Mart $1.99 special will be just fine using that as well. Any modern oil changed within a 5K interval will protect our engines just fine.

Good info ---> http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php

[Yaris Hilton]

Exactly.

[bronsin]

Any modern oil changed within a 5K interval will protect our engines just fine.

Good info ---> http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php


yay for our side!

[1stToyota]

Damn...this oil thread has ended up just like every other oil thread. "My oil can beat up your oil". Who gives a sh!t? :iono:

The "best" oil is the one you're comfortable with. If you want to buy an $8 quart of oil, that's cool. But the person buying the Wal-Mart $1.99 special will be just fine using that as well. Any modern oil changed within a 5K interval will protect our engines just fine.

Good info ---> http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php

Thanks for that link. Great info about regular and synthetic oils, UOAs, etc...guess they're okay over there, but frowned on here at YW. :rolleyes:

[Yaris Hilton]

Who's frowning? It's just a frivolous expenditure that's really interesting to someone with a hobby interest in oil, like the posters over there. I'm very interested in the technical details of oils and lubrication myself. I've read whole textbooks on the subject and much of what's available online, and frequently lurk at Bob's forum. I'm just being the cranky SOB pointing out that it's unnecessary. There's got to be a devil's advocate or every poor soul who asks a question on oil will come away with the silly idea that synthetics are a panacea and that their Yaris probably won't make it across town without an engine rebuild on "dino" oil. But if you need something to obsess on, there are worse things to obsess over than oil.

[RedHatch08]

This may be better for a new thread, but does anyone have any thoughts on using an oil stabilizer (like Lucas Oil)?

I've never bothered, but some people like to replace 1 quart of oil with Lucas Oil.

I know that if you have an automatic tranny that's slipping, this stuff works pretty well, but I've never put any in my engine.

[1stToyota]

I wouldn't use a full qt, probably just 1 pint, and I'd use the synthetic Lucas oil additive if I used any, because it totally owns the regular stabilizer :wink: ...just kidding, but I wouldn't use their regular oil additive just because it's too thick.

I use their product a lot in p/s systems that are noisy and/or leaking.

[1stToyota]

Who's frowning? It's just a frivolous expenditure that's really interesting to someone with a hobby interest in oil, like the posters over there. I'm very interested in the technical details of oils and lubrication myself. I've read whole textbooks on the subject and much of what's available online, and frequently lurk at Bob's forum. I'm just being the cranky SOB pointing out that it's unnecessary. There's got to be a devil's advocate or every poor soul who asks a question on oil will come away with the silly idea that synthetics are a panacea and that their Yaris probably won't make it across town without an engine rebuild on "dino" oil. But if you need something to obsess on, there are worse things to obsess over than oil.

That wasn't really directed at you, but since the topic comes up all the time there must be interest here, not just Bob's forum. I just don't like it when those that loathe oil threads act like they don't know how to avoid them instead of polluting them with silly answers and cussing.

[Yaris Hilton]

Oh yeah, we should be able to discuss things like this in a civil manner.

[TheSilkySmooth]

This may be better for a new thread, but does anyone have any thoughts on using an oil stabilizer (like Lucas Oil)?

I've never bothered, but some people like to replace 1 quart of oil with Lucas Oil.

I know that if you have an automatic tranny that's slipping, this stuff works pretty well, but I've never put any in my engine. Why would an oil need "stabilising" :iono: Just a way to sell crummy oil "byproducts" for big $$ to the uneducated masses. If you want a stable oil in the summer run Delo 400LE CJ4/SM in the "beater". I dont think the yaris would like it though :wink:

[RedHatch08]

I was just curious if anyone tried it.

A friend's Ford Ranger was slipping bad and I told him to try some in his tranny, and it fixed it right up. I think that was like 2-3 years ago, and he hasn't touched the tranny since.

Plus has anyone seen that little Lucas Oil display thingy that they have inside some mechanics shops? It has 2 sides. One side is regular oil. The other side with Lucas Oil. Both sides have a set of gears with little hand cranks. You crank both sides and you watch *miraculously* as the liquid on the Lucas Oil side "climbs" up the gears. Ooooh. Impressive.

Well not really ... but I've still wondered if it works well in engines.

[Billiam]

....just don't like it when those that loathe oil threads act like they don't know how to avoid them instead of polluting them with silly answers and cussing.
I assume you're referring to my post. I figured most of us are adults and a couple of minor curse words wouldn't offend, especially given the language used by other around here. I never said that I "loathe oil threads"...though the apparent lack of search skills by many is puzzling to me. As for my "silly" answer? I provided a link to back up my comment about what the "best" oil is.

So...if I can't beat 'em...I'll join 'em.

MY OIL CAN BEAT UP YOUR OIL!!!! :middlefinger:

[ddongbap]

My oil can be used for 27k miles now, with out needing change. I read it on the internetz. It is true.

[1stToyota]

I assume you're referring to my post. I figured most of us are adults and a couple of minor curse words wouldn't offend, especially given the language used by other around here. I never said that I "loathe oil threads"...though the apparent lack of search skills by many is puzzling to me. As for my "silly" answer? I provided a link to back up my comment about what the "best" oil is.

So...if I can't beat 'em...I'll join 'em.

MY OIL CAN BEAT UP YOUR OIL!!!! :middlefinger:

Silly would be: I don't use oil, I use water, etc...

I don't know...*Damn. Is this another one of those _____ threads? Who gives a sh!t?* wouldn't be too positive or healthy for any section of this forum... :thumbdown:

[Billiam]

I don't know...*Damn. Is this another one of those _____ threads? Who gives a sh!t?* wouldn't be too positive or healthy for any section of this forum... :thumbdown:
Then to offer you a bit of your own advice....don't read it. :rolleyes:

[1stToyota]

Then to offer you a bit of your own advice....don't read it. :rolleyes:

Wrong. That advice applies for you, not I. Difference is I want to be on this thread, you never did, not when you enter it saying "Who gives a sh!t?" :bonk:

But now the thread has deteriorated to us just arguing because you don't like seeing oil threads here at YW. Well played.

[Astroman]

Honestly you who argue again and AGAIN over oil on here are idiots. Thanks for ruining another thread. :mad: