How often do you change your oil?

[Drew Dowdell]

How often do you change your oil and what oil do you use?   If you have more than one car and different schedules, list them. 

[balthazar]

'04 DuraMax, just clicked 189K miles tonight. Change it about every 6000, tho at the moment it's overdue. Shell Rotella T / Wix filter.
I always change the oil myself. I do not do any of the other vehicles here at the Ranch; I draw the line if I have to jack it up to do so.

Edited March 27, 2019 by balthazar

[riviera74]

I just changed mine last week.  Usually I let the oil life monitor tell me when to change the oil in my Lucerne.  Typically it is around 6000 miles.  (My Lucerne has less than 86K on the odometer.).

[Robert Hall]

Getting an oil change soon on my Jeep.  Been almost a year and 6000 miles since the last oil change. 

[David]

Trailblazer SS and Escalade is Mobil 1 and I follow the % of the meter on the car. My daughters Durango is old school traditional 3500 mile oil changes.

[Drew Dowdell]

Toronado and Buick both get Mobile 1 and a Purloator or Bosch oil filter. 

The Encore I wait till the meter gets to 20%... that gets me about 5,000 to 6,000 miles. 

The Toronado gets a good old fashioned window sticker that Autozone gives out for free. I do that every 5,000 miles or once a year.  It also gets a can of Zinc in the oil. 

I was going to do the engine air filter and the cabin filter on the Buick, but oddly enough they're special order at the parts shops unless I go to the dealership.  I have a $15 rebate gift card to use at Pepboys, so I'll have to special order it there.

[riviera74]

9 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I was going to do the engine air filter and the cabin filter on the Buick, but oddly enough they're special order at the parts shops unless I go to the dealership.  I have a $15 rebate gift card to use at Pepboys, so I'll have to special order it there.

In my last oil change, I had to change the engine air filter and the cabin filter.  All done on 3/18/2019 at my local dealership at about $114 completed (all three).

[loki]

'15 mazda 6. for the first 35K dealership changes at ~5K. After that castrol edge closer to 7500 and mazda filter. About to hit 78K in the next couple weeks.

[ykX]

I change oil myself on both of our cars.  In my G37S I used to change every 7.5k miles but after doing a test on the used oil which recommended that I can go up to 10k, so that is what I started doing. My commute is long and mostly highway so makes sense.  Currently at almost 178k miles and chugging along happily.   

My wife's MDX I was doing services at a dealer when it was still under warranty but now I change every 8-9k miles, when indicator shows it is time. 

I use Mobil 1 synthetic and Purolator filter for both.

Edited March 25, 2019 by ykX

[David]

I will say that I used to do all my own oil changes, but with the environmental requirements, fee paid to ensure you return used oil to the auto parts store for recycling and the hassle of being on a cold cement floor, it is just easier to go pay the $80 at the dealership and ensure they keep the auto in tip top shape. 

Used to use Grease Monkey, but they are the same price as the dealership, so why not ensure the auto is touched by a person who knows it.

[ykX]

15 minutes ago, dfelt said:

 at the dealership and ensure they keep the auto in tip top shape. 

 

From my personal experience I trust dealership no more than I trust a private shop, actually way less.  Most guys at the dealership that do basic jobs like oil change are kids without any experience, because dealers pay almost nothing to most of their mechanics.  They usually have 1-2 experienced guys for serious jobs and everybody else is disposable cheap labor.  Had number of problems when I used dealers them doing a lousy job.  The only good thing about going to a dealer is that if they screw up, they usually liable to fix it, but that can be a struggle as well.

Personally, try to avoid them if I can, would rather do work myself if it is something basic like oil or brakes, or go to a private trusted mechanic if it is something more serious.

 

[David]

7 minutes ago, ykX said:

From my personal experience I trust dealership no more than I trust a private shop, actually way less.  Most guys at the dealership that do basic jobs like oil change are kids without any experience, because dealers pay almost nothing to most of their mechanics.  They usually have 1-2 experienced guys for serious jobs and everybody else is disposable cheap labor.  Had number of problems when I used dealers them doing a lousy job.  The only good thing about going to a dealer is that if they screw up, they usually liable to fix it, but that can be a struggle as well.

Personally, try to avoid them if I can, would rather do work myself if it is something basic like oil or brakes, or go to a private trusted mechanic if it is something more serious.

 

Sad that you have had bad experiences as I have had nothing but the opposite and when my transmission in my old 94 GMC suburban failed just at the end of the warranty period, GMC replaced it no questions asked. My Cadillac dealership rocks, have had zero issue with them taking car of all my auto's regardless of which GM brand it has been.

