Kirkland Oil & shorter oil change intervals

[wh5208speed]

I’ve been reading a lot of BITOG posts & watched a lot of YouTube videos over the years and I am starting to wonder if someone would be better off buying a good quality synthetic @ Costco (Kirkland-Warren) and pairing it with a factory oil filter and lowering the oil change interval from 5K to 3k.

I’ve been using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and Fram Ultras or factory filters for the past 3-4 years at 5K OCI, but have been thinking it might be better for the engine and money wise to change my approach.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Year
Make
Model
Engine spec.

 

[TomYoung]

I’ve been reading a lot of BITOG posts & watched a lot of YouTube videos over the years and I am starting to wonder if someone would be better off buying a good quality synthetic @ Costco (Kirkland-Warren) and pairing it with a factory oil filter and lowering the oil change interval from 5K to 3k.

I’ve been using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and Fram Ultras or factory filters for the past 3-4 years at 5K OCI, but have been thinking it might be better for the engine and money wise to change my approach.

Not really sure what your application is, but you would almost certainly be fine switching from this oil to the excellent and very reasonably priced Kirkland synthetic. I recently bought two five quart jugs for about $30, on sale. On filters, there are many excellent choices on Amazon for low cost, but generally speaking, suggest Wix or Fram… yet bought a slew of Ecogard filters for 2.75 each for use on multiple Hondas. No issues. The fact of the matter is that a 5k interval is light duty on most oils and filters. It is good insurance. Whether you use Kirkland or HPL, your car will fall apart around a working engine, most likely. This advice is absolutely 100 percent correct, eighty percent of the time.

 

[bullwinkle]

How long does 5K take? Sounds like PUP & an Ultra (or even OEM) filter at 5K is possibly spending more than necessary now, unless you are running a GDI engine short trips & dumping fuel into the oil.

 

[wh5208speed]

Year
Make
Model
Engine spec.

Between myself and family: here is all of the vehicles my son & I change the oil for:

2017 Lexus RX350 - 3.5l v6 w/ 85k
2013 Honda Accord-2.4l 4 cyl w/ 395k
2008 Honda Accord-2.4l 4 cyl w/212k
2010 Toyota Sequia- 5.7l V8 w/ 232k

 

[wh5208speed]

How long does 5K take? Sounds like PUP & an Ultra (or even OEM) filter at 5K is possibly spending more than necessary now, unless you are running a GDI engine short trips & dumping fuel into the oil.

The only vehicle I have that is GDI (no turbo) is my 2013 accord

 

[Triple_Se7en]

The Kirkland is serviceable. But a step-up would be the sister Supertech Advanced 20k oil.
I seen / heard engine sounds and used oil bucket differences using both a year or two ago. Even a drip-check dipstick oil test showed me the 10k lost more viscosity at 3k, versus-that of of the 20k.

Amateur backyard measurements. Nothing scientific. Sometimes buying the cheapest at the store doesn't always pay all the dividends. The Advanced is noticeably better to me. Even BITOG's most popular additives in the 20k average about 100 more than the default 10k synthetic.

To me, it's all about wear protection and cleanliness. The payoff is when the vehicle reaches old-old age.
I am first and last owner of my vehicles, since 1980.

 

[Patman]

If cost is one of the driving factors here then why do such short intervals? Kirkland oil can handle 5k intervals with ease and PUP can certainly go a lot longer than 5k.

 

[wh5208speed]

If cost is one of the driving factors here then why do such short intervals? Kirkland oil can handle 5k intervals with ease and PUP can certainly go a lot longer than 5k.

My 1st objective is maintaining my vehicles as we like to keep them for a long time to avoid car payments. My 2013 Accord has 394k on it and I bought it new. We’ve do all the scheduled maintenance on time and even shortened the CVT interval change from 60k to 30k due to the high miles I’ve accumulated. My goal is for it to make it 500k and we are not that far away! It could fall apart tomorrow and I would say it’s been the best car I have ever owned.

2nd objective is to balance value. I don’t want some terrible oil at the lowest price, but everything I have read is that Warren products with the API & DEXOS are quality products.

I would be open to 5K OCI, and maybe I am not using the PUP to its capacity @ 5K. I have zero interest in extending past 5K OCI. I’ve listened to enough people I respect who recommend to not exceed 5K.

 

[bullwinkle]

If you’re only going to do 5K regardless, then the Kirkland is an excellent choice, especially when Costco has it on sale. The Carquest Premium/MicroGard Select/Service Pro Extended Life would be a good cost effective choice too (all made by Premium Guard). No reason to spend all that extra money on PUP & Ultras for 5000 mile OCIs. Been using the Service Pro XL filters with Service Pro Dexos on the company Transits and Express vans for 7500 (company choice), they’ve been looking good.

