While it isn't official yet, there have been semi-official looking documents floating around saying that Toyota is raising the service interval to 10,000 miles on all vehicles requiring 0w-20 synthetic oil. Unfortunately, I can see this recommendation as being a poor one for the North American market. History has shown us that Americans are not willing to pay for synthetic oil on mass-produced vehicles. VW is a perfect example of this-- they have been recommending synthetic oil for years, but how many of those cars serviced outside of dealers actually get serviced with synthetic oil?

FAIL.

Hmmm, I would think most cars that come filled or recommend synthetic get synthetic oil. No?

Nope. Quick Lubes do not want to turn away cars. If a customer does not want synthetic oil in a car that requires 0w-20, they would probably fill it with 5w-20 and note on the invoice that the customer declined synthetic oil.

Funny how 20wt synthetics are the future of motor oils considering they've been out for over 30 years.

Why isnt the rest of toyota's line up on that list?

The rest of Toyota's engines have not been validated for 0w-20. And while some Toyota engines may allow the use of 0w-20 (i.e. 2ZR-FE), perhaps the validation testing for the extended service interval has not been completed yet for that application.

Not even. Try 5W30 or 10W30 bulk. Most people that visit a quick lube don't want to spend money.

Around here, 5w-20 is pretty common. Every shop that I've been to stocks it in bulk. There is no longer an extra charge for 5w-20.

Can you say "SLUDGE". Wonder how many people will run 10K on bulk dino oil...

I think its great!

GF-5 may force all oils to be Group III based, or synthetic by definition. By 2010, it could very well be that everyone is using a synthetic, or some variation of.

Notice the manual says "eventually". So it's likely quick lube places will be carrying mostly all synthetic oils and you won't have a choice to use conventional oil if your car calls for a GF-5 oil.

Yes, but how many people know what that means? They will go with whatever the person doing the writeup recommends.

If they go to G-III base, what will they do to set apart their high-end offerings? Will we see a return to true synthetics? G-IV and G-V? I don't see it happening. G-II and G-III blends I can see though.

I don't get all worked up about this stuff....seems way more straight forward than VW anyway. Just choose a good 0W-20 and be done with it - change oil every 10K. Sweet for many, many people.