"Tony Hwang" wrote in message ...
badgolferman wrote:
Sorry for the off topic post, but the Toyota and Lexus newsgroups are
dead. Since there are plenty of knowledgeable and opinionated people
here I am throwing this out for your comments.

Five months ago I bought a certified 2013 Lexus RX350 with 16K miles
from the dealer. The first service call is complimentary and that
includes an oil change. My dashboard service light came on around 5K
miles so I called the dealer to schedule the oil change. They told me
this vehicle uses synthetic motor oil and recommended oil change
intervals are 10K miles. I looked in the service manual and sure
enough that's true.

http://www.lexus.com/pdf/service/RX_WSG.pdf

In my Toyotas I would change the oil at 5K miles using conventional
oil. It makes me somewhat nervous to go 10K miles between changes but
I guess synthetic is that much better and doesn't get dirty or break
down. I've reached the 10K mile point and am going in today for the
service.

The next oil change will be done by myself. Does anyone else use
synthetic motor oil and how long do you go between changing it? What
brand do you use?

I drive Acura MDX and oil change interval varies depending on driving
condition and weather. Yes, dash shows oil life by percentage and
when it nears zero it triggers service reminder as an alpha numeric code.
Today's oil lasts long time. If you want to change oil yourself, you'll
have to know how to tell the computer on board, oil is changed. In the
case of Acura, if you don't it'll not remind next oil change. In
addition, spark plugs last LONG time too. I use Iridium plugs and it can
last life time of the car. Seems like oil life decreases faster when
you do high speed, high temp. long highway driving. My oil life is
sitting at 30% at present. Last oil change was last November. I change
wife's car oil and I do it only once a year since new, no problem at
all. I notice some new cars don't even have dip stick any more. On BMW
that is an optional add-on. My son uses synthetic oil on his WRX STi.
He changes it once a year. I notice he uses Red line from day 1. My car
uses 5W-20 Honda brand oil at the dealer all the time.

I stick with what the mfr recommends as far as what oil to use. I don't know about newer cars, but for mine I just go by time and mileage. My experience is to check the dip stick when oil is fresh, rub the oil between fingers, smell it, put a drop on a white paper towel. Not every time, but just for curiosity, I have kept a pill bottle with some of the new oil and compare it as time goes on, then pour some from the filter and compare next time t's changed.