Oil changes? What kind of oil?

[Will1979]

My owners manual says every 5000 miles. How often to you change your oil? What type of oil do you use: regular, synthetic, semi-synthetic?

[Houston]

My Owner's Manual says every 3,000 miles. I've used both regular and semi-synthetic. Never had an engine problem with either one.

Correction: My Owner's Manual says to change oil every 5,000 miles. I should check my facts before making stupid posts. Sorry.

[gtv237]

I used to use conventional every 5000 miles but I drive and travel a lot so I switched to synthetic and now I go 10,000 miles.

[Zimm]

i use synthetic (currently penzoil platinum) and change it 2x/year. that usually works out to every 6,500-8,500 miles.

[Caretaker]

I use conventional dinosaur oil every 5,000 miles. Normally the answer to your question would be: if you do your own changes and drive a lot of miles AND don't want to do changes very often, synthetic is the way to go. However, these Corolla and Camry engines can be oil burners. I lose 1.5 quarts every 5,000 miles; well within norm, but I do top off in between oil changes to keep the crankcase full. As such, I would be careful about using synthetic oil in these cars. You are more than likely just going to burn money out the tailpipe. If you drive a "normal" amount of miles per year (15,000), that's 3 trips to your local Sears Automotive or similar shop, where they will also give your car a thorough look-over to keep you safe.

[jayoldschool]

i use synthetic (currently penzoil platinum) and change it 2x/year. that usually works out to every 6,500-8,500 miles.

Same. I use Castrol Syntec/Edge, combined with an oversized (Toyota V6/V8) filter. I highly recommend using the bigger filter. For the first gen non-GT engines, confirm that you don't have the TSB dipstick, make a mark on your original for the higher fill line, and fill it up to the new level. The higher level, combined with a filter with double the capacity, will serve your engine well.

[vibenvy]

Penzoil 5W-20 conventional every 5000 miles since new on both our 09 GTs. No oil consumption on either one so far (just under 70,000 miles).