Hello,
- We may buy a 2008 Toyota Corolla Le with about 110k miles from my mother-in-law - who is a bit clueless about anything mechanic. She would take it to Monroe for oil changes twice a year with not even adding five 5000 miles that year. They use conventional oil instead of full synthetic. ( who knows if they actually change the filter with how frequency she saw them). Will using conventional oil instead of synthetic oil for so long harm an engine, or will the engine be okay since the oil was changed so frequently?
Blackstone labs sells an oil analysis kit. You send a sample of your used engine oil and they will perform an analysis of your engine oil, which will tell you the state of your engine. But in my opinion, so long as the viscosity was right, the part that would take the biggest hit from that would be the VVT system. But if you have no symptoms of that system acting up I’d assume the engine is fine
Conventional oil doesn't mean "bad" oil, just not as robust as synthetic.
2 changes a year for 5k miles of driving is overkill. I would think you would be good to go with no to very little wear on the engine. In other words, I wouldn't worry about it at all.
Yah, but as Scotty as said in his videos many times: Oil is cheap, but engines are expensive. So, maybe spending $80 a year for oil changes is not overkill for car maintenance
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That's not very solid logic. changing your oil twice as often doesn't make the engine last twice as long. There are diminishing returns. There is definitely an overkill point.
It was Monroe Auto Service that convinced her she had to come frequently. They've also sold her lots fluid changes. They treat her nice so she likes them. It wasn't until recently that I've started asking how she gets her car serviced that I realized she was being ripped off.
It doesn't matter. If she changed the oil twice a year, and barely drove it, then the engine is going to be in excellent condition.
In my opinion with that low mileage and changing oil 2x/year will be just fine. In addition I would recommend draining and filling the antifreeze as well as draining and filling the automatic transmission fluid if not done yet.
What does the manual specify? I've had my Kia for the last 4 years serviced at the same place. Stupid me for seeing that they didn't use the mandated oil at any of those services. I would think there's a world of difference between the suggested full-synthetic 5W-20 and the semi-synthetic 10W-40 that they used. The semi-synthetic can work at higher temperatures, but still. If you're going to service your car at an independent garage, don't rely on the oil they use. Chances are it's a bulk oil they can get cheaply.