 

[64bawagon]

The last analysis I did was on my Cruze that was bought used with 103k on it. The 1.4L turbo had a couple of short changes (3K) due to uncertain service history. I then ran a 5k with the Kirkland 5W30 and a Champ (identical to AC, I compared them and about $2.75 ea from Rockauto) filter. This car was a daily driver for us and we are both retired, lots of short hops. The Blackstone analysis came back good and I would have no reservations running this oil for 7K (The OLM on the car times out around 7500Miles)

In an abundance of caution (OCD) at around 120k I replaced the oil line to the turbo just to make sure it wasnt restricted from any neglect. It was clear and unobstructed. I knew this car had been cared for but I wasnt sure at exactly what level. Seems to me some of the issues with this model of engine are from serious neglect.

 

[alarmguy]

Same oil change interval as the Pennzoil
Nothing different to do except what you’ve been doing using the Kirkland oil

I admire the use you get out of your vehicles and the way you maintain them

There would be many many many more wealthy people in this country if they didn’t give their money to banks every year of their lives, to drive new cars

 

[Urshurak776]

The Kirkland and a Supertech filter would be great for a 5K OCI in any of those cars. That comes out to around an $18 synthetic oil change. Pretty good these days.

I grabbed the Ecogard for about $2.50 on Amazon and then some Premium Guard filters from Home Depot for about $2.75. I also have 6 OEM filters. I have about 18 filters for the CX-5. lol.

 

[Danh]

Between myself and family: here is all of the vehicles my son & I change the oil for:

2017 Lexus RX350 - 3.5l v6 w/ 85k
2013 Honda Accord-2.4l 4 cyl w/ 395k
2008 Honda Accord-2.4l 4 cyl w/212k
2010 Toyota Sequia- 5.7l V8 w/ 232k

Based on this, what you’re doing now is working great. Even with cheaper oil, changing it that much more frequently isn’t going to save you much if anything, let alone the extra time spent.

 

[Doc8404]

I’ve been reading a lot of BITOG posts & watched a lot of YouTube videos over the years and I am starting to wonder if someone would be better off buying a good quality synthetic @ Costco (Kirkland-Warren) and pairing it with a factory oil filter and lowering the oil change interval from 5K to 3k.

I’ve been using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and Fram Ultras or factory filters for the past 3-4 years at 5K OCI, but have been thinking it might be better for the engine and money wise to change my approach.

What makes you think Kirkland can’t go 5k?

Then again depends on application.

 

[Revving2Redline]

The only vehicle I have that is GDI (no turbo) is my 2013 accord

My 2017 Sport 2.4, I'm starting to get to the point of siphoning a couple quarts half way through the MM and doing a partial refresh. Running M1 0w30 but topping off with Redline HP 5w30 helps as the 0w30 seems to lose its MOJO are the 4-5k mark. Currently 331k miles. I am gonna upgrade the gdi spray and fuel system cleaner to every oci. I pull lots of watery fuel from the crankcase. Considering a Mishimoto catch can .

 

[Revving2Redline]

What makes you think Kirkland can’t go 5k?

Then again depends on application.

I think 5k is doable in a 4-5 qt oil capacity with decent operation, no dusty area.

 

[eljefino]

5k is the new 3k. Any junk conventional can do that. By stepping up to synthetic you're ahead of the game.

My cars call for 10k changes and I itch when I get to 6k, LOL.

 

[Cujet]

In large measure, yes, more frequent oil changes remove wear causing contaminates. More frequent changes also reduce the chance for operating an engine for a long period of time with an oil that has sheared down to a lower viscosity.

There is always the question of quality and HTHS though. And as mentioned above, the make and model of the engine really matters here.

 

[wh5208speed]

Same oil change interval as the Pennzoil
Nothing different to do except what you’ve been doing using the Kirkland oil

I admire the use you get out of your vehicles and the way you maintain them

There would be many many many more wealthy people in this country if they didn’t give their money to banks every year of their lives, to drive new cars

Thanks for the feedback on the oil.

My goal is to retire @ 60. I’ve got no calculator that supports buying new vehicles at these prices that helps me get to an early retirement.

My preferred used vehicle philosophy is to buy well maintained, (Toyota/Honda), no accidents, from the south (no rust) and from private sellers where I can ask them more about the history of maintenance with the car. I don’t mind paying a slight “premium” for these types of vehicles.

I also been fortunate to have company vehicles for most of my working career.

Kind of funny, the older I get, the less I care about having anything new….and certainly do not want a payment. When I was young and didn’t have any saving I always daydreamed about a new car, and now that I am in my 40’s and could buy any car I want, I’m more excited to be debt-free. With banks paying 5.5% Interest on money market accounts….hard to give to those greedy car dealerships my hard earned money.