Originally Posted By: Indydriver
Read your owners manual, do what it says. What it won't say is,
"If you buy Mobil 1 EP and a Mobil 1 filter, you can ignore the advice of the engineers who designed your engine and double the maximum recommended oil change interval".
Why risk your $20,000 vehicle over a $30 oil change? That's what my father used to call, 'Penny-wise and Pound-foolish'.
Federal Law requires manufacturers and dealers to stand by warranties they advertise. If a manufacturer recommends certain lubricants or filters and requires that you follow their program of oil change intervals, then they are required under the law to provide the required warranty materials and service free of charge. If they do not provide the service for free, then the burden of proof is on them to prove negligence in order to void the warranty. By the time they collect scientific information (from independent professionals) and have lawyers bring the evidence before a clerk magistrate or a judge, it would have been cheaper to just repair the car under warranty.
Knowledge is power.
Many dealers like to play a "tough guy" game with customers and because customers don't know the law, the dealers often get away with it. I can name several dealerships in my area that are no longer in business because they displayed "surliness" to the general public.
Keep in mind that when Ford Explorers were rolling over, the courts did not hold driver error responsible for the rollovers or driver negligence responsible for under-inflated tires. It was Ford and Firestone that were held responsible. Ford was expected to build an SUV that is stable in spite of a tire blowout and Firestone was expected to make tires that don't suffer catastrophic failure. Other manufacturers didn't have the problems they had, so it was product liability, not owner negligence or incompetence that caused the rollovers.
Most dealers use pretty cheap oil for oil changes. Most modern cars run too hot internally for "Dino" products...the oil cannot survive the heat without breakdown. That is not the case with the synthetics, however, and a big argument for insisting on better quality oil and filters that you can provide, if they won't, and you can use whatever OCI you want whether they like it
or not.