Stop Changing Your Oil...

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There's not big money on the oil change.

There's big money on upselling services.

If they get you in twice for an oil change instead of once, they have twice the chance of upselling you an air or cabin filter change for $80 or any number of other things.

The oil change is a marketing tool rather than a profit center.
 
Originally Posted By: MarkStock
There's not big money on the oil change.


Apparently the Mazda dealership where I bought my car didn't get the memo. With their coupons, they advertise a $50 oil change with syn being extra. (which 0W-20 will most certainly be). Maybe it's not big profit, but it certainly does seem to have a healthy profit for some guy gorilla-ing on a filter and drain plug.

Probably will pale in comparison to what they'll want to do the cabin air filter when that comes around.
 
I thought what was more interesting was the comments at the end.

A couple were a little bit lacking in knowledge I suspect.

I can understand the short OCI in Australia as I believe the dust can be an issue, it is similar to the red dust in West Africa which seems to affect engine longevity.

I do think some urban drivers in say London are running cars a bit too far on oil as most don't realise they are operating under severe service. Though most long intervals in UK cars also have an annual OCI also, so low mileage drivers and stop start local drivers get an oil change regularly.

But a blanket 3000 mile change is not good economics, or maybe it is a high performance exotic machine or tuned.
 
The most important part of the article is at the end- follow your owner's manual.

Just because you have a OLM doesn't mean your are safe, however. Someone here had a mess of a Honda Pilot. The owner followed the OLM.

To the OP- Hyundai specifies a 3750 mile/3 month OCI for severe service. Most cars fall under severe service, IMHO.

Our new Fiats have an OLM that lights up indicating an oil change is needed within 500 miles. We have been told it will light up at either 4,000 or 8,000 miles/6 months depending on how the car is driven. Both cars have less than 200 miles now, so we will see what happens- my car is 95% highway driven, hers is 95% city driven.

I suspect hers will hit the 6 months before it hits 4000 miles. Mine will hit 4000 miles is 7.5 weeks. I am hoping my light makes it to 8000 miles. Regardless, I'll switch to either Royal Purple or PU 5W30 when the OLM lights up.
 
Originally Posted By: jhMalibu
Originally Posted By: MarkStock
There's not big money on the oil change.


Apparently the Mazda dealership where I bought my car didn't get the memo. With their coupons, they advertise a $50 oil change with syn being extra. (which 0W-20 will most certainly be). Maybe it's not big profit, but it certainly does seem to have a healthy profit for some guy gorilla-ing on a filter and drain plug.

Probably will pale in comparison to what they'll want to do the cabin air filter when that comes around.


Sorry, I meant at the discount shops. Those are the folks who push the 3000 mile myth the most, get you in with cheap oil changes. They were mentioned in the article.

The good thing about them is that they force the dealers to drop their prices. I used to get a $5 oil and filter change at a Ford dealer near me using MC syn blend and MC filter. Not bad eh?
 
Originally Posted By: HyundaiGuy
The most important part of the article is at the end- follow your owner's manual.

Just because you have a OLM doesn't mean your are safe, however. Someone here had a mess of a Honda Pilot. The owner followed the OLM.

To the OP- Hyundai specifies a 3750 mile/3 month OCI for severe service. Most cars fall under severe service, IMHO.

Our new Fiats have an OLM that lights up indicating an oil change is needed within 500 miles. We have been told it will light up at either 4,000 or 8,000 miles/6 months depending on how the car is driven. Both cars have less than 200 miles now, so we will see what happens- my car is 95% highway driven, hers is 95% city driven.

I suspect hers will hit the 6 months before it hits 4000 miles. Mine will hit 4000 miles is 7.5 weeks. I am hoping my light makes it to 8000 miles. Regardless, I'll switch to either Royal Purple or PU 5W30 when the OLM lights up.


You should swap cars every week or two.
 
Originally Posted By: MarkStock
There's not big money on the oil change.


Jiffy Lube, the biggest pimps of the 3000-mile myth, charges $40 for conventional oil change with PYB, and I think $70 for M1. That's a huge profit margin.

I really can't believe people still go every 3000 miles, especially 3k OCI on M1! Even on cars with an OLM
 
Good article. One item they left out is that fuels, both gasoline and diesel, are cleaner and more consistent.

I just sold a turbo Volvo with 202,000 miles on it. I changed that oil & filter every 10,000 miles whether it needed it or not. And, according to the lab analysis I sent in every 30,000 miles, it did not need the change at 10k. The engine ran great, and the original factory machining marks were still visible on the cam lobes. My Tundra V8 gets its oil changed also at 10k, and it still runs as strong as I remember it new; now it has 115,000 miles on it.
 
If you dig around on Valvoline's website you'll find a page where they stand firm on the 3,000 mile oil change. Their reasoning is that you should always follow the owners manual and, according to Valvoline, 99% of car manufacturers still list 3,000 miles for severe driving conditions and again, according to Valvoline, most if not all drivers fall under the severe service category.

They also make no distinction between conventional and synthetic for OCIs.
 
Originally Posted By: Darren270
If you dig around on Valvoline's website you'll find a page where they stand firm on the 3,000 mile oil change. Their reasoning is that you should always follow the owners manual and, according to Valvoline, 99% of car manufacturers still list 3,000 miles for severe driving conditions and again, according to Valvoline, most if not all drivers fall under the severe service category.

They also make no distinction between conventional and synthetic for OCIs.


Valvoline sucks. Synpower is inferior to Castrol, M1, and Pennzoil Ultra synthetics yet is priced the same if not higher than those extended-drain oils that last twice as long.

To me, Synpower is QSUD for the price of Ultra. Not worth it. Better off just waiting until Napa Synthetic goes on sale for $3.49/qt (it is rebranded Synpower)
 
Originally Posted By: Darren270
Their reasoning is that you should always follow the owners manual and, according to Valvoline, 99% of car manufacturers still list 3,000 miles for severe driving conditions and again, according to Valvoline, most if not all drivers fall under the severe service category.


Valvoline should rethink this. Even if everyone were under severe service, how many currently manufactured vehicles recommend 3000 mile OCIs? I'd probably switch that from 99% to 1%. Even Nissan/Infiniti with their notoriously short severe service intervals is 3750 miles.

GM, Honda, Ford, and VW group would account for easily over 50% of the new vehicles sold, and how many of theirs recommend 3000 mile OCIs?
 
I think we're arguing semantics when discerning between 3k and 3750 miles. I know that in my 2010 owner's manual 'severe' was 3750 and for 2012, has gone back to 3k. As for SynPower being inferior, I cannot agree. I've had great UOA on all the synthetics you list: M1, Castrol, PU and SynPower 5w30 @ 3750 to 5k intervals. I can't attest to anything longer than that.
 
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I think people get to OCD with modern engines. If you follow the manufactures recommendation, or the OLM which in a lot of vehicles is very accurate your fine.
 
depends how long you want to keep the car.

in Australia lots of manufacturers are stating 20,000km intervals or once yearly, as a sales tactic to help shift cars to people who lease them and sell them on after 3 to 5 years.

I'd hate to buy a 3 year old car which has only been looked at by a mechanic only 2 or 3 times!!

I now keep vehicles until they are ten years old and change oil between 5000km and 7500km as they would technically be used in 'severe use' situations.
 
1800-2500 mile oci is not only a waste but it can be bad for your engine if u change your oil filter every time... In the engine business we call that loving your engine to death.
every time you change your oil filter it takes a few seconds for the oil to build up even if you fill the oil filter
 
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