no doubt this has been debated ad nauseam and i'm sure everyone has an opinion...and i'd like to hear yours!

2010 mazda3 with 75k miles running 5W-20 full synthetic: 95% sure the manual recommendation is every 5-7.5k...i do it every 7500 miles

2014 ford focus running 5W-20 synthetic blend (new, so first one): manual says 7.5-10k with "normal" driving, planning on switching to full synthetic and doing it every...10k?...from here on out

assuming a 70/30 split of city/highway, does that sound good? fwiw, i typically use mobil1 full syn oil

and then filters...i had always put the cheapest filter i could find on my saturn and it was fine, but these are newer and nicer and have fewer miles, so i'd like to be consistent...i guess i'm trying to decide if the $10+ filters (ie. mobil1 extended performance) are really worth it or if the $5-6 filters ( ie. purolator classic) are actually just fine

8/27/2014 2:50:47 PM

just do what the manual states on interval... for gas engines nothing wrong with Purolator or equivalent.

Fiance runs her Captiva until the onboard computer gets to about 10% 'life' - ends up being 5500-6500 miles. I keep an eye on it, and its usually not even black when time to change.

I change my DD diesel every 4-5k, and yes, I use Motorcraft filters on my Dodgems.

8/27/2014 2:58:57 PM

^^I'd probably push out the interval for both of your cars to 10,000 miles. They could probably go to 15k to be honest, but 10k is a good amount. This is assuming most of your "city" driving is trips of at least 10 minutes (so oil gets to operating temp and burns off any water).

^pretty much

2006 Porsche Cayman S w/66,000 miles - Mobil1 Euro Spec 0w40 every 10,000 miles, OEM Porsche oil filter. Owners manual states every 15k miles, however Porsche revised that after the fact to 10k miles. (only done this once since purchasing vehicle)

1992 Integra GS-R w/305,000 miles - Mobil1 10w30 once a year, regardless of mileage (which is never more than 6000 these days), Purelator Gold Filter (one with grippy exterior). Owners manual states to change oil every 7500 miles (with conventional oil).

[Edited on August 27, 2014 at 3:02 PM. Reason : k]

8/27/2014 3:02:30 PM

07 BMW 335i - I shoot for every 7500 miles even though BMW says 15k is fine. Castrol Euro Synthetic + Mann filter.

8/27/2014 3:12:01 PM

I Always do a change every 5k miles. Mann/pure one/puralator/bosche filters.

[Edited on August 27, 2014 at 3:32 PM. Reason : .]

8/27/2014 3:32:41 PM

Quote :

"Owners manual states to change oil every 7500 miles (with conventional oil)."

was going to say my 91 civic said 7500 miles too (but was 2nd guessing myself if it was km)

8/27/2014 3:48:44 PM

My current company car 2014 Escape says 10k, spec is full synthetic. I do it every 5-7.5k. Fwiw the mechanics at the dealership dont really trust 10k either unless its been grandma driven. All my other and past cars have gotten full synthetic and 5k intervals.

Oil filters, I trust/use Purolator PUREOne, Wix, and Mann when applicable (BMW). I stay away from FRAM, used to be a lot of hearsay a while back to avoid them. I cant remember why now but there was enough noise from a varied-enough audience to not risk using them. I still change the oil filter with every oil change. There was a good comparison thread (maybe in the bobistheoilguy forums?) that cracked open a dozen or so different types and I think purolator pureone and all the wix had the best filtration.

8/27/2014 4:08:16 PM

i use amsoil oil and filter on our rav4 and typically change both around 15k miles or 15 months which ever comes first - did the same on my maxima that i recently sold

not sure what i'm going to do on my 2014 c-max yet but probably just whenever the oil change indicator comes on in the car to be honest

8/27/2014 4:44:37 PM

is 7500 miles a no no for a daily driver nissan truck

8/27/2014 5:28:15 PM

On the f250 PSD, 10k of rotella T or T6 ford motorcraft filter from walmart
on the m3, liqui-moly 0w-60 and advanced auto brand cheap filter (much tighter spec assembly than mann), changed at 10k
once a year on the RV and I let jiffy lube handle it with the cheap stuff
once a season (1200-1500 miles) on the bikes, unless there's an endurance race, then immediately after that

[Edited on August 27, 2014 at 5:51 PM. Reason : k&n bike filters for the safety wire nut built in]

8/27/2014 5:51:12 PM

'08 accord, whatever the maintenance computer says, usually 8500-11k. Mobil 1 5w20 high mileage with bosch filter. 108k, runs smooth as silk

[Edited on August 27, 2014 at 6:02 PM. Reason : yup]

8/27/2014 6:01:44 PM

every car once a year

Liqui Moly + Wix filter
Liqui Moly Race + Wix

8/27/2014 7:20:19 PM

5K on the Kia. Leased so it goes to the dealership. If/when we buy it off-lease it will get Mobil 1 full synth and Mobil1 or PureOne filters.

