Your thoughts on 15,000 mile oil changes..

I buy my OEM filters in bulk from an online Audi and Honda parts dealer. I fear one day my Cadillac will be too old and I’ll have a tough time finding a filter that will fit it. In the meantime I still have some AC Delco filters for it.
 
2005 Acura TL, 214,000 miles and haven't changed the oil yet. Level looks good.

Then again it's my sons first car and haven't really drove it yet.
Brakes, wheel speed sensor, alternator/ belt tensioner and LCAs, plus today I took off to do the front upper and lower ball joints.
New battery also,because the hands free link was haywire and sucked the juice. That went bye-bye.
Now you happy Jeffrey?
 
Eldorado2k said:
What do you guys think? Is it really feasible to think that with modern synthetic oil one could go 15,000 miles between oil changes?

I’ve already decided what my thoughts are on this topic, but I’d like to hear what you guys think. Btw not that it matters, because I don’t use synthetic oil anyways.. But I’m still 1 of those people who changes the oil every 3,000 miles. Always have to maybe it’s just a habit I feel good with.
Click to expand...

In my opinion it's the cheapest thing you can do to keep your ride in good mechanical shape.
 
Ford recommends 3-10k. 3 for severe driving. 10 for easy. I do mine around 5-7. And jiffy lube charges 89-109 for full synthetic. I need an extra 3 quartz.

Not gonna lie i go to wal mart. Around $35-50 and i being my own oil and filter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Eh I go to the dealership for my oil changes. Mazda charges me 80 dollars after tax for synthetic oil change with the high moly 0W20 they use with the mazda skyactiv engines. I casually threaten a lawsuit over them washing my car and then go sit in one of the new SUVs and browse this forum while I wait lol

I go around the 8000km mark (sorry rest of the forum, I don't understand miles, might be cause we didn't shoot our way to independence? :D :shrug:) The way I see it, I follow manufacturer recommendations. If any issues needs to be warrantied, I'll have a letter from my lawyer asking for the warranty.
 
WillSports3 said:
Eh I go to the dealership for my oil changes. Mazda charges me 80 dollars after tax for synthetic oil change with the high moly 0W20 they use with the mazda skyactiv engines. I casually threaten a lawsuit over them washing my car and then go sit in one of the new SUVs and browse this forum while I wait lol

I go around the 8000km mark (sorry rest of the forum, I don't understand miles, might be cause we didn't shoot our way to independence? :D :shrug:) The way I see it, I follow manufacturer recommendations. If any issues needs to be warrantied, I'll have a letter from my lawyer asking for the warranty.
Click to expand...

I see you are a very litigious fellow Will......... Lol

And remember, our "Shooting our way into independence" benefitted Canada as well. :)
 
To be honest, I have no time for car dealerships. I've found in the past dealing with them to not waste my time arguing back and forth, and just have my lawyer write out my request. Saves me time on the long run. I'm not normally this aggressive but for dealerships, I got nothing but aggression for them lol.

I had a dealership try to charge me for a recall once. Also had them try to charge me double labour rates under some pretense. Had them try to charge me for something I didn't ask for, I told him I'm not paying for it. Tried to charge me a cabin air filter during an oil change after I had the cabin air filter changed two weeks ago myself. Had them charge me for cleaning the rotors pads during a brake change. I'm like what. You cleaned them and then took them off. What are you cleaning them for. Had a mechanic try to steal something from my car, I called the police for that. When my cars go in for service, I take pictures of the exterior from all 8 eights (to get the four corners as well), the odometer, and the interior. If anything is changed, I send a complaint to the manufacturer's head office in the country. I've tried to be polite with them but after getting some rude comments by the service managers and what not, I wait until they have new people in to buy a car and then make a big deal about things. I've also had a guy try to charge me over MSRP. I ripped his sales manager a new one and sent a complaint to the manufacturer. I also tell them I don't pay for anything until I see my car.
 
What the hell kind of car/dealer is this?^
 
I’d travel out of my way to another dealer or find a good independent mechanic.
 
It's not one dealer, it's a lot of the dealerships here, period. I got everything from Toyota, Mazda, Lexus, Subaru, and Ford. They're all combined experiences.
 
WillSports3 - Sorry to hear about your experiences.

I left the dealership to be able to provide the kind of service I feel people deserve. It had turned too much into a big money machine that they wanted you to keep helping feed. I'm now at an independent and have been much happier. In a perfect world, you'd find an independent so you get the advantage of someone who specializes in your brand but isn't out to make enough money off you to put their grand-kids through college.

But, everything requires screening. I've seen invoices from other "Specialists" who do as you say - double charging for labor (They replaced a water pump and thermostat, but charged labor for both - Hey crooked people: You remove the thermostat to replace the water pump, and the water pump labor reflects that...).

I have a hard time with catch-all shops, especially rapid oil change places. I lose count of how many cars a month we have come through with leaking chinese rapid oil change filters (I literally have one on my hoist right now - garbage quality o-ring was leaking and made a mess, filter collapsed, damaged the $50 filter cap). I've also seen where shops will charge regular MSRP or higher for junk knock off parts. I've also heard too many stories of things like: "technician" drained the transmission instead of the engine oil, then double filled the engine oil.

Maybe the problem is you're getting a technician that just isn't going to care as much, since they type of customers they get... well, don't care as much.

