4 Advice to Choose a Engine Oil W20

I recently got a car ( Camry) which calls for 0W-20 oil. I know that the “W” stands for “winter,” but since since I live in South Florida where winter is minimal (it might plummet into the 30’s a couple of times a year,) do I really need to be concerned about the winter characteristics? Wouldn’t 5W-20 be equally OK for the engine?
How can I think about this?

For more information, please visit our website.

Well, 0w20 oil is synthetic, where 5w20 can be either conventional or synthetic. Perhaps Toyota calls for 0w20 because they feel it needs a synthetic oil? What does the Owner’s Manual say about other weights of oil?

(I’m guessing you can find 5w20 cheaper, is why you’re asking. That probably means you’re comparing synthetic 0w20 with 5w20.)

Yes, well I think that was the whole point of the OP asking if the car manufacturer’s recommendation of oil to use makes sense for his particular location. For some reason that chart that I tried to link to my previous post did not appear but the charts that I have seen show that the single weight 30 oil is good from 30F to 104F ambient. Whereas the 5w-20 recommended by Honda ( I realize that they have to make that recommendation for the whole world, so it is a CyA posture) goes from -15F to 68F. Clearly in my case, it would make sense to use the 30w. But hey, judging from the previous comments from veteran posters, this is beating a dead horse! ;o) Anyway, FWIW…

0w-20 synthetic is a better oil then non synthetic alternatives. Whether you decide to or not, it can be used for extended intervals of up to 10k miles. Even of you decide not to extend it that far, you can feel more comfortable knowing that if you change it normally at 5 k miles and take trip, delaying it to say 7.5k, it will be perfectly fine. IMHO, it’s use is a no brainier. It turns over easier in cold weather and decreases start up wear and even though it appears to be a lower weight oil at 20 on the high end then say 5w-30 weight, it maintains it’s viscosity at higher temps better.

Aikebao are exported all over the world and different industries with quality first. Our belief is to provide our customers with more and better high value-added products. Let's create a better future together.

Non synthetic “needs” a higher viscosity rating to cushion it from thermal break down while synthetic does not. That’s my take…and I use it and will continue to. Right now because I took an un scheduled trip, I am almost 2k over on the vehicle that does not use synthetic. I am much more concerned then if it happens on the one with synthetic. Either way, if you have changed your oil regularly through out it’s life, an occasional hickup is no big deal.

Stick with the 0W20! It has much better film strength and resistance to thinning out in hot nweather due to a higher viscosity index, which is the resistance to thinning out and to thickening in cold weather.

A regular cheap 5W20 mineral oil will be highly taxed in very hot weather with the A/C on, and tralier towing with such an oil is asking for highly increased engine wear or outright failure.

Our Mazda3 calls for 0W20 oil and that’s what it will get. In hot countries without fuel economy standards they will put 5W30 in your car to make sure the oil film on the bearings will be sufficient under stress.

I had a conversation with the service manager (not the service writer) at the Toyota dealership where I bought my Toyota Sienna. I took it in for the oil change at miles as specified in the owner’s manual. The manager told me that Toyota had come out with a new recommendation that the oil change mileage had been extended to 10,000 miles. All they did was reset the maintenance reminder light for no charge. I was skeptical, but the service manager and I sat down and talked about this over a cup of coffee. He is an older person (not as old as I am) and said that oils had improved over the years that I had owned a car and that the synthetic 0W-20 takes care of the engine no matter what climate I operate the car. Less than a week after talking to the service manager, I received a letter from Toyota that did, in fact, supersede the owner’s manual and extended the interval to 10,000 miles. However, my maintenance light still comes on at miles and has to be reset. In the summer months, I have gone 10,000 miles between changes and have not had to add any oil before the oil change.

For more information, please visit Engine Oil W20(hi,in,vi).