Once a year on the Ford and the Volvo. (Crown Vic averages maybe 5k/yr and I've put less than 500 miles on the Volvo since June.) Valvoline High Mileage Synth blend 5W30 Ford, 10W30 Volvo, PureOne filters.

8/27/2014 9:34:54 PM

1996 240SX with 307k miles. Mobil1 10w40 every 5k miles with a purolator gold filter.

2002 VFR800 with 32k miles. Shell Rotella T6 5w40 every 4-6k miles with a purolator gold filter.

8/28/2014 8:08:02 AM

i am really surprised by the variety in y'all's oil change schedules...i kinda thought i was going to catch flak for posting this thread in the first place

the fact that no one has come in with some horror story (and finding one on line isn't as easy as i thought) makes me think it's personal preference (within the realm of reason)

my wife drives the focus, so 10k is likely just fine since it is far more likely to be "granny" driven than the mazda...i'll probably just do 10k on that, too, since i like even numbers

8/28/2014 10:05:45 AM

bump. I have an older 2004 Audi a4, and Volkswagen's consume oil every 1k-1500 miles it seems, I usually add a quart during these time frames between mechanic changing it. I use Mobil1 full synthetic, I'm curious if how often I need to change it given the fact that by the time I come back for an oil change I have added 5 quarts, essentially a new replacement amount. I have no idea what filter the mechanic uses to change the oil, I usually go 7.5-10K in between changes.

8/18/2015 10:04:22 AM

i think ^^ summed it up

my current car is a plug-in hybrid and i'm about ~16k miles - about half of them have been electric - the oil change maintenance light comes on at 20,500 no matter what the mix of electric and gas engine use was

8/18/2015 10:14:35 AM

^^Jesus, that's horrible. My advice would be to save a sample of the oil from your next oil change and send it off to Blackstone labs for analysis. $20 cost, but you'll know going forward more specifically when to change your oil.

And to quote something from last year (lol):

Quote :

" Fwiw the mechanics at the dealership dont really trust 10k either unless its been grandma driven. All my other and past cars have gotten full synthetic and 5k intervals. "

Really? The dealership "doesn't trust" the factory intervals? I'm sure that has nothing to do with them making more money off more frequent service visits. (Hint, it has everything to do with that) As long as you follow (and can prove) the manufacturer's service intervals your warranty will always be honored.

[Edited on August 18, 2015 at 1:10 PM. Reason : k]

8/18/2015 1:06:11 PM

5k intervals. The bmw motorcycle gets mahle filters. The Vette gets whatever is on sale (Puralator, mobil 1, k&n, bosche, whatever).

8/19/2015 8:14:08 PM

I let the stealer ship change the maximas. They always send me coupons, so it is $25 and they do it in the quick lane bay so I can watch the while thing. They use a synthetic blend and Nissan branded filter.
The factory interval is 3750 miles, and I go 4-4500 miles between changes.

8/19/2015 8:49:35 PM

Wow, that's short as hell.

8/20/2015 8:58:37 AM

^,
I was reading
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/06/excessive-oil-consumption/index.htm

it looks like my vehicle is normal to consume a quart even at less than 1K intervals. I guess it's good that this is considered "normal" on my car with 100K+ miles, but I just don't understand why the engine is made this way. I'm at 1k-1200K miles of adding a quart, so I definitely have "new oil" by the time it goes for an oil change at 7500-10K. I get the Mobil1 FS from Walmart and just keep it in my trunk, it seems crazy to have to do this but it's what I do.

8/21/2015 10:15:56 AM

The industry standard has always been that oil consumption of up to 1 quart per 1,000 miles is within the acceptable limit. That means that even if you bought a new car and it started consuming oil at that rate, the manufacturer/dealership would claim nothing's wrong. Still, I wouldn't be happy about that.

For comparison my Integra's engine, with 313k miles, goes through about 1-2 quarts of oil per year (roughly 6-7000 miles). And about half of that comes from leaks.

Porsche is about the same, maybe slightly more (I feel like flat engines are more prone to oil consumption anyway)

[Edited on August 21, 2015 at 10:42 AM. Reason : k]

8/21/2015 10:41:59 AM

is your audi a turbo?

