Big V8 Takes Big Oil at 5,000 Miles - 2015 Lexus RC F Long-Term Road Test

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Big V8 Takes Big Oil at 5,000 Miles - 2015 Lexus RC F Long-Term Road Test

Our long-term 2015 Lexus RC F is due for service at 5,000 miles.

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reminder

All that extra oil capacity does a nice job of puling lots of heat out of the motor.

fordson1

Ten quarts of most likely synthetic oil in a 5-liter engine, and it has to be changed every 5,000 miles? Um, for what? I'm wondering what a Blackstone oil analysis of the "old" oil would show...probably that it still has about 70% of its life left.

s197gt

i completely agree, fordson1.

what kind of R&D did Lexus do on that OCI?

they have this weird setup on the highlander where you have to come in to the dealer for "inspections" and no oil change... would make more sense on this type of a car and extend the OCI.

vvk

I change oil in my BMW 550i, which holds a similar amount, every 5k miles, too. 545/550 owners who followed the oil monitor have had oil related engine issues. I think it is a wise investment with cars of this nature.

adamb1

That's one ugly engine bay.

kirkhilles1

s197gt said:

i completely agree, fordson1.

what kind of R&D did Lexus do on that OCI?

they have this weird setup on the highlander where you have to come in to the dealer for "inspections" and no oil change... would make more sense on this type of a car and extend the OCI.

That IS quite strange, especially for a family-hauler, highly reliable (and rated) vehicle like the Highlander. Its kinda of the opposite for the Honda Pilot. People freak out because it only has you changing the (now cardboard based) oil filter every other change, Transmission Fluid at 30k and Coolant/Spark Plugs at 100k.

fordson1

vvk said:

I change oil in my BMW 550i, which holds a similar amount, every 5k miles, too. 545/550 owners who followed the oil monitor have had oil related engine issues. I think it is a wise investment with cars of this nature.

I can't say about the older (pre-2010) cars, but the recent 550i is turbocharged...that's a different animal. I just think changing this much of this kind of oil, this frequently, is kind of ridiculous. I thought the 5k mile oil change interval on my wife's Sienna (6.4 quarts) was kind of silly, too, but not like this.

barich1

Maybe Toyota's past sludge issues are keeping them conservative on the OCIs. They also don't want to end up with a pile of warranty claims like GM did with the too-long intervals on the 2.4 Ecotec.

vvk

fordson1 said:

I can't say about the older (pre-2010) cars, but the recent 550i is turbocharged...that's a different animal. I just think changing this much of this kind of oil, this frequently, is kind of ridiculous. I thought the 5k mile oil change interval on my wife's Sienna (6.4 quarts) was kind of silly, too, but not like this.

I am talking about the older pre-2010 non-turbo cars. An oil change costs me $60 in BMW-spec oil and filter. It is very easy to do. I really don't see a problem with doing it. The cars asks for an oil change about every 15k miles, which is about every two-three years for me.

fordson1

Two issues - you need eight quarts, not ten like this Lexus (which should translate into a longer change interval for the Lexus anyway, compared to your car), and the best price I can find on a kit or separate pieces of BMW-spec SYNTHETIC oil & filter for your 545i is around $79.

You say it costs you $60 for a BMW-spec filter and oil. Well, if it costs you only $60, you're probably not using synthetic, and so we're talking apples and oranges here, both in terms of the amount of oil involved and the type of oil involved.

Also it should go without saying that whatever kind of oil you're using, you don't leave it in the crankcase for more than a year, regardless of mileage.

allthingshonda

barich1 said:

Maybe Toyota's past sludge issues are keeping them conservative on the OCIs. They also don't want to end up with a pile of warranty claims like GM did with the too-long intervals on the 2.4 Ecotec.

GM has been using oil life monitors for many years with no problems. The 2.4 Ecotec had a problem with oil consumption due to a poor design of the piston rings. Changing oil early is just wasteful and will not do anything to prolong engine life. My Acura has an oil life monitor and routinely goes 10,000 miles between changes. It has over 140,000 miles on it with no issues and doesn't use a drop of oil between changes. I don't know if they have changed but Toyota still went by mileage based oil changes not based on an algorithm like the GM system. Toyota's system seems to be designed to keep dealers profits fat.

kshankar

Lexus provides 5K and 10K miles as complimentary maintenance. 15K mile service and thereafter, you pay for.

vvk

fordson1 said:

Two issues - you need eight quarts, not ten like this Lexus (which should translate into a longer change interval for the Lexus anyway, compared to your car), and the best price I can find on a kit or separate pieces of BMW-spec SYNTHETIC oil & filter for your 545i is around $79.

You say it costs you $60 for a BMW-spec filter and oil. Well, if it costs you only $60, you're probably not using synthetic, and so we're talking apples and oranges here, both in terms of the amount of oil involved and the type of oil involved.

Also it should go without saying that whatever kind of oil you're using, you don't leave it in the crankcase for more than a year, regardless of mileage.

9 quarts, actually.

I use Castrol Edge 0W-40. It is synthetic. It has BMW LL-01 approval. It is Made in Germany

I typically pay $50 for 10 quarts. Walmart or Amazon. In fact, I just received 10 quarts from WalMart today.

I like Hengst oil filters for my BMWs. No longer buy MANN, don't like their Mexican made products.

BMW USA pays for annual oil changes for cars under free maintenance. In Europe some manufacturers specify OCIs longer than a year.

caramelo91

I think that the way they see it, if they don't change the oil after a 5k mile interval, you're gonna be going on 10k miles before your next scheduled maintenance visit. It could be a matter of them not feeling comfortable having you go 10k miles in a high performance vehicle like the RC F.