One I saw that drove me nuts (customer had given us their records for review for a problem they were having): Cust gets oil changed. Oil filter cap comes apart from garbage filters/long intervals. The corner garage charges them MSRP for the cheapest aftermarket cap I've seen. Next oil change 8 months later, they charge them for another one, because that one failed when they took it out. They didn't even honor their warranty, they just kept taking money. Shocker, the car came to us because that shop was out of their diagnostic depth. They had thrown all the (cheap quality, full price) parts they could think of at it, but still couldn't fix it...

Side note: MSRP is just that - Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price. I don't know of a dealership around here that doesn't "Matrix" their parts pricing. It's not a set upcharge; it may be a 15% markup for low dollar parts, then a 10% for higher dollar, but go back up above that.

Another side note - just yesterday I had another car that needs a $3k + valvetrain repair. Checked the records on the mothership, confirmed it had 3 oil changes it's first 55k of life...


I'll stop.
 
oneheadlite said:
I would argue against that one (Manufacturer recommending what's best for the engine). As it was explained to me back when I was at a dealer training class (regarding other manufacturers maintenance plans at the time). You have to remember that each oil change counts against the car's total carbon footprint (and maintenance costs). If each car gets one less oil change under warranty, that's (let's say) 7 quarts less of oil that counts against their numbers. Multiplied by however many cars, you can see how much better they look when you trim that out. Keep in mind also that their goal is to get the car through the warranty period. I think of BMW less as "Brought My Wallet" (though it's that too...); I'll play Mike Phillips here and quote myself, since I haven't seen other people using the phrase - it's more like: "Barely Made Warranty". The majority of the repairs we're doing are on cars with 60k-120k. Unless manufacturers have a powertrain warranty past 50k, I find it hard to believe their focus is 200,000 mile longevity. Their focus is power to weight and fuel economy, and however they have to get there. Hence the increasing use of Zero W Thin oils.

This is all just my opinion from what I see with the cars I work on every day. I will happily admit I know nothing about how asian or domestic cars tolerate different oils/filters/intervals. I'm no engineer, so I can't say how the various additives or binders or modifiers in oil come into play at various mileages, I can just tell you - the cars of owners that follow lower intervals have less big issues than those that don't.

I'm replying on my work computer - later I'll try and dig out pictures of the inside of an X3 that was dealer serviced and followed the service light to the letter. Then another picture of a similar year/mileage 335i that did about every 5k with the same oil.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with most of what you said here. I'll also add that extending oil change intervals also reflects positively on cost of ownership. As fewer and fewer drivers perform their own routine maintenance, requiring oil changes (or any other routine maintenance) less frequently can be used as a marketing ploy for lowest cost of ownership claims and the like.

A guy who used to work with my dad traded vehicles every two years and the only time he had the oil changed was right before he traded it in, so it wouldn't still have the factory filter on it. This was years ago when there was less tracking of maintenance records. It might not have done much damage, but this always comes to my mind when debating between buying new vs year or two old used.
 
877814d3773b4db2af456cbb96f8ca37.jpg


Here’s a filter a dealer tech friend sent me from a lease return - pretty much same scenario you mention with your dad’s coworker.
 
remember 1000 mile oil changes, then 2000 mile oil changes then 3000 , 5000, 7500, 10,000 oil changes someday we may never have to change oil.
 
My Toro lawnmower claims the oil never needs to be changed but I change it once a year. I want the thing to last.
 
Bill D said:
My Toro lawnmower claims the oil never needs to be changed but I change it once a year. I want the thing to last.
Click to expand...

That is crazy. Almost like they want the thing to grenade so you have to buy another one. :doh:
 
Larry A said:
remember 1000 mile oil changes, then 2000 mile oil changes then 3000 , 5000, 7500, 10,000 oil changes someday we may never have to change oil.
Click to expand...

The transmission fluid in my Lexus is supposed to be "lifetime". In order to change it, requires serious gymnastics, a colostomy bag with a hanger, and I think you have to have a permission slip signed by two dead people. I've watched videos of people doing it, but I haven't gotten brave enough to try. But at over 100k miles, I'm getting close.
 
mk9750 said:
The transmission fluid in my Lexus is supposed to be "lifetime". In order to change it, requires serious gymnastics, a colostomy bag with a hanger, and I think you have to have a permission slip signed by two dead people. I've watched videos of people doing it, but I haven't gotten brave enough to try. But at over 100k miles, I'm getting close.
Click to expand...

Do people with colostomy bags detach them before weighing themselves, or is that cheating?

;)
 
mk9750 said:
The transmission fluid in my Lexus is supposed to be "lifetime". In order to change it, requires serious gymnastics, a colostomy bag with a hanger, and I think you have to have a permission slip signed by two dead people. I've watched videos of people doing it, but I haven't gotten brave enough to try. But at over 100k miles, I'm getting close.
Click to expand...
It's the same with my FJ Cruiser, but I knew the previous owner had towed a caravan with it, and was a smoker, but that's a different matter. So I took it to a transmission guy I trust, with 130000 km on it he recommended a basic service at least, but I opted for the major service, after he showed me the old fluid, black, nasty and original, so about 5 years old, but no metal shavings in it. I also opted for the better of the 2 fluids he had available for mine. All up close to $500, but peace of mind is worth it. He also said, no transmission should be considered "sealed for life".

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top