Just bought a 4 cylinder 2005 Camry LE with 59,500 miles yesterday. Last oil change was 11 months and 3000 miles ago (Grandma car...). No Owner's Manual came with car! Yikes!

Could someone please bottom line me on best oil viscosity, mileage interval between changes, andis conventional oil OK?

Sorry about the basic question.....but lack of owner's manual is a pain! Got one ordered.

Thanks!

 

http://www.originalcarmanual.com/or from Toyota http://www.toyota.com/help/faqs/comp...y_vehicle.html

Use the grade recommended in the owners manual, conventional or synthetic. If using synthetic I have found I can double the oil change interval (OCI) to compensate for price, but with the small filters I change the filter at the conventional suggested OCI. For instance if the OCI is 5000 miles I change filter at 5000 miles with new oil top up but do a complete oil and filter change at 10,000 miles. I haveproven this method on my vehicles using used oil analysis.
I am now using Mobil1 0w-30 in my Camry instead of the 10w-30. Mobil1 asserts this oil better or equivalent to 10w or 5w-30 and I have just sent out an oil sample for analysis to prove this. The lower winter number (*w) allows better flow at start-up winter or summer.

Oil brand discussions can go on forever and are useless so I recommend you use what you like and can afford what proves out in oil analysis; about $20 at http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

Well congrats on your new car... The oil cap should tell you the weight which to use. I also have an 05camry and mine says 5w30...If you live in really hot conditions you can get away with 10w30.. Id recommend synthetic if you plan on keep the car around in the family for a while. Its worth every extra penny and as stated before you can usually go 5k on the oil before it needs to be changed, which even then its usually still good to go. I change mine every 3k.
Synthetics offer so much more than regular oil ever will. Theres plenty of threads out there that will tell you all the benifits to it.

However you can choose whatever oil you want to use yourself the most important thing is to keep it changed every 3k, and check it when you get the chance.The market on oils is huge now days.. They offer anything from synthetics to regular shelf oil and even highmileage oils, My best advice is read up on it and choose for yourself and decide the needs you require.