Engine oil for RX450h

[Barry14UK]

Hi all,

This subject must surely have been raised previously but a search has not revealed anything so I am raising it in self and for perhaps some general interest.

When I bought my RX450 the oil was well topped up but I wanted to have a supply at home to keep it that way.  All Lexus dealers are far away so I asked my local Toyota franchise whether they had a suitable oil for my Lexus.  They assured me that the Toyota 0-20 oil they stocked for hybrids was suitable but only had a large size (think it was 8L) but I left it as I only wanted a small amount and car was due to be serviced by Lexus before long.

I did a bit of research on this and ascertained that this oil was produced for Toyota by Mobil.  Views varied from it was the only oil you should use in your Toyota/Lexus Hybrid  because it was specially formulated for the cars, to it was quite a low quality Mobil oil.  Regardless, I thought that Lexus Cheltenham would be using this oil when they serviced my car but on their invoice they showed Mobil Super 3000 OW2(think they meant OW 0-20) supplied from their tanks. They told me that this was probably a better oil. than the aforementioned Toyota one and I should get this same oil for topping up.  However, I have read that this oil does not measure up to Mobil 1 0-20.  I spoke with Mobil UK Technical who were no help and even said their recommendation showed a 5-30 oil for the car rather than 0-20.

Do you know what is put in your car at service or you add and what is your preference? Is it of real significance if you do sub 10,000 miles a year and replace oil with a good 0-20 synthetic plus filter annually? 

 

  

[Herbie]

Toyota/Lexus don't make things like wipers, batteries, tyres and suchlike, they merely buy in from the people who do make them, add a markup and sell out again, so I have no qualms about going anywhere to buy stuff like that.

However, I always, always, always use all the fluids recommended in the owners manuals/by the manufacturer because they have a specific chemistry. Use something else and if it has even just one chemical component different to what the manufacturer/manual recommends, it may destroy any seals, friction bands or whatever, causing untold damage. Just not worth taking the risk in my opinion.

[Guest]

Must say in the four years I have had my RX450H I have never had to top it up in between yearly services.

[olliesgrandad]

Having owned now 3 Lexus and driven around 70000 miles I have yet to top up the oil between services 

[Herbie]

Had ours about 16 months and 14k miles and, like the others, never a need to top up.

[Barry14UK]

Well not having to top up between services is encouraging - would be first car that I had not needing this  if mine is the same and I have had many cars over the years including a 2.5 V6 Camry, albeit a long time ago.  I have largely done the mechanical. work and servicing myself and may well do so on my 450h in due course.  I am sure some on the forum members must do their own servicing and it would be interesting to know what they use.  I had hoped to learn from Mobil Technical which of their various oils they put into the one they supply for Toyota packaged as Toyota Oil and whether as some state this has a slightly different formulation to their standard oil to meet Toyota specification  but they couldn't or wouldn't say.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

[Herbie]

I would imagine that would come under "commercially sensitive" information maybe?

As I said above though, just not worth saving a few quid only to maybe pay tenfold down the line.

[rayaans]

You shouldn't need to be topping up - Ive never had to on any Lexus. Or actually, any car unless its eating through it or losing it from somewhere

[Barry14UK]

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

I would imagine that would come under "commercially sensitive" information maybe?

As I said above though, just not worth saving a few quid only to maybe pay tenfold down the line.

There is nothing wrong with servicing your car yourself if you know what you are doing but don't go beyond your capabilities,  Use good quality parts and fluids, appropriate torque settings etc. it's not just to save money but to be assured that the job has been done properly at a time of one's choosing.  That means finding out detailed information about the car, it's service requirements and at least equal if not exceed them.  An example of this is brake fluid where on the reservoir cap it says use only DOT 3, whereas DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 are compatible but have higher boiling points (DOT 5 is quite different and is not compatible) so car will get the DOT 5.1.  During the life of a car it is also probable that refiners will further improve their oils in various respects so I feel it is worth keeping this under review. 

I have just had the 4 year/40,000 mile service done by Lexus with a view to keeping the value of the car as high as possible should I have to sell it ,(hopefully not for many years) and also to help support any goodwill claim that may arise.  However, there will come a time when it it is no longer sensible to use even the lower price scheme Lexus have for older vehicles and at that point leave any big jobs to an independent and just do servicing myself. This is what I have been doing with my BMW.

[Herbie]

5 hours ago, Barry14UK said:

There is nothing wrong with servicing your car yourself

No, absolutely not.

I was about 7 when my dad used to work on his own car and got me interested by asking me to pass him tools and to "hold this" and "pull that" and I'm so grateful to him for that because it's been a life-long thing that has both saved me a fortune and given me great pleasure. Apart from routine servicing I've stripped and rebuilt engines, repaired an alternator or two, modified and fabricated parts and enjoyed every minute of it.

I'm 61 now and sadly, due to a back injury, I can't do much these days although I do still enjoy doing what I can but, one thing I've never done is mess with fluids. Every car I've ever owned has had what the manufacturer has stated in the manual, no more, no less. Maybe it's something to do with the fact that almost any other jobs you can do on cars can be seen and if you use a third party part for anything you can see how well it's performing. Fluids are out of sight in closed systems and so you can't see if something is going amiss until physical symptoms manifest themselves, such as degrading seals causing leaks. Maybe I'm just weird, but there you go.

[Barry14UK]

My background is similar to yours Herbs, although I started with my Dad's help with motor cycles stripping and rebuilding engines and a gearbox on a real 'Bitza' motor cycle I put together before moving on to cars of which I have had many over the years. (I am rather older than you but arthritis is taking it's toll - the main reason I bought an SUV).  I am presently breaking an E39 530i sports BMW to complete the conversion of my SE model to nearer the spec of  the sports model.  It's a pity the donor will be then be scrapped because there are some good parts that it's not worth the time and effort to remove and advertise for the possible return.

Anyway, more to the point, I do agree with you about using recommended fluids (particularly oils). That is why I was being pedantic and asking about what engine oil members have in their cars because according to the Mobil Tec I spoke with, Lexus/Toyota don't suggest any particular brand other than what is packaged Toyota oil and Lexus Cheltenham put in Mobil Super 3000 OW 0-20 which I understand was formulated principally for Volvo cars. But is this the same oil? Maybe all Lexus dealers use the same as Cheltenham but it seems nobody who has answered knows what has been put in their cars even if its so good that it doesn't burn off or evaporate whatsoever!