Hello all! I have a 2001 Camry LE 4cyl automatic. The odometer reads 101,296 miles. My in-laws bought it as a dealer sales staff demo with about 1,000 miles on it.

Anyway, I'm going to take it to the dealer for routine maintenance soon; oil change and a transmission fluid flush. I'm wondering if it's worth it to go for synthetic oil this time around? The car has had regular oil and filter changes at 3,000 miles or 3 months, by my father-in-law. He just put synthetic in their 2011 Highlander Sport, which got me interested. I like the idea of longer intervals between oil changes.

Here's the kicker- I go to Kool Toyota in Grand Rapids for service. They have a $9.95 oil and filter change offer every day of the year. At that price, and factoring in the higher mileage of my Camry, is it worth it to go for synthetic oil with a longer service interval? I haven't asked them how much a synthetic oil change would cost.

Thanks for any assistance!

 

Good idea about changing the trans fluid.

$9.95 is a great price!

How often do you change the oil now and what do you consider a longer service interval?

Might start by finding out the additional cost for synthetic oil change.

Synthetics should be able to go 10K miles between changes. Just make sure to get the oil changed at whatever interval you decide on and not put it off until say 13K, 15K, etc.

Other advantages of synthetics are they flow much better at cold temp start ups and break down at higher temps then conventional oil.

An issue to consider is the dealer may only stock certain weights of synthetic oil because newer Toyota's specify these oil weights. Perhaps a 0-20w which may be too thin for your year of engine. When you inquire about the additional cost find out what weighs are available.

Conventional oil can go 5K miles, if synthetic goes twice as long the cost needs to be under $20 for an oil change to come out ahead.