My 99 Camry 2.2l is now out of warranty so I'm free to change the oil at whatever interval seems sensible. I'm in Canada, so I'm supposed to follow the severe service interval of 5000 km/3000 mi. Toyota goes out of their way (on their website) to say that one should follow the dino oil schedule even if synthetic oil is used.My friend's Volvo has a recommended (synthetic) oil change interval of 12 000 km / 7500 mi . There is also some evidence on the web ( ) that this is a safe interval to follow from the point of view of viscosity, dissolved solids etc. (In fact, the Mobil 1 oil tested was shown to be good for 29 000 km!) However, the oil filter from that study is a lot bigger than the tiny one on my Camry so I think I'd want to change the filter more frequently. There is also the sludging issue to consider...I'm curious: are you using synthetic in your Camry? If so, what oil change schedule are you following? The factory recommendation of 3000 mi seems excessively conservative and wasteful given the evidence that modern synthetic oil ought to be good for many times that distance.

I have a 2002 Camry LE V6 and change the oil every 6,500 km to 8,000 km using Mobil 1 !0W30 (in summer) and 5W30 in winter. No issues. With dino (regular) oil, I changed it every 4,000 to 5,000 km. Toyota recommends 6 month, 8,000 km oil change frequency for the 2002 Camry LE V6 and I stay within that.

Wrong newsgroup. you want Or, check on

synthetic oil change interval?

Sep 12, 2004 42 Replies

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m Ransley 21 years ago

Amsoil 25000! 6 micron filter WOW , what crap. Oil looses additives. My friend used amsoil and at 98000 his chevy van is so crapped up, so bad he sold it. I will stick with Mobil 1, where I know they pay and get the best scientists money can buy, and I will keep to the 4-5000 mile change.

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Michelle Vadeboncoeur 21 years ago

Wrong newsgroup. you want alt.autos.toyota.prius

Or, check on

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JP 21 years ago

Less additives in synthetics because they are made in a lab. synthetics can't be compared to dino.

Did he have an engine flush done before changing over to synthetics?

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