For a new car under factory warranty, I do take it to the dealer, so I practice what I preach. As for dealer bulk oil, most use the same dino oil in bulk that you can buy at the store, some even have there own synthetic like BMW. My biggest concern is people recommending all these different viscocity oils for brand new cars/trucks because they think it's ok or theory says it should be better. I agress with learning about oil and the various levels of quality, that is why I read this forum everyday and enjoy it. I am a car collector with several types of cars from 60's - present and all have different needs and I treat them accordingly. I reply to threads that have people telling other to "you can use 10w-30 in your TL-S" even though it is not called for in their car - is this person a Honda expert? I just want to make sure people hear the other side of hte story as to "proper" maintenance for their new car. I was a BMW mechanic/advisor for 10 years and heard every story in the book from the BMW club "experts" on how they should maintain there new BMW including using the wrong oil. They will then say, "the guys at BMW CCA say..." Great, a bunch of guys that surf the net about BMW start mistakening themselves as "expert" because they know a lot about BMW, but not one has done anything more than change their oil, plugs or air filter. While under warranty, you MUST maintain your car according the guidelines listed on your owners manual and MUST provide records if a warrnty claim is submitted. By law, I cannot say you must use BMW-brand oil or filter, but you MUST use the viscocity listed in your owners manual and change at the highest interval listed. As for my older cars, I have changed oil/weight based on information that I have read here and will continues to read this forum with quite a bit of interest. In conclusion, my only concern is being sure that the new car owner is aware of his/her obligation when they purchased that car and it would be sad to see issues later because they were trying to do the right thing, but was misinformed by "experts", I have seen it happen.
[ April 16, 2003, 11:35 AM: Message edited by: dagmando ]