Turbos will burn oil.... there is no perfect oil seal on a turbo.

8/21/2015 11:03:55 AM

Yes, audi is turbo, 104K miles. Starting consuming oil about 75K miles. At this point, probably a quart every 1k miles. No oil leaks.

8/21/2015 1:33:11 PM

Use synthetic (whatever the special is at Autozone or Advance, but it's usually Castrol or Mobil 1) with a Bosch or Mobil 1 filter. 10k miles or 6 months, whatever comes first. Usually it's 6 months.

8/21/2015 9:21:08 PM

Quote :

"Really? The dealership "doesn't trust" the factory intervals? I'm sure that has nothing to do with them making more money off more frequent service visits. (Hint, it has everything to do with that) As long as you follow (and can prove) the manufacturer's service intervals your warranty will always be honored"

The two techs said that, one was the old-timer master mechanic, the other had been working there 5 years. To be honest, I trusted them a hell of a lot more after the younger guy straight told me after just meeting with me, a customer, that the current Escape generation is the current "turd pile of the fleet". You know damn well a salesman is going to choke on his donut if he hears that coming from his service department. I'm don't trust anything the service advisor or anyone on the sales side says as much as a tech when no one else is around, and if it weren't for the policy to maintain company vehicles at dealerships I'd be going elsewhere or doing it myself. But like you said, I know keeping documentation of maintenance for any warranty claims is worth it to our CFO.

[Edited on August 30, 2015 at 11:29 PM. Reason : .]

8/30/2015 11:17:59 PM

my guess is i was right on first attempt...

seals are shot in turbo and it's burning your oils

no big deal really till your cat gets clogged.

8/31/2015 7:35:52 AM

This may be of help to me.

I have a GMC sierra with the AFM/DoD feature...it uses oil like its nobodies business. Am I best suited deleting the AFM function with a tuner or just keep pouring oil into it hoping it doesn't bust a rocker/lifter?

and would switching to synthetic help?

8/31/2015 3:34:52 PM

every 5000 miles.


2007 F-150.

9/1/2015 8:44:18 AM

I am bumping this, I bought a Honda (from the second owner, I am the third, has 42k miles) and it has 0w-20, fully synthetic, printed on the cylinders (which I assume the first owner did at the dealership) under the hood and I came to find out the previous owner (second owner) used regular. Was told (and looking online) that switching from synthetic (first owner) to regular (Second owner) could cause issues with the seals and cause a leak, but no mechanical trouble to the engine. I have been told to use synthetic going forward as that is printed on the engine.

I don't really understand the math of it being cheaper to use regular if you only get 3500 and the synthetic being twice as expensive but getting twice the amount of miles?

10/30/2015 9:40:51 AM

Where does it state anywhere to change the oil every 3500 miles? I'm willing to bet there's no documentation from Honda stating to change the oil every 3500 miles. Your owners manual probably states to change it no sooner than 7500 miles, for conventional oil.

10/30/2015 10:56:22 AM

the regular to synthetic thing is car message board nonsense, the only time i can see that causing leaks is if leaks already existed but were sludged up and the new oil had better detergents that were able to break up the sludge

[Edited on October 30, 2015 at 11:26 AM. Reason : .]

10/30/2015 11:26:11 AM

Going from regular to full synth on a high mileage engine can do exactly what you described--clean out leak points that are already there but sludged up, and then start leaking from those points. Not going to cause any new leaks though.

As to that Honda--there shouldn't be any leaks at 42k miles. Not on a Honda, anyway. So while it sort of baffles me that the second owner used regular, switching *back* to synth should cause no trouble whatsoever. Follow the factory schedule and use the recommended synth and you should be worry-free.

10/30/2015 4:23:43 PM

On my Insight (or anything with a maintenance minder), I change the oil when it tells me to, and use Mobil 1. In most cases, that's still overkill, because they're calibrated for conventional or semi-synth oil (Honda is semi-synth factory fill).

On stuff like my 7 (turbo Miata power), I change it on 5k intervals, using Mobil 1. On my BMW motorcycle (airhead), I change it on 5k intervals, and use Motorex (I use all Motorex oils and lubes on the bike).

Back when had my old beater heavy duty Dodge, I changed it on 5k intervals with whatever was cheap...AutoZone house brand conventional or whatever.


I change filters with every oil change; I'm not particular about brand, although I don't use Fram. I've read they've gotten much better, but I still stick with others. Typically Mobil 1, Bosch, or Wix (other than the motorcycle...it requires this ridiculous hinged cartridge filter and is an asspain like you wouldn't believe to replace).

10/31/2015 10:10:17 AM