Oil Change In Rx 350

[RX350lover]

I purchased a 2009 RX 350 and today got the maintenance record that was perfomed on the car. Being new to Lexus engines, I have zero knowledge about them, apart from knowing that Toyota had a sludge problem or something like that some years ago.

In any case, I would like your opinion if the following maintenance might have worn out the rings of the pistons and possibly, I'll be 'burning oil'?

The SUV has currently 20,400 miles. All service works done at the Lexus dealer. An 'inspection service' was done at 1650 miles (I do not know if an oil change is included).

First oil change after 7 months and 5000 miles.

Second oil change after 8 months and 5100 miles.

Third oil change done after 7 1/2 months and 4680 miles.

Last oil change (when I bought it) done after 9 months and 5580 miles.

I am not so concerned about the mileage, but more about the fact that the previous owner consistently exceeded the 6 month interval. If it would have been synthetic oil, I wouldn't be concerned, but since it isn't and I have no knowledge of the quality of non-synthetic Toyota oil, I would appreciate a great deal having your input based on your personal experience.

Thanks in advance.

And btw, I love the car!!!

[scottq60]

My wife bought her 09 3 years ago this month. I've changed the oil every 5k miles with Mobil 1 5w-30 full synthetic. Personally, it sounds like yours has been maintained fine, but oil is like religion and politics...VERY subjective.

You could ask 10 different people about oil and intervals and get 10 different answers. Some think oil should be changed more often and only with brand X, Y or Z...yada, yada, yada.

If it were mine (here's that subjective part kicking in), I'd change it, use Mobil 1, and change it every 5k miles thereafter.

Now it's time for the other 9 guys/gals to tell you what they'd do. :D

[RX350lover]

My wife bought her 09 3 years ago this month. I've changed the oil every 5k miles with Mobil 1 5w-30 full synthetic. Personally, it sounds like yours has been maintained fine, but oil is like religion and politics...VERY subjective.

You could ask 10 different people about oil and intervals and get 10 different answers. Some think oil should be changed more often and only with brand X, Y or Z...yada, yada, yada.

If it were mine (here's that subjective part kicking in), I'd change it, use Mobil 1, and change it every 5k miles thereafter.

Now it's time for the other 9 guys/gals to tell you what they'd do. :D

Funny you mentionned Mobil 1 because that's what I'm using in my 3 other cars and I have been doing oil changes for more than a decade. But this is my first Lexus! And I know zilch about their engines and their oils. In the old days, before I started using synthetic some 10-15 years ago, I would never miss a 6 month or 3,000 miles interval. But this non-synthetic Toyota oil, I know nothing about. I hope someone in here can provide some info/opinion based on their experiences with the Toyota non-synthetic.

[scottq60]

My wife bought her 09 3 years ago this month. I've changed the oil every 5k miles with Mobil 1 5w-30 full synthetic. Personally, it sounds like yours has been maintained fine, but oil is like religion and politics...VERY subjective.

You could ask 10 different people about oil and intervals and get 10 different answers. Some think oil should be changed more often and only with brand X, Y or Z...yada, yada, yada.

If it were mine (here's that subjective part kicking in), I'd change it, use Mobil 1, and change it every 5k miles thereafter.

Now it's time for the other 9 guys/gals to tell you what they'd do. :D

Funny you mentionned Mobil 1 because that's what I'm using in my 3 other cars and I have been doing oil changes for more than a decade. But this is my first Lexus! And I know zilch about their engines and their oils. In the old days, before I started using synthetic some 10-15 years ago, I would never miss a 6 month or 3,000 miles interval. But this non-synthetic Toyota oil, I know nothing about. I hope someone in here can provide some info/opinion based on their experiences with the Toyota non-synthetic.

Does it really make any difference? If there was any damage done (and I doubt there was), it's done and you own it. It's impossible to know the driving history, other than the mileage and service interval, unless you've talked to the previous owners and they were honest with you. It could have gone on a few long trips or several short ones...each having a different effect on the drivetrain. Since the service was done at a Lexus dealership, I'm confident the oil they used was at least up to the spec required.

If you haven't been told or experienced it already...you're gonna hear some valve-train noise when you first start it and press the accelerator, for maybe 5 minutes or until it warms up...especially in cold weather. We asked the dealership about it and was told it's "normal". The '10 loaner did the exact same thing. Judging from your post count, you've been on here long enough to be familiar with that issue.

Enjoy it...we love ours. It's undoubtedly the finest vehicle we've owned yet...and we've owned MANY :D

[RX350lover]

My wife bought her 09 3 years ago this month. I've changed the oil every 5k miles with Mobil 1 5w-30 full synthetic. Personally, it sounds like yours has been maintained fine, but oil is like religion and politics...VERY subjective.

