I bought an 05 Solara convertible with 45,000 miles. I hope to drive it for a long time. Is there any advantage to switching to synthetic oil at this point? I do not have any idea what kind of oil was used for the first 45,000 miles.

That would be just fine to do. Use the recommended grade that's all.

I use Mobil 1. have for 20+ years. No complaints.


45K is low miles for any Toyota. It is still a baby and just broken in.

Check this link out.

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/highlander/113116-oil-analysisresults-10k-miles/

LT

You will not have any issues if you change. I have run Synthetics for a long time with great results. The biggest being the ability to go longer between oil changes. This makes up for the added cost. You may even see a difference in throttle response and fuel economy. Not much but a little.

I also use mobil 1 extended I can go 15, 000 miles before I chane the oil, synthetic will keep the engnine cleaner less wear and it soooo good on cold weather startups and sooo good for hot weather. Go to google and put in synthetic oil and you will get a great education on synthetic oil. all the new high priced sprorts cars, mercedes ,bmw porche etc all come with mobil one and have 15,000 oil changes.

I've used mobil1, and amsoil with great results based on performance, wear, and UOA's done by blackstone labs.

I bought an 05 Solara convertible with 45,000 miles. I hope to drive it for a long time. Is there any advantage to switching to synthetic oil at this point?
Nope. Most of the members of the Toyota 500,000 - 1,000,000 mile clubs used conventional oil and changed it every 3000-5000 miles.

There isn't one Japanese automaker that condones extending oil change intervals if using synthetic. Oil analysis sounds scientific and objective but it will not tell you that if you extend your oil changes it will cause accelerated deterioration of your fuel economy, engine seals, and emission system components.

Mobil 1 every 5K for me for every car the last 10+ yrs. Never a prob.

If you use Mobil I, why change it every 5K??? That is sooner then Toyota recommends, so you must have money to burn beside oil. ;)

There isn't one Japanese automaker that condones extending oil change intervals if using synthetic.
Wrong. A friend of mine has an '05 Honda Accord and there is a tag under the hood that says to use Penzoil synthetic.
Toyota really has no stance on this issue. They merely tell you what grade to use and which rating the oil has to meet, other than that, its up to you.
With synthetic you will get better gas milage and your engine will start easier in the cold. Synthetic also reduces engine wear.
I do agree with you that extending your drain intervals isnt the best idea, but switching to a synthetic oil is one of the best things you can do to extend the life of your engine.

Wrong. A friend of mine has an '05 Honda Accord and there is a tag under the hood that says to use Penzoil synthetic.

Perhaps that tag was applied by a service shop or Honda dealer, rather than the Honda factory. I said: "There isn't one Japanese automaker that condones extending oil change intervals if using synthetic." And here is photographic proof taken out of a 2007 Honda Accord manual:http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/accord.jpg

The reason synthetic oil is not popular with car and truck fleet managers or long haul courier companies is because after 30 years worth of testing and
evaluation, they have found synthetics do not appreciably extend engine life or enhance fuel economy.

Conventional oil has been capable of protecting Toyota engines for 500,000+ miles since way back in the early 1970's. Here's photograhic proof:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/18rcb.jpg

And conventional oil is capable of keeping Toyota engines clean inside for 34+ years. Here's photographic proof:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/conv18r.jpg

If you use Mobil I, why change it every 5K??? That is sooner then Toyota recommends, so you must have money to burn beside oil. ;)

Hmmm... You must have a special Toyota manual that reads different than the normal 3K intervals printed in most others (including the Solara) especially with the known sludge issues in the 3MZ. I've been going with the 5K intervals and glad I'm not going any longer as it does get dirty - regardless of any possible breakdown or not.

With my Tundra I was off-roading a lot in it and needed to keep everything clean inside and out. With my Solara and the modified SRI and custom exhaust, I notice it gets dirty faster as well... yet another reason I don't over extend the oil change intervals. Pretty cheap performance and longevity insurance in my book. ;) :tu:

Wrong. A friend of mine has an '05 Honda Accord and there is a tag under the hood that says to use Penzoil synthetic.
Toyota really has no stance on this issue. They merely tell you what grade to use and which rating the oil has to meet, other than that, its up to you.
With synthetic you will get better gas milage and your engine will start easier in the cold. Synthetic also reduces engine wear.
I do agree with you that extending your drain intervals isnt the best idea, but switching to a synthetic oil is one of the best things you can do to extend the life of your engine.


In the past a manufacturer did not want to require a specific brand of oil, only to recomend a spec. and grade.

It is possible that this Pennzoil tag was applied post production and not from Honda.

Mobil Oil many years ago used to supply a Mobil 1 tag that attached to your dipstick. When you purchased M1 by the case.

As of late there are exceptions to this. i.e Corvette, Cadillac, and some Europeans come with Factory filled M1. Their engines are labled to this extent.


LT

The reason synthetic oil is not popular with car and truck fleet managers or long haul courier companies is because after 30 years worth of testing and
evaluation, they have found synthetics do not appreciably extend engine life or enhance fuel economy.

