This is what Scion is telling me.

My email to them:
The reply from Scion:
So where do we go from here? I currently use Castrol Syntec 5w-20, no UOA of my own, but the engine sounds fine to me..

Can anybody shine some more light on this? The original thread that discussed this was very hard to follow.

Thanks.

 

5W-30 FTW!

 

I thought it was for the '07 that the 5w-20 or 0w-20 could be used. I didn't know this was for the '06 too...I hope not b/c i've been using mobil1 5w-30...

Watching

 

It's the same motor, don't see why it needs different Oil!

 

Goto: http://www.mobil1.com/USA-English/Mo...Oils/Oils.aspx

Do the "What's the right oil for my car?"

 

^^ Bad idea. Use what the manufacturer says as long as the car is under warranty. You dont want any engine failures that they fight you on because you used the wrong oil. You dont want to give them any chance to back out of warranty repair.

It is not the same engine. Things changed on the 07. Many people make the mistake of thinking that a particular model of engine is always the same (like the 05 and below camry. It was a 2AZ-FE but was not the same design as the 05 tC, different bearings, etc).

If toyota tells you to use whats on the cap, then use whats on the cap unless you have made other changes to the motor.

 

actually.. the TSB came out jan '06 stating that 5w20 is now recommended for all '06 and above vehicles and it will be the toyota standard.

the '06 should handle 5w20 fine.

 

^^ Then that is what people should follow. As long as you follow what Toyota reccomends, then they cant argue later if an oiling issue arises.

 

My Bad... Everyone i know with an 06 uses 5w-30... but oh well... I agree that you should use what is written on the cap.

 

5w-30 would probably be fine. And 5w-20 would probably be fine in the 05... but you know the kind of crap that can arise when an oiling issue occurs.

I will say though, that in my experience Toyota's are touchy when it comes to the oil used. I have seen them come into a shop rattling like crazy on startup simply because the owner swithed to 10w-30 because someone told them it was a good idea. Switch back to 5w-30 and the lifter/followers stopped rattling on startup the next day. So I am sure they had thier reasoning behind changing. Marginally better fuel economy could also be a culprit. Determining that the car can run on a lighter weight oil safely and being able to report a slight efficiency increase (even if it is small) is probably good for them as well.

but in any case.. always better to cover your ****.

 

I really don't feel like bringing all this oil back...

 

So its possible to use the 5W-20 and the cap says to use 5W-30. So which of the 2 do YOU guys recommend using? Or does it not matter? Maybe one is better for a certain climate or for easier startup?

 

Generally speaking, lighter weight oils are used in colder climates. For most moderate climates, I honestly don't believe it'll make any difference if a person uses 5-20 or 5-30w in a tC. Being in San Diego and considering I drive somewhat agressively, I intend to stick with 5-30w, even if 5-20w is now recommended.

 

I live in PR and use 10w-30 cause of the hotter temps here.

 

I know this is a newb question...but I'm on vacation and I haven't changed my own oil yet and I'm planning to when i get back. But how many quarts does the tC take for motor oil? Sorry I know its in the manual...but its 1000 miles away from me right now hahaha.

 

3.8qts without filter, 4qts with filter.

 

Yep, it actually will hold an even number of qts.. I cant say how many cars I have had that left me with 1/2 a qt if I filled them completely

 

weird...why less without a filter? Thanks for the info!

 

'Without filter' means you're not replacing the filter, you are keeping the existing one on.
The old filter will have oil in it that will not drain from draining the oil pan. So you don't need to put as much in.

'with filter' means you have to put more oil in it to compensate for the absorption of oil by the filter.

 

haha makes sense....Thanks for the help!