Choice of Oil & filter

[sundarpn]

Soon I have to do my first oil change on my 2002 Camry XLE I got a few months back. Has 50K now.


What's a good oil & filter to use? I usually go with OEM filters... but i think the toyota one is like 5 bucks.

Is there a good aftermarket filter? or can I get OEM filters online for cheaper price.


Oil I usually go with valvoline durablend. Any opinons on this.

[Epsilon]

You can't go wrong with oem filters. If you're not worried about price, you can go with TRD oil filters.

As for oil choices, it comes down to personal preference. I personally prefer Royal Purple or Red Line.

[KieferS]

I like redline, good product, if you don't mind wasting money, but i've had oil analyis' on Royal purple...Not good on my moms camry motor. royal purple imo is only good for what it was made for intentionally..undustrial uses, such as nuclear power plants etc.

Valvoline durablend is a real high quality synthetic blend. Perhaps the best blend on the market, if you look at the specs it meets. You can use that with a puralator filter (around 3 bucks a pop) and that will ensure a very long life span for your engine.

[shimp999]

Have you checked with your local dealer(s) recently? The Toyota dealer near me posts specials occasionally; they recently had filters for my Camry on sale for $3 and change. Otherwise, I've always used Puralator filters in my other vehicles. Everyone will have their own opinion on oil, so I'll leave that one up to you.

[Webb26]

Originally Posted by Epsilon

You can't go wrong with oem filters. If you're not worried about price, you can go with TRD oil filters.

As for oil choices, it comes down to personal preference. I personally prefer Royal Purple or Red Line.

Werd...i love royal purple..and haven't had any problems with it...i'm not sure where KieferS is getting his analysis but i've never heard anyting bad up until he brough it up(i'll have to look into that). As for oil filter i just use fram tough guard. BY the way, how many people are using redline motor oil? and how much more is ut compared to royal purple?

[avnishghei]

i use mobile 1 on my 07 and gonna order a trd filter for my 3rd oil change
my car gotz 10k miles on it dammm

[06 Camry]

I think any oil and filter is good as long as you change it when you should. I been using Valvoline and fram with no problems. The dealer uses Valvoline.

[AustinFern]

As mentioned, any good motor oil is fine. I bought my LE used and have been using Mobil 1 for its detergent properties.


I would be a little concerned that the OP is looking at $5 as too much for a filter. Filtered oil is too important to be worried about the difference between $3 and $5 for an OEM filter.

[onsknht]

Originally Posted by Webb26

Werd...i love royal purple..and haven't had any problems with it...i'm not sure where KieferS is getting his analysis but i've never heard anyting bad up until he brough it up(i'll have to look into that). As for oil filter i just use fram tough guard. BY the way, how many people are using redline motor oil? and how much more is ut compared to royal purple?

I have a lot of experience in the 2-stroke realm. Believe it or not, these "performance related" oils most of the time ARE NOT any better than the regular old dinosaur oil you can buy as a generic.

FWIW - I've used nothing but plain old Castrol 5w-30 in all 7 new Toyotas I've owned, never had a problem with the oil or the engine.

[rpmspeedyBlue]

I use WIX filters for both my vehicles. I find the price cheaper and it seems a better quality filter.

[Regg07CamryV6LE]

My dealership gives me free oil changes for the life of the vehicle, should I stick with that or go synthetic?

[KieferS]

WEbb, i get my analyis' from Black-stone labs.

Royal purple gave me the worse oil analysis i've ever had on two cars. It's suppose to be really good in industrial use...it was developed for those type of applications, it was only not too long ago they shift there focus to cars. It is a PAO based group IV oil..hard to find these days. I know people that like Royal purple just fine, but maybe you should do an analysis on your royal purple and see how it really stacks up in your engine, and you can make an informed decision on which oil you like to use.
My personal best on my jetta have been Valvoline Synpower and Redline
ive done two on the camry,pennzoil platinum and royal purple, the royal purple only had 5500 miles of use on it, i was told by black stone labs to decrease the intrevel, due to low TBN rates and a high amount of a certain 'wear metal' the same thing happend when i used royal purple on my jetta.. just food for thought

[sundarpn]

ok thanks. i'll call around & ask the prices of oil filters at dealers here in around raleigh/rtp/cary. (NC). Yup i to feel that valvoline durablen is a very good oil. You feel the difference... in smoothness.


And Oh. I was thinkning of using 10w30 instead of 5w30. It only goes to about 25 deg F in worst case here in NC... do I still need 5W in winter?

can anyone tell me the exact model of the Puralator and/or Wix filters for the gen 5 (4 cly motor)

thx.

[Webb26]

Originally Posted by KieferS

WEbb, i get my analyis' from Black-stone labs.

Royal purple gave me the worse oil analysis i've ever had on two cars. It's suppose to be really good in industrial use...it was developed for those type of applications, it was only not too long ago they shift there focus to cars. It is a PAO based group IV oil..hard to find these days. I know people that like Royal purple just fine, but maybe you should do an analysis on your royal purple and see how it really stacks up in your engine, and you can make an informed decision on which oil you like to use.
My personal best on my jetta have been Valvoline Synpower and Redline
ive done two on the camry,pennzoil platinum and royal purple, the royal purple only had 5500 miles of use on it, i was told by black stone labs to decrease the intrevel, due to low TBN rates and a high amount of a certain 'wear metal' the same thing happend when i used royal purple on my jetta.. just food for thought

Hey thanks...i wasn't doubting you at all...just curiious as i didn't know where the info came from. Well i only have about 5 quarts good enough to last me for the next change....maybe i'll try something else...so you do recomend redline? I would like to try smething else. Not that i jump around a lot...but just curious. thanks

[marc780]

My theory on oil changes is do it more often (eliminates chance of sludging). I use cheap oil filters but Fram no longer, after i read nasty things about them on this here site - but - i get my oil filters on sale, my oil by the case and always with a rebate! (sunday paper). I use chevron, pennsoil, whatever is on sale and has the right SAE rating ("Sl" is the latest aint it? I cant keep track any more.)
So even if the filter is not the absolute finest available, it gets thrown away in 2500 miles anyway. Same with the oil. Oil mucks up the engine when: it gets old, oxygenated, contaminated by dirt, water, combustion byproducts, and the additives wear out! And that goes for every SINGLE oil you can name... EXCEPT Mobil 1 or other real synthetics (Mobil 1 doesnt break down or wear out its additive package for many many miles, way longer than dino stuff, and it really is the superior oil.)

The famous oil sludging ("gel") problem in Camry engines happened NOT through some flaw in Toyota engines. It happened because Toyota goofed and recommended a 7500 oil change. Which was too long, but since they made the car, people relied on what they said instead of ignoring it like they should have, and sticking to the good old 3000 mile rule. So the dino oil broke down (why, see above paragraph!). And since Toyota recommended it they were "negligent" and now they gotta pay up. All because oil STILL needs to be changed just as often as if it were the 1960's instead of 2006.