I was driving old school hondas before I got a tC.

With the hondas every oil change was at 3k miles.

I was astonished to here that tC's get their oil changed at 5k. Why did they change that?

 

newer engines...more efficient...

 

Honda Boys beat the heck out of their Cars? Haha'..
I dunno', I guess technology has come a long way.

 

newer oils have been able to extend oil changes, but it still doesn't hurt to get the oil changed every 3k miles. Lots of people will claim that it wastes oil doing that and hurts the environment. No that's not true, as oil (if returned to auto collection sites) is recycled into other products.

As far as more efficient? Maybe efficient in oil lubrication.

But in all honesty, the govt is the one that pushed automakers to the 100k mile lifetime, so the automakets just merely complied by changing the schedules.

Personally I'll change every 3-4k and have peace in my mind that it's not a late oil change.

 

If you're running full synthetic oil then changing every 3k is kind of a waste of money..I understand you like your peace of mind but 5k is just fine..then again 5k miles for me is better financially lol

 

well i'm not running full synthetic.. lol besides you can find out what they call "full synthetic" now is really just dino oil slightly modified. And that means it's not synthetic. There aren't that many full synthetics now. Sad.

But 5k on "real" synthetic would be fine, but on dino, I'd still stick to 3k-4k

 

There are more "synthetics" now than there were before. There are also different levels of synthetic and they are all superior to regular dino oil.

Mobile 1 is somewhere in the middle as far as how much "non synthetic" content there is. RP is nearly all synthetic and I believe Amsoil is supposed to be 100% synthetic.

This doesnt mean that running dino oil is bad for your car.. but I would never go past 3,000 miles on it. I run 5,500 or so on RP, especially during autox season where it sees more hard driving.

 

Wait....mobil1 synthetic isn't synthetic? That's what I use and change it every 5k.

 

Me too! Well at least its better than regular oil right?

 

I do not think Mobil 1 is full100% synthetic,good oil though and I use in my cars.change the oil aver 5000 unless it gets some hard driving done then I do it sooner.

 

I don't drive hard at all. I barely even take my car past 4k RPM.

 

It is good oil ( I used it for years).

However, last I heard they were made to call it a group III oil, meaning it was made from mineral base stocks. There is a big debate over this.

RP is group IV as far as I know (made from PAO base stocks.. aka "true" synthetics)

Amsoil is also a group IV

RP and Amsoil I believe are a blend of group IV and group V


The tricky part is that in the US they are allowed to call a group III synthetic for marketing purposes, which confuses people. Either way though, Mobile1 is a good oil.

 

I swear by mobile 1 sync and love it.
I read MANY articles on it and have always used in my prev turbo cars (DSM's).

So for me mobile1 full sync every 4500-5K.

 

I don't even know what the Scion dealership puts in mine. They just put the type 5W30, I think. But the sticker has me get it changed every 5k so I can only assume it's synthetic.

 

I've always used Royal Purple on my DSMs, then I switched to Mobil 1.
I tried ENEOS, but that stuff is WAY too expensive..
I change my Mobil 1 every 2500-3000 Miles, but it's only $20 for a 5qt Jug at Walmart, so it's all good.

 

i change mine every month regardless lets me know how the car is running

 

dont assume anything, ask the dealer what they're using.
5k miles is what toyota calls for with regular dino oil.

 

The Korean MSDS for Mobil 1 Extended Performance lists the contents of Group IV basestock used in it as 70-80%. The rest are detergents, antiwear additives, and either Group III or Group V base stocks to help suspend all the additives in the oil. Also keep in mind that Group III oils are not necessarily bad. Maybe dishonest advertising, but a lot of them produce low wear rates in used oil analysis. Most group III and above oils are well capable of handling 5K oil change intervals, probably even longer. Here's a quick list of oils and what group they are mostly made up of. If you don't see your favorite brand it's because there isn't enough info out there to conclude the contents of the oil.

Group III

Penzoil Plantinum
All Quakerstate synthetics
All Valvoline synthetics
Castrol Syntec (except 0W30 European Formula)
Mobil 1 (except 0w40 European Formula)
Shell Synthetics


Group IV

Mobil 1 Extended Performance
Castrol Edge
Motul Eco-nergy
Most of Amsoil's oils
Castrol Syntec 0W30 European Formula
Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula


Group V

Motul 300V
Red Line