For monitoring the lubricant quality and engine wear status, indirect ablation laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was introduced to determine the metal elements in lubricating oil. Due to the different transmittance of oil to the laser wavelength, the effect of the laser wavelength on the detection performance of indirect ablation LIBS was studied. Under optimal parameters, the calibration curves were established for 10 metal elements with laser wavelengths of 1064, 532, and 355 nm. The obtained results show the average limit of determination (LoD) and the average relative standard deviation (ARSD) of spectral intensity for 1064, 532, and 355 nm is 15.972, 56.804, and 25.077; 2.874%, 9.253%, and 12.649%, respectively. In addition, the average R2, the average relative error (ARE), and the root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) for laser wavelength of 1064 nm are 0.991, 9.045%, and 18.379 mg/L, which is better than those of 532 nm and 355 nm. Therefore, the laser wavelength affects the quantitative analysis performance of indirect ablation LIBS for the analysis of metal elements in lubricating oil and the optimal wavelength is 1064 nm