looking to change oil/filter soon but i'm not paying the dealer $82 for an oil change.
i believe the oem oil is mobil 100% synth 0w20 - correct me if i'm wrong. what about oem filters? anywhere other than the dealer to get them? or is the dealer the cheapest. any help is appreciated.

 

edited - need to do more research for your oil filter (mistakenly thought you had a civic)

pennzoil platinum 0w20 synthetic: 6qts for $25.69
http://oilstore.stores.yahoo.net/peplforhy0wc.html

mobil 1 0w20 synthetic: 6qts for $40.74
http://www.autobarn.net/oil44877.html

You can probably find decent deals on M1 0w20 locally and avoid shipping.

hope this helps!

 

Go to Wally World to get oil and a Supertech filter.

Cheapest game in town.

 

thks for the replys.

so, does anyone know what the oem oil filter is? ie- manufacturer?

 

Dealers in my area have 2 oil change prices. One price includes the systems check etc., the other price is just oil & filter. My dealer charges $27 for just an oil & filter change. The key is to ask for just that.

 

I was at EZ Lube here in LA last week. The filter is a Toyota filter but it doesn't matter what kind you get. If you change it every 5K miles they're all pretty much the same. Also, in the owners manual it lists 5w30 as the recommended oil. So, after figuring that Toyotas have low compression engines and have renowned reliability on normal oil, I opted for that.

A word about changing your own oil as this is what I intend to do next. The position of the filter is ridiculous and obviously not German engineered (I had an Audi before). You will probably need to go at it from above only when the engine is bone cold.
Oh, Autozone here in LA. Oil will run you about 3bucks a quart and a filter is about 5.

 

agreed synthetic would be best, but why do you recommend 0w20 over 5w30, which is oem? or is w20 for a civic?

i ended up getting the oem filter from the dealer for $6.95 they couldn't tell me the manufacturer (i'm curious is all) although it's made in usa. still deciding on oil.

 

Toyota recommends 5W30 for the Highlander Hybrid so I'd be careful about using 5W20 or 0W20. These may be a bit thin at temperature for this engine.



I have Mobil 1 synthetic 5W30 in the engine currently (spring and summer)



My next oil change will be to Mobil 1 0W30 synthetic (fall and winter). This will get the oil flowing much faster on cold startup when regular oil is typically thick and uncooperative. It also provides less flow resistance while the engine is warming up to provide better gas mileage. When the engine is warm, it has the recommended Toyota oil weight for best engine wear protection.



The oil filter is removed from below the engine. The oil filter is on the front side of the engine facing the radiator but several inches above the bottom of the engine. It will appear impossible to reach and it nearly is unless you remove the large plastic cover underneath the vehicle just behind the front bumper. It is a pain to remove the cover as there are several bolts and screws involved. It takes about 5-10 minutes to remove but I believe it is worth the effort as the filter can then be easily reached.

 

Toyota has a TSB changing the recommended oil from 5W30 to 5W20 - from another forum:

I just read the TSB dated March 29, 2006. Toyota is making their standard oil 5W20 for 2006-2007 engines, 0W20 for some of the smaller engines. They like it for performance in the new engines.
http://www.alldata.com/tsb/Toyota/1...8-06/index.html

 

good find seadog.

based on the tsb i'd say 5w20 synthetic is the correct oil. think it's reasonable that people in colder northern climates can safely opt for 0w20.

can i assume the 2AZ-FE engines are the 2.4L 4 bangers?
does anyone know the engine code for the 06 HiHY? i know it's stamped on the engine but it's not readily visible. thanks for all the replies.