New car oil change?

[Noah930]

Just wondering what poeple think/do these days. Is metallurgy/quality control better these days? Does it depend on the manufacturer?

When buying a new car, when do you perform the first oil change?

[the]

I'm sure there are a million and one different opinions, but on the one and only new car I ever bought, I changed it at 600 miles. Don't know if it did any good or mattered at all, probably not.

[MT930]

I would always follow the manufactures recommendations. Changing oil prior to that could not hurt anything. I would do it earlier.

[vash]

i am waiting for 2000 miles. no logic, just some number i pulled out. the dealership told me to wait for 3000 because they said there is some treatment added to assist break-in. i smell BS. 2000 "feels" right.

[sammyg2]

It isn't like the old days, engines are basically broken in when you get them. If you feel compelled to throw away money, send me a PM and I'll give you my paypal address.

Changing oil more often than the factory recommends is a jiffy lube scam and wastes a whole bunch of money and resources. Even the factory recommendation is overly conservative in most cases.
How often do we change oil filters? A modern engine in good condition does not clog oil filters. Changing them every 25k or so would probably be sufficient, but people still change them every 3000 miles. what a waste of time and money.
The wife's Honda pilot's manual says to change the oil every 7500 and filter every 15000 miles. They get it.

[Gogar]

My Toyota truck with 22-R says right on the factory sticker to change the oil every 10,000 miles.

[kang]

I like to change the oil in a new engine somewhere near the 1,000 mile mark. It's probably a waste of money, but it makes me happy. Money spent to make me happy is money well spent.

[MRM]

So can I run my 911 for two years on the same oil if I drive less than 5000 miles?

[legion]

500 miles. I like to get the dino juice out and get some fully-synthetic in...

[svandamme]

the interval for maintenance on my company car is 30000 km (peugeot 307SW HDI)
they do have a 15k checkup in between, just to check, but they don't actually do anything other then check , no oil change, no filter get's changed

[gr8fl4porsche]

Most new cars come with oil life meters. Change it whenever the computer tells you to. Sell the vehicle when the warranty expires.

Happy motoring!!

[teenerted1]

on my new car the first oil change was free so i brought it in at what ever the millage was supposed to be in my service bulletin. only other times it has seen the dealer was for the two minor recall notices.

from then on it was @ 3500mi for a while. now it is @ 7500mi between changes. that is about twice a year for me in my daily driver. i think i switched to full syn around 10,000mi.

old Porsche gets it every 3000miles or 6 months max which ever comes first.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I've been told (but have not seen any hard data) that using synth oil too early will prevent the normal break-in and seating of parts (it's too slippery for stuff to develop normal wear patterns). Maybe luby can chime in here seein' as he's the expert on these matters. . .

[Tishabet]

The wife's new Mini Cooper S comes with Mobil 1 from the factory, and has 3 years of free maintenance. We were picking up the car from the dealership and I was perusing their standard intervals list and struck up a conversation with the guy there that went something like this:
me: Can we schedule a time for the 1500 mile check-in and oil change as long as we're here?
him: that's 15,000 mile check-in and oil change
me: (squinting a little harder) Oh! Well, when is the first oil change?
him: at 15,000
me: on a brand new engine?
him: It's got Mobil 1 synthetic in it

I was a bit shocked, I will admit. Car has 2600 now and I think I'm going to change the oil just for my own edification.

[peppy]

I changed the oil in our F150 at 1000 miles and switched to mobil 1. I think that was a bit too early, I have been using about a half a quart in between oil changes.

[sammyg2]

Use logic or emotion to make this decision, which ever makes you happy.
I prefer logic but that's just me.

[dmcummins]

At work we always sent in oil samples with every oil change. The new vehicles were always "dirty". It would take a few oil changes before the metal and silica counts came down. Because of this we always changed the oil early, as soon as we had the time. The company paid for all the oil changes, even those of us who used our own vehicles for work. So they though it was worth it. It couldn't hurt and with the cost of new vehicles a few extra oil changes is really not a big deal.

[vash]

those recommendations are for "typical" use. on my truck, the tranny oil was to be changed at 100,000 miles of typical use. that is crazy talk! i 4-by'd it repeatedly, towed things, drove it in super dusty conditions...i changed it out at half that interval.

i run my new car harder than typical. i will dump it early and stay with some conservative scheduled oil change. maybe 3000-4500, depending on my mood. full sythetic of course.

[Nathans_Dad]

You're supposed to change the oil?

[svandamme]

nah, just top it up now and then
it's like fuel, put some in, wait till the level drops, repeat