I find that 3rd party mechanics are terrible, even when ASE certified. I trust them far less than the dealerships. Here where GM gives lifetime on their repairs, I would rather go to the dealership than a third party shop even when they are cheaper. Been burned by poor cutting corner mechanics a few times that took for ever to get properly fixed. Rather trust the OEM for repairs.

[ccap41]

When I buy a car I know the dealerships change it so i wait until the next 5,000 mile interval and then stick to every 5,000 miles. For Example, my MKC has 37,xxx miles on it and when I hit 40,000 I'll change it and then every 5,000 from there. It's the easiest to remember and even the most basic of oils will last 5,000 miles.

I've been using Pennzoil Platinum or Mobil 1.

I bought a box of the "shop" Fram Ultra filters(gold can). It's a Fram Ultra but they're sold in bulk only(they're not supposed to be sold to the public but people on ebay get their hands on them). They usually sell for about $9 a piece and buying them in bulk was about $6.30, I believe. 

[frogger]

Anywhere between 5,500 to 6,500 miles as I can get to it with whatever synthetic is cheap.  Wife's car between 12-18 months as I can get to it since it only does 3,000 or so miles a year.

 

 

Edited March 25, 2019 by frogger

[ocnblu]

I wait for the Jeep to ask for it.  Speaking of, it just flashed tonight on the way home from work.  39k + miles on odo, had it changed about 6k miles ago.  It takes 0-20 synthetic (like water).  I use NAPA brand oil and filter and I get our service department to change it.

[smk4565]

Moblie One (0W-40 I believe).  Changed once a year, I have a 10,000 mile interval and don't drive that much a year generally.   I have never had to add any oil in between changed either.

Edited March 25, 2019 by smk4565

[David]

14 hours ago, smk4565 said:

Moblie One (0W-40 I believe).  Changed once a year, I have a 10,000 mile interval and don't drive that much a year generally.   I have never had to add any oil in between changed either.

My cadillacs are like that, never use a drop of oil either. Usually once a year on Mobil 1. Runs so quiet with Mobile 1 compared to Oil.

[ccap41]

31 minutes ago, dfelt said:

My cadillacs are like that, never use a drop of oil either. Usually once a year on Mobil 1. Runs so quiet with Mobile 1 compared to Oil.

What's this "Oil" you speak of in comparison? 

[David]

41 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

What's this "Oil" you speak of in comparison? 

Synthetic versus traditional oil blend, I thought Mobile 1 says the same thing but ok, synthetics versus traditional oil blends.

[Drew Dowdell]

I've used synthetic for so long, I'm not sure what my cars would run like on traditional blend.  I'm sure just fine of course, but the oil wouldn't last as long. 

[David]

5 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I've used synthetic for so long, I'm not sure what my cars would run like on traditional blend.  I'm sure just fine of course, but the oil wouldn't last as long. 

I do not know about that, last fall took the Escalade in for a routine oil change and a temp was there while my service advisor was out on PTO for a few weeks. They ended up doing a normal oil change and the engine just chattered and was so noisy, took it back and they double checked and sure enough wrong stuff. Once the Synthetic was back in, motor was puring smooth and quiet.

Now I always double check that the Paperwork says Mobil 1. I think the newer auto's tolerances really require what synthetic does to the motor. I can say it also extends life real well as the 5.9L V8 in my daughters 1999 Durango sure is running well at 250,000 miles for a well used 4x4.

[ccap41]

On 3/25/2019 at 8:23 AM, dfelt said:

Sad that you have had bad experiences as I have had nothing but the opposite

Remember waaaay back when you said this about your dealership? 

@ykX 

[Drew Dowdell]

LOL at @dfelt

[David]

8 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

LOL at @dfelt

Laugh all you want  So far my experiences have been positive for the most part that I can remember. But then I go in and set my expectations up front. So far so Good in life!

26 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Remember waaaay back when you said this about your dealership? 

@ykX 

U'mmmmm 🤔 What you talk'in about Willis? 

[ccap41]

28 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Laugh all you want  So far my experiences have been positive for the most part that I can remember. But then I go in and set my expectations up front. So far so Good in life!

U'mmmmm 🤔 What you talk'in about Willis? 

Remember when you said all of your experiences have been positive and then you tell us they put the wrong oil in and your vehicle sounded like crap after they put the wrong oil in it so then you had to go back and have them change it again..?