You could ask 10 different people about oil and intervals and get 10 different answers. Some think oil should be changed more often and only with brand X, Y or Z...yada, yada, yada.

If it were mine (here's that subjective part kicking in), I'd change it, use Mobil 1, and change it every 5k miles thereafter.

Now it's time for the other 9 guys/gals to tell you what they'd do. :D

Funny you mentionned Mobil 1 because that's what I'm using in my 3 other cars and I have been doing oil changes for more than a decade. But this is my first Lexus! And I know zilch about their engines and their oils. In the old days, before I started using synthetic some 10-15 years ago, I would never miss a 6 month or 3,000 miles interval. But this non-synthetic Toyota oil, I know nothing about. I hope someone in here can provide some info/opinion based on their experiences with the Toyota non-synthetic.

Does it really make any difference? If there was any damage done (and I doubt there was), it's done and you own it. It's impossible to know the driving history, other than the mileage and service interval, unless you've talked to the previous owners and they were honest with you. It could have gone on a few long trips or several short ones...each having a different effect on the drivetrain. Since the service was done at a Lexus dealership, I'm confident the oil they used was at least up to the spec required.

If you haven't been told or experienced it already...you're gonna hear some valve-train noise when you first start it and press the accelerator, for maybe 5 minutes or until it warms up...especially in cold weather. We asked the dealership about it and was told it's "normal". The '10 loaner did the exact same thing. Judging from your post count, you've been on here long enough to be familiar with that issue.

Enjoy it...we love ours. It's undoubtedly the finest vehicle we've owned yet...and we've owned MANY :D

Thanks for letting me know that I own it, lol!!! ;) And yes I am slowly falling in love with it. This is my first fwd (awd) ever after owning more than a dozen rwd over 30 years. Hey! I'll get the Haynes manual next week :) (for the rx 330 - they don't make it for the rx 350).

Actually, I do know about the owner. A lady in her late 50's and using it mostly every day from Monday to Friday and doing about 600 miles per month every single month.

I guess I just would have liked to hear from other forum participants about their experience with the Toyota non-synthetic oil and in particular in relation to waiting 7, 8 and even 9 months before doing an oil change. But while staying more or less in the 5,000 miles range.

[scottq60]

My wife bought her 09 3 years ago this month. I've changed the oil every 5k miles with Mobil 1 5w-30 full synthetic. Personally, it sounds like yours has been maintained fine, but oil is like religion and politics...VERY subjective.

You could ask 10 different people about oil and intervals and get 10 different answers. Some think oil should be changed more often and only with brand X, Y or Z...yada, yada, yada.

If it were mine (here's that subjective part kicking in), I'd change it, use Mobil 1, and change it every 5k miles thereafter.

Now it's time for the other 9 guys/gals to tell you what they'd do. :D

Funny you mentionned Mobil 1 because that's what I'm using in my 3 other cars and I have been doing oil changes for more than a decade. But this is my first Lexus! And I know zilch about their engines and their oils. In the old days, before I started using synthetic some 10-15 years ago, I would never miss a 6 month or 3,000 miles interval. But this non-synthetic Toyota oil, I know nothing about. I hope someone in here can provide some info/opinion based on their experiences with the Toyota non-synthetic.

Does it really make any difference? If there was any damage done (and I doubt there was), it's done and you own it. It's impossible to know the driving history, other than the mileage and service interval, unless you've talked to the previous owners and they were honest with you. It could have gone on a few long trips or several short ones...each having a different effect on the drivetrain. Since the service was done at a Lexus dealership, I'm confident the oil they used was at least up to the spec required.

If you haven't been told or experienced it already...you're gonna hear some valve-train noise when you first start it and press the accelerator, for maybe 5 minutes or until it warms up...especially in cold weather. We asked the dealership about it and was told it's "normal". The '10 loaner did the exact same thing. Judging from your post count, you've been on here long enough to be familiar with that issue.

Enjoy it...we love ours. It's undoubtedly the finest vehicle we've owned yet...and we've owned MANY :D

Thanks for letting me know that I own it, lol!!! ;) And yes I am slowly falling in love with it. This is my first fwd (awd) ever after owning more than a dozen rwd over 30 years. Hey! I'll get the Haynes manual next week :) (for the rx 330 - they don't make it for the rx 350).

Actually, I do know about the owner. A lady in her late 50's and using it mostly every day from Monday to Friday and doing about 600 miles per month every single month.