Conventional oil has been capable of protecting Toyota engines for 500,000+ miles since way back in the early 1970's. Here's photograhic proof:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/18rcb.jpg

And conventional oil is capable of keeping Toyota engines clean inside for 34+ years. Here's photographic proof:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/conv18r.jpg
Id like to know what car and truck fleet managers and long haul courier companies you are talking to, because its common knowledge that synthetic oil does extend engine life and does enhance fuel economy.
The Japanese automakers have always said that their engines have been tested with mineral oils and perform acceptably, but they have never said anything one way or the other as to how they feel about the use of synthetic oil. They merely give a blanket statement saying something along the lines of as long as the oil you use meets the minimum rating, that its fine.
However, if you honestly think that there is no benefits in terms of longevity and fuel economy in using synthetic oil, you need to go back and redo your research because you are wrong. Even if all you look at is the molecular structure of synthetic vs mineral you will see the advantages of synthetic. The molecules of synthetics are like billions of microscopic ball bearings, whereas the molecules of mineral oils are jagged and random. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out which is going to lubricate better. :rolleyes:

Id like to know what car and truck fleet managers and long haul courier companies you are talking to, because its common knowledge that synthetic oil does extend engine life and does enhance fuel economy.

if you honestly think that there is no benefits in terms of longevity and fuel economy in using synthetic oil, you need to go back and redo your research because you are wrong.
Mobil 1 and Amsoil have been around since 1975 and car and truck fleet managers have been evaluating synthetics all that time. Their conclusion, as published in Fleet Trucking magazine is that most feel the fuel economy, engine life and oil life extending benefits of synthetics are miniscule and not worth the extra cost.

As a long time travelling salesman, I have lots of real world experience with synthetics as well - 477,777 miles worth as a matter of fact: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/477.jpg But the rate my synthetic running engine is burning oil after 477,000 miles (2500 miles per quart) is about the same as other Toyota owners who have been using conventional oil for a similar amount of miles. This fact leads me to believe our piston rings and cylinder bores are wearing at nearly equal rates. As does the fact that the maximum known engine life potential of a Toyota engine has been in the 600,000 - 1,000,000 mile range regardless if the owners ran conventional or synthetic.

l

I bought an 05 Solara convertible with 45,000 miles. I hope to drive it for a long time. Is there any advantage to switching to synthetic oil at this point? I do not have any idea what kind of oil was used for the first 45,000 miles.

Mainly in that you can run it twice to three times as long than "regular" oil.

If you aren't doing a lot of short trips, then you can pretty much change it every 15,000 miles or one year - whichever comes first.

Theoritically, you can change the filter at half that and freshen up the oil.

You can do that too with a good synthetic mix, too.

One thing that synthetic will give you over regular oil is protection against sludge and of course it's better for cold and extreme cold starts.

I only run synthetic after I've broken in the rings - usually 10,000+ miles. Doing it before that will only lose slightly more gas until the rings set. But it won't hurt the engine.

Synthetics need less but use better additives so synthetic doesn't break down/shear as much over time either.


Alan

As a long time travelling salesman, I have lots of real world experience with synthetics as well - 477,777 miles worth as a matter of fact: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/477.jpg But the rate my synthetic running engine is burning oil after 477,000 miles (2500 miles per quart) is about the same as other Toyota owners who have been using conventional oil for a similar amount of miles.

I find it interesting that someone who continually downplays the use of synthetics (on many threads here at TS) that you admit to using synthetic oil. :confused:

So, why do YOU use it?

And may I slightly drift off topic and ask what exactly it is you sell? Is it an automotive lubrication product?

I find it interesting that someone who continually downplays the use of synthetics (on many threads here at TS) that you admit to using synthetic oil. :confused:

So, why do YOU use it? And may I slightly drift off topic and ask what exactly it is you sell? Is it an automotive lubrication product?
I was once young myself so I bought into all the marketing hype (e.g. "saves wear, like liquid ball bearings, increases fuel economy", etc) about synthetic oil and used it in new cars I purchased new cars in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. Back then I had no idea that Toyota engines could run 600,000 - 1,000,000 miles on conventional oil and I was too naive to realize that neither Mobil nor Amsoil would ever be willing to educate me about that critical fact either.

I sell industrial chemicals and sometimes drive 40-50K miles a year making sales calls on clients such as food processing plants and grocery warehouses. This gives me an opportunity to talk to the semi-truck fleet managers of these big companies and that's partly how I learned that most fleet managers choose conventional motor oils because synthetics don't extend engine life or fuel economy by a noticable amount.

Reading all the posts I'm totally confused. I've been putting 10-30 Castrol in my Toyota trucks and Sequoia for almost 20 years and have had no problems. My wife recently bought a 2008 Solara and I put Mobil 1 in for it's first oil change. I assumed it would be better, but now I'm not so sure. Oh well, I got 4 cases of Mobil 1 on sale a Costco so I'll use them up at anywhere from 3 to 15 thousand mile depending on whom you believe.

gpa

I'd keep using the synthetic.

Look at this way,

You could either use regular (assuming you get it for $3 a quart for 7 quarts) for 5,000 miles for 238 miles per dollar of oil or you could use mobil1 at ($6 a quart for 7 quarts) and change it 15,000 miles for 357 miles per dollar of oil. (I actually use 8 quarts on my tundra with an oversize filter.)

Now you can tweak these numbers, more miles for regular oil before you change (7,500) results in 357 miles per dolllar of oil. If you don't extend the oil intervals, synthetic doesn't make economic sense for ONLY the oil costs. You can run it because you want the extra performance/safety.

With synthetic you change once a year, the other route it's 3 times a year. And I didn't factor into the costs labor or filters - which offsets the "cheapness" of petrol.

Now if you top off and replace filters and check your oil with analysis you could extend these out further, but you get the gist.

One of the guys mentioned getting (I'm assuming quality oil) for $1/quart during sales/clearances. It's hard to beat the economics of that with anything.

With synthetic, you know you can abuse it and you'll probably be okay no matter what.


Alan






Reading all the posts I'm totally confused. I've been putting 10-30 Castrol in my Toyota trucks and Sequoia for almost 20 years and have had no problems. My wife recently bought a 2008 Solara and I put Mobil 1 in for it's first oil change. I assumed it would be better, but now I'm not so sure. Oh well, I got 4 cases of Mobil 1 on sale a Costco so I'll use them up at anywhere from 3 to 15 thousand mile depending on whom you believe.

gpa