New to me 02 Avalon XLS?

Last night I traded in my 97 Camry XLE with 120,000 miles for a 02 Avalon XLS with 37,000 miles.

Disappointed in the Camry. Was hoping to go 200,000 miles but it was in need of to much repair to keep.

Hopefully the Avalon works out better.

I was never happy with the suspension of the Camry. .

two questions..

the manual says to use 87 octane gas but higher octane would give better performance??? Is the higher octain advisable or a waste of money???

Is there a way to tell what kind of oil is in it now? Salesman said it was Synthetic....( He also told me that the valet key was the "master key" and I should put it in a safe place because I would need it if I ever needed a key made )....

Reguardless of whats in there now would I be better off with regular dino oil or a synthetic oil...

Thanks for any input on this new to me car....

Steve

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Using higher octane gas will most likely give you the results that the owner's manual says it will, i.e., better performance. Since higher octane fuel is generally more expensive, you have to decide if you need or want that additional performance and whether you are willing to pay more for it.

You cannot tell whether motor oil is synthetic or conventional just by looking at it. The sure way to tell what kind of oil is in it now would be an oil analysis, which could cost more than an oil change.

If you are good at getting the oil and filter changed at reasonable intervals, then conventional oil should be good enough. If you are not so good, then synthetic *may* tolerate a little more abuse.

Reply to
Ray O

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I'm not an expert, but I'd choose synthetic over dino for the 02 Avalon XLS with 37k miles.

Reply to
Built_Well

Congratulations! You're much like me in my history...The 97 camry was getting a little long in the tooth for long trips (not that it failed us, but at (now) 135K miles we didn't want to chance it) so relegated its use to around town, and got an 03 Avalon XLS in May '04 with 28,000 on the clock. I've never put premium gas in it, regular 87 is just fine and the performance is fine (which you'll find out when you merge into freeway traffic) your speed will jump up.

Never used synthetic oil...just good quality regular 5w/30.

Never had a valet key...is it one without the chip so that only the door and trunk will open with it? I should think any key would do to make a new one, but as an ignition key, you'll need one with a chip.

Steve, you're gonna love it! We've put almost 25k on ours so far, with no problems. (Just make sure you tighten the gas cap....we evidently didn't recently and got a "check engine" light which cost an hour's labor to figure out that nothing was wrong. ($88 investigative fee, sheesh )

Reply to
mack

I do love it! The ride is sooo much better than our Camry was...

I do worry about the sludge issue though...

Any way to tell if this car is affected?

Steve

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With the sludge articles I've read, I figure anything to help avoid it would be worth a little extra money...

Oil changes arent expensive....

Is there any way to tell if the engine is already affected by sludge?

Car came from NY. I live in Mass. 2002 with only 37.000 miles on it. Makes me wonder why they got rid of it?

Steve

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I dont think performance will be an issue. I just dont want to do any damage???

Oil and filter was supposedly done by the dealer. (I'm not very trusting)

we change the oil regularly. my concern is what happened for the first

37,000 miles with the previous owner.

Is there anything to "clean" an engine? Would changing the oil more frequently clean any sludge buildup that may be occurring??

I Know I'm probably overly worried about the sludge issue...

TIA

Steve

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Call the former owner and ask if they did the oil changes.

If it was on lease, you might have a problem coming...

Reply to
Scott in Florida

The way to tell is to remove one of the valve covers and take a look at the valve train.

Reply to
Ray O

You will not do any damage to the engine by using 87 octane fuel.

Reply to
Ray O

Ray - this made me flash back to a day when I was a teenager with my first car, a beautiful 1938 Buick convertible, and a mechanic friend suggested that I have a look at the engine's interior by taking off a cover on the side of the 'straight 8' engine where the pushrods were, going up into the head to operate the valves. We took off the cover, and the pushrods weren't even visible through the packed in black sludge in the cavity. We took a putty knife and scooped it out and got at least a quart of the stuff into a tin can, and then scooped out the rest with our fingers. I never dropped the pan to look for residue, and the valve tappets under the top valve cover didn't have sludge in that area. The side cavity seemed to be the repository for all the gunk. The only negative...the engine seemed a bit noisier with all the crap removed!

Reply to
mack

Just change the oil every 3-3500 miles for Dino oil, or 5,000 miles for Synth, and you should have no problems with sludge.

Reply to
Hachiroku

Where are you at? I'm in Franklin Co.

Reply to
Hachiroku

Oh, for Pete's sake. Ever hear of a google search? You really think you're the first person to ask about octane? Sheesh!

Reply to
dizzy

I've seen quite a few engines like that. A lot of people object to "idiot lights" but I am a fan of them, especially the maintenance reminders on some newer vehicles. I think those reminders will cut down on the number of engines that are severely neglected.

Reply to
Ray O

bellingham

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