mobile 1

If you make short trips (under 15 minutes) the engine and exhaust system do not get up to full operating temperature. In this case water will accumulate inside the engine and you need to change the oil more often than once/year. Your exhaust system will need replacing sooner, too.

On the other hand, if your trips are long enough to get the car up to full operating temperature, then your plan is a good one. Mobil 1

5W-30 and a decent filter (Purolator PurOne) once every year. Don't neglect checking other fluids on a routine basis.

Happy Motoring

I would check the oil recommendations in your owner's manual. It may be

5W20 is recommended.

Jeff

With cars that I've driven only short distances each time, the oil started smelling like gasoline a lot sooner than it did with those cars that were regularly driven on the freeway. I'm no expert, but I don't think that gasoline is good for lubricating the engine, so I change the oil at least every six months.

I see you seem to be favoring Mobil 1 for your synthetic. You might want to consider trying Pennzoil Platinum or Quaker State Q Advance instead.

Both oils have been beating Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 Extended Performance in engine wear tests, lately.

For a little more technical stuff, the Mobil 1 5w-30 has a slightly higher viscosity of 11.3 centiStokes at engine operating temperature of 100 C / 212 F. The Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 has a lower viscocity of 10.5 at that temperature.

Sure, the 1 centiStoke (cS) difference is virtually nothing, when you consider that a 10w-30 /synthetic/ oil might have a viscocity of roughly

75 at cold startup during spring or early-fall (75 degree F) compared to a conventional oil's 100 at that same cold startup, a big difference in viscocity of 25 cS. (Much, much greater difference during winter temps., though.)

The real reason I suggest the Pennzoil and Quaker State synthetics over Mobil 1 is their better showing lately in used oil analysis tests. Less iron, lead bearing, chromium, aluminum, and other engine wear metals are showing up in tests of the used oil. They're also showing higher TBN figures (the additives in your oil that help keep it healthy).

Plus you can get the Quaker State for free right now at O'Reilly, after mail-in rebate.

Free oil that is better than Mobil 1. Hard to beat that.

Mobil 1 just has a huge advertising machine, but they're not better than the other two mentioned above.

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Oh, and the Pennzoil Platinum and Quaker State may even be a little cheaper than the Mobil 1. (Mobil 1 has a huge advertising budget it has to pay for.)

On a per quart basis, the advertising cost is lower for Mobil 1. The reason why Pennzoil Platinum and Quaker State "may" be cheaper for now is that they are trying to "buy" market share from Mobil 1, who has long dominated the synthetic oil market (which they virtually created).

BTW, Pennzoil-Quaker State Company is owned by Royal Dutch/Shell Group. Mobil 1 is a brand name of ExxonMobil.

The Toyota dealer is mistaken, kinda like that nice but confused Walmart automotive manager who believes 0w-30 doesn't exit ;-)

2,500 miles of break-in is plenty to now switch over to synthetic in the Corolla.

Synthetic oil is perfectly compatible with your warranty. Lots of new cars now come with synthetic oil in them from the factory.

However, I would not extend your oil change interval to longer than

6 months while the car is still under warranty. Follow the manual to stay in warranty.

Let me get this strait: Your dealer says not to use synthetic motor oil until you have 20,000 mi on the car, but but only carries synthetic oil?

That doesn't make sense.

Anyway, you can begin using synthetic oils at any time:

Using any motor oil that meets the manufacturer's requirements (and Mobil 1 does do that), you will not void your warranty.

Jeff

Switch to synthetic at 5000 miles, not at 20,000 miles.

Please ignore the information posted by Built_Well. He is a lunatic who has some political grudge against ExxonMobil because he thinks they are responsible for the war in Iraq..

Mobil 1 is fine, which is why almost every single oil change place carries it.

It's hard to tell what you're talking about, because you're top-posting. Please in-line post, so that people can follow the thread easily.

His comments are probably based on out-of-date beliefs based on synthetic oils that were not as good as those available today.

A lot of new cars come with synthetic oil in the crankcase.

Jeff

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I told you all Mark A. is childish.

This information is contrary to Toyota's advice. Toyota recommends waiting until the first recommended oil change interval before switching to synthetic.

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Thanks for clearing that up, Ray.

Would Toyota object if we put 0w-30 oil in the Camry instead of the 5w-30 recommended in the manual? I wouldn't switch to 0w-30 while the car is under warranty, but might consider it after the warranty period is over.

Toyota would prefer that you ruin your car as soon as the warranty is over.

What do you mean, would they object? They specify 5W-30 for the car. If anything, if your car has a lot of miles (over 100K) and/or some engine wear (perhaps from using conventional oil) you should consider switching to

10W-30, not 0W-30.

This is the same guy who is lecturing us on how Mobil 1 is vastly inferior to Pennzoil and Quaker State synthetic and who believes everything that Amsoil says. What a moron.

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Try reading more carefully, Mark A. I did not say my Camry has over 100,000 miles on it. It doesn't even have 9 k on it, so,

0w-30 is an option, even though it's not in the manual and is contrary to your older way of thinking about oils. Or should I say old-fashioned way of thinking about oils.

Try doing a little current reading about the 0w-30 viscocity versus

5w-30.

I never even remotely suggested that your car has 100K miles on it. I was merely mentioning when one should consider not using the manufacturer recommended viscosity, and if you deviate from the manufacturer recommendation because of engine wear, then you should only consider using higher viscosity, never a lower viscosity.

I am familiar with the differences between 0W-30 and 5W-30. So is Toyota, which is why they recommended 5W-30 for your car.

A little knowledge is a very dangerous thing, especially in your case when there are innocent people on the internet reading your posts and who think you know what you are talking about.

Mark A., again, your thinking is very old-fashioned when it comes to comparing 0w-30 to 5w-30. As I said, you should consider doing some current reading about the 2 viscocities.

Dr. A. E. Haas, a Florida physician and surgeon who has researched fluid dynamics for decades, has written the following:

"I know a person is confused when they say that a 0W-30 oil is too thin for their engine because the old manual says to use 10W-30. This is wrong. The greatest confusion is because of the way motor oils are labeled. It is an old system and is confusing to many people."

Mark A., Doctor Haas, who has studied viscocity and fluid dynamics for decades, continues:

"It is time to dispel the notion that 0W-30 oil is too thin when our manual calls for 10W-30. A 0W-30 is always the better choice, always. The 0W-30 is not thinner. It is the same thickness as the 10W-30 at operating temperatures. The difference is when you turn your engine off for the night. Both oils thicken over the evening and night. They both had a thickness, a viscosity of [about] 10 when you got home and turned your engine off. That was the perfect thickness for engine operation."

"As cooling occurs and you wake up ready to go back to work the next day the oils have gotten too thick for your engine to lubricate properly. It is 75 F outside this morning. One oil thickened to a viscosity of say 90. The other thickened to a viscosity of 40. Both are too thick in the morning at startup. But 40 is better than 90. Your engine wants the oil to have a thickness of 10 to work properly. You are better off starting with the viscosity of 40 than the honey-like oil with a viscosity of 90."

"I repeat: More confusion occurs because people think in terms of the oil thinning when it gets hot. They think this thinning with heat is the problem with motor oil. It would be more correct to think that oil thickens when it cools to room temperature and THIS is the problem. In fact this is the problem. This is the end of lesson number one."

I refer folks to some of Dr. Haas' writings at this web page: