Cheapest oil analysis and why to do it?

I see from time to time some guys talking about sending oil in for analysis. I started to think i could try that too and checked price for service, it's over $20.
So if one wants to know how his engine doing he does one of this test but would it be counter productive to do this test just to find out if one needs to change oil? Even if it comeback "don't change your oil" you have little life left on it.

My oil and filter is around $35, why not just change it?

2nd. question: Do you know any place cheaper then $20?

 

I wouldn't do it, ever. Ill let some other schmuck fund blackstone.

 

Just change the oil and filter out at Toyota's recommended intervals... especially since your under warrenty.

 

This.

UOA is generally used to verify oil life for people who have bought into the false economy of extended drain intervals using synthetic.

UOA is a useful tool to evaluate oil if you are comparing brands and grades, but beyond that, it is OCD overkill for most consumer vehicles.

Where it has value is in OTR trucks, which carry several gallons of oil, and change intervals are measures in tens of thousands of miles. For them, that $30 (with TBN) is worthwhile if they can put off a $300 oil change for another 20k. It is also useful for boat owners, where engine hours are the "mileage" equivalent, but idle time and high load conditions vary drastically, as well as heat and humidity levels that can impact condensation (and they too take 2+ gallons per engine).

Like OffroadToy said.... Change it every 5,000 and you're golden. My recommendation is to stick with the factory filter (cheap and good), and use a quality synthetic like Mobil-1, Amsoil, or Redline.
You have a '13 2.7, so you're stuck with synthetic anyways.

 

I've had them done before when I was running longer oil change intervals. In retrospect they can be a good source of information about the internal condition of your engine and the life of your oil. However if you're running the normal recommended oil change interval I don't think it's something I would worry about.

 

Exactly.

Not a bad idea to get one on a used car (especially if the oil hasn't been changed recently), and it's not a bad idea to have one done maybe every 40k to give a little insight as to your engine's possible future.

Now that I think of it, I've got about 95k on my '08, I bought it a couple of years ago with 53k on it. I think I'm going to have one done this oil change.