I guess I just would have liked to hear from other forum participants about their experience with the Toyota non-synthetic oil and in particular in relation to waiting 7, 8 and even 9 months before doing an oil change. But while staying more or less in the 5,000 miles range.

[scottq60]

My wife bought her 09 3 years ago this month. I've changed the oil every 5k miles with Mobil 1 5w-30 full synthetic. Personally, it sounds like yours has been maintained fine, but oil is like religion and politics...VERY subjective.

You could ask 10 different people about oil and intervals and get 10 different answers. Some think oil should be changed more often and only with brand X, Y or Z...yada, yada, yada.

If it were mine (here's that subjective part kicking in), I'd change it, use Mobil 1, and change it every 5k miles thereafter.

Now it's time for the other 9 guys/gals to tell you what they'd do. :D

Funny you mentionned Mobil 1 because that's what I'm using in my 3 other cars and I have been doing oil changes for more than a decade. But this is my first Lexus! And I know zilch about their engines and their oils. In the old days, before I started using synthetic some 10-15 years ago, I would never miss a 6 month or 3,000 miles interval. But this non-synthetic Toyota oil, I know nothing about. I hope someone in here can provide some info/opinion based on their experiences with the Toyota non-synthetic.

Does it really make any difference? If there was any damage done (and I doubt there was), it's done and you own it. It's impossible to know the driving history, other than the mileage and service interval, unless you've talked to the previous owners and they were honest with you. It could have gone on a few long trips or several short ones...each having a different effect on the drivetrain. Since the service was done at a Lexus dealership, I'm confident the oil they used was at least up to the spec required.

If you haven't been told or experienced it already...you're gonna hear some valve-train noise when you first start it and press the accelerator, for maybe 5 minutes or until it warms up...especially in cold weather. We asked the dealership about it and was told it's "normal". The '10 loaner did the exact same thing. Judging from your post count, you've been on here long enough to be familiar with that issue.

Enjoy it...we love ours. It's undoubtedly the finest vehicle we've owned yet...and we've owned MANY :D

Thanks for letting me know that I own it, lol!!! ;) And yes I am slowly falling in love with it. This is my first fwd (awd) ever after owning more than a dozen rwd over 30 years. Hey! I'll get the Haynes manual next week :) (for the rx 330 - they don't make it for the rx 350).

Actually, I do know about the owner. A lady in her late 50's and using it mostly every day from Monday to Friday and doing about 600 miles per month every single month.

I guess I just would have liked to hear from other forum participants about their experience with the Toyota non-synthetic oil and in particular in relation to waiting 7, 8 and even 9 months before doing an oil change. But while staying more or less in the 5,000 miles range.

I'm sure you'll hear from some other forum members.

[GDixon]

It is a complete non-issue. The oil change intervals are fine both by mileage and longevity.

Modern oil has enough additives and quality to deal with what you have described.

That said, I use Mobil 1. Toyota makes (subcontracts) a good synthetic also.

[RX350lover]

Thanks for your input. I did get synthetic ($180) put into the car. Once the warranty is over, I intend to do the oil changes myself and I will be using mobil 1 as in all my other cars. I decided to get the dealer to do it as some sort of insurance protection for me since I still have 17 months on the warranty.

Btw, last night I remove the oil filler cap to take a look and I could see the clean, clear synthetic oil and in it, there was a tiny amount of black dirt from the dino oil. I intend to get a camera in there just to take a peek.

Again thanks for your feedback. It has been more than 15 years since I dealt with dino oil. Hopefully, the dino oil of today is a far superior product than 15-20 years ago (nevertheless, still inferior to synthetic!).

[lemon]

What weight oil did they put in at the Lexus dealer?

[RX350lover]

5W30

[SmilingBoognish]

As others have stated, it is unlikely any accelerated damage was done to your vehicle. If you're really worried about it, do a Blackstone analysis on the oil and post up the results. FWIW, I run synthetic oil in my turbo charged vehicles, but plain old Castrol in the Lexus. I change it every six months which has wound up being anywhere from 1,800 miles to just a hair over 5,000.

[RX350lover]

As others have stated, it is unlikely any accelerated damage was done to your vehicle. If you're really worried about it, do a Blackstone analysis on the oil and post up the results. FWIW, I run synthetic oil in my turbo charged vehicles, but plain old Castrol in the Lexus. I change it every six months which has wound up being anywhere from 1,800 miles to just a hair over 5,000.

Thanks for reminding me, I had forgotten about them! Unfortunately it will be a year before I can use their services as I just switched from dino to synthetic. So this batch of oil will be carrying the sludge being removed. Only at the end of the next oil change will I be able to get a reliable sample. Again thanks for refreshing my memory.