Struggle to commit to a 10,000Km oil change interval

[GRjdm]

I have never gone beyond 5000miles/12 months OCI, regardless of manufactures' service interval.

 

[tolian21]

I really dont understand these threads about struggle. Was it a struggle to buy new car? Why are you struggling with $50-100 decision ? Its not worth it, make a decision and stick with it. Obviously extra oil change cant hurt, can only make things better. But maybe its wasteful; OK. Make a decision and move on ….

 

[stanlee]

I don’t get it either. If you’re struggling with it mentally just change the oil more frequently and feel good. What am I missing? I have an 01’ dinosaur reman Jeep 4.0L which has ZERO demand on oil (low revving, low power, low tech). I change it every 3000-3500 miles with A3/B4 spec oil from 500 miles til now (40k miles later) because it makes me feel good about it.

 

[NO2]

I'd only go to a 5K km interval if you short trip or off road. Otherwise stick with 10K km and save some money and produce less waste.

 

[thetricky]

Good morning, I have a 2025 Subaru Crosstrek with the 2.0L FB20 engine that I bought brand new last October. So far, I’m sitting at around 18,500 km and I’m almost due for my third oil change. I have been doing 5,000 km OCIs with my local Subaru dealership using their bulk-fill Castrol 0w16.

I had originally planned to move up to a 10,000 km oil change interval with Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30, but even with all the data available, I’m struggling to make a decision. The factory oil change interval is 10,000 km, with no severe-duty schedule listed. I live in Ontario, Canada, and I never idle to warm up or really take short trips in general. Any establishment is far enough away from my house that the oil and coolant have a chance to come fully up to operating temperature.

Is my anal-retentive demeanor and constant anxiety about the condition of the car enough to justify sticking with the factory 10,000 km oil change interval? Or should I tighten that up to 6,000 km and never worry about it? I’m not concerned about the cost--it’s cheap to service in the grand scheme of things.

I was only born in 2001, but I can’t wrap my head around the modern mindset of trying to use a lubricant for as long as possible. My previous GDI Hyundai Accent would turn 0W-20 into water within about sixteen minutes. /shrug

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You will be fine at 6k miles, that is by no means pushing it. Look at the recent 23,310 mile Subaru UOA, he is doing fine. I do 10k and my outback is fine, granted it’s the port injected 2.5. As others have said, run it to the factory OCI, do a UOA, adjust from there. That should give you plenty of peace of mind.

 

[lmdshepherd]

Unfortunately, our friends up North (and the rest of the world) may have to explain things in simpler terms that will not confuse those on this side of the border, that are SI (metric measurement system) challenged.

Fixed it for you...

 

[CleanSump]

Fixed it for you...

Rather impertinent.

 

[4wd]

I have worked decades of my career overseas - stereotypes here are mostly weak sauce …

 

[D1dad]

5k is never a bad thing. I’ve stuck to that interval even when my oldest car called for 3750 for severe and have remained sludge and trouble free for close to 20 yrs. I am going to push my newest car to the full life of the OLM, should put me close to 10k. But, that’s using redline and the 1st 2k was a trip to the east coast and warmer weather.

 

[Number_35]

The Tribol Leaders have spoken …
Permission granted to do 10k in that communist unit of measurement

"Tribol" - nice!

Sort of related, back when Canada was transitioning to S.I. (c. 1976), there was a conspiracy theory that this was done so that people would be happier with their malaise-era cars - a major failure after the odometer had passed 99,999 km was easier to take than a failure at 62,000 miles.

It was a low point for reliability and longevity, with very complex carburetors, air pumps, the early days of flaky electronic ignition, catalytic converters, etc.

Little did we know that a golden age of reliability was on the horizon.

 

[4wd]

"Tribol" - nice!

Sort of related, back when Canada was transitioning to S.I. (c. 1976), there was a conspiracy theory that this was done so that people would be happier with their malaise-era cars - a major failure after the odometer had passed 99,999 km was easier to take than a failure at 62,000 miles.

It was a low point for reliability and longevity, with very complex carburetors, air pumps, the early days of flaky electronic ignition, catalytic converters, etc.

Little did we know that a golden age of reliability was on the horizon.

Yeah, have worked in both units allot - only see issues when people convert rather than learn the new system …

 

[Number_35]

Yeah, have worked in both units allot - only seen issues when people convert rather than learn the new system …

We started learning S.I. in Jr High, about five years before Canada started going over. (IIRC, speed limits and distance signs in 1976, new car odometers 1976 and 1977, and everything else January 1, 1979.)

Anyway, I'm pretty much "bilingual", using either S.I. or Imperial as appropriate. Two exceptions are pressure, where I always use PSI rather than kPa, and torque, where I prefer ft-lbs to N-m.

In fact, perhaps I'm a bit trilingual, as I'm also OK with U.S. gallons.

 

[CleanSump]

Who decided it needed to be renamed SI instead of the good old metric system?

 

[Number_35]

Who decided it needed to be renamed SI instead of the good old metric system?

(Per Dr. Google) the metric system came first, and was subsequently refined into the Systeme International d'Unites (SI) with basic units being standardized.

 

[ripcord]

It will always be that "goofy French metric stuff" to me.

Later... I'm off to buy a firken of beer and a peck of apples.

 

[Number_35]

It will always be that "goofy French metric stuff" to me.

Later... I'm off to buy a firken of beer and a peck of apples.

Shortly before "metrification" I heard a man in the men's-wear department of a Sears store say to his wife, somewhat jokingly, "Well, I better stock up on shirts before neck size is in kilopascals".

 

[BHopkins]

Back in the mid '60's when I was in grade school, the teachers started teaching us a little about the metric measurement system, and I particularly remember being taught about Celsius measurement. Of course we all know that after objection from major industrial and manufacturing businesses, the United States backed off from the plans, and here we are, one of the greatest industrial countries in the world, but stuck in the Imperial measurement system, with the great industrial powerhouses of Liberia and Myanmar.

And we still have people, like my wife, that don't know how many teaspoons to a tablespoon, and how many cups to a quart. I wonder, how many Americans could tell you how many feet to a mile.

Sorry for the off topic rant.

 

[CleanSump]

(Per Dr. Google) the metric system came first, and was subsequently refined into the Systeme International d'Unites (SI) with basic units being standardized.

The Metric System is old (1795). Napoleon even banned it and called it stupid.
But it was renamed in 1960, though I have only seen Canadians say SI and on 4 continents I have lived or traveled to, everyday people say Metric.

 

[johnnydc]

Don't feel bad, I can't commit to 10k oil changes either. 5K for me.

 

[Vexorg]

I live in a dual world. Temperature in Metric, pressure in PSI, weight in pounds, distance in KMS but short distance I use feet and inches. My job has me working on equipment with half standard measurements and half metric. Who needs a an M20 x 6" bolt anyways?