New car - 1st oil change at 7500...would you change it sooner?

[dave 911]

It's a new Subaru Crosstrek - I get free dealer oil changes, the first one is at 7500 miles, which feels like too long to me on a new engine...but what do I know? Specs call for 0W20 Synthetic.

The larger engine Subarus (3.6L, in the Outback) have their first one at 3000, and they use conventional oil.

Just seeking the opinion of the brain trust here -- if it were you, would you pay for an extra oil change around 3K, or go with the 7500 as the maintenance schedule calls for?

[Jrboulder]

I used to do one in the first couple thousand miles but lately I've stopped caring.

[Rick V]

I am a tech at Subaru, Where we are not really seeing issues with the extended mileage I would never go that far. I change mine at 4k and run Mobile one.

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by Rick V

I am a tech at Subaru, Where we are not really seeing issues with the extended mileage I would never go that far. I change mine at 4k and run Mobile one.

Two wrx forums say Mobil 1 is the kiss of death for them. Do you agree?

[Rick V]

Haven't seen any issues, and I should have clarified that I do not own a Subi. I use M1 in what I drive, Porsche and Mercedes. My point was I even change oil at a low interval even with fully synthetic.

[Bugsinrugs]

I have over 200,000 on my 04 wrx. Synthetic motor oil from the first change to now. Mobil 1 or any synthetic on sale. Runs like a top with plenty of pep. I tend to change oil maybe too often but all my rigs have over 100,000 miles on them. Except the 993 of course.

[Chocaholic]

We have a '14 Honda and have the same question. Has about 6k on it now. Dash shows 50% remaining....manufacturer says to change oil when at 15%.

I called the dealer to schedule an earlier change and the service manager said not necessary. No break-in oil/procedure needed anymore. Run to 15% then change. Not sure why he didn't want to take my money and do it anyway, but insisted it was unnecessary. A bit uncomfortable with that, but lord knows Honda's aren't dying by the side of the road very often. Will follow their recommendation. Likely end up close to 10k miles before first change. Suspect same philosophy for your Subi.

[Por_sha911]

To better answer the OP question I would ask:
What kind of miles do you drive? Any extreme conditions like dust, heat, stop and go? Do you plan on keeping the car forever of trade it by the time the warranty is up?

[Scott Douglas]

Our '13 Honda CR-V just had its first change. Reached 15% at @6100 miles. Honda uses a special factory fill for the original oil, or so I've read. I used to be one to change at 1k miles on breaking in a new car but decided to 'go green' with this one. I have no doubt it'll go to 300k without any problems if the oil is changed according to the maintenance minder.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I'd change after the first 2k-3k and then go Mobil-1 every 7.5k-10k thereafter

[Nostril Cheese]

Mobil 1 or German Castrol every 7K.

[Arizona_928]

Been doing 10k full synthetic on both the 13' golf tdi (30k) and 01 jetta tdi(190k +). You can't judge how dirty the oil is because of the soot.

[chapo]

Been doing Mobil 1 on the 2012 f150 at 8-10k now. Same with the 99 328i that has 223k on it Andries like new, original from oil pan to valve cover.

[Bill Douglas]

I suspect the Japons intend their cars to last 10 years and plan the oil changes accordingly. If I wanted my car to last longer I'd change it twice as often.

[fred cook]

Even with today's highly robotized engine building, there is likely a good bit of machining trash left in the block and heads. On both my 2012 F150 and my wife's 2013 Taurus I had the dealer change the oil at 2500 miles at my expense. A good engine flush early in it's life should make an engine last much longer. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[onewhippedpuppy]

For the first time in my life I've recently had two new cars, a 2012 F150 and a 2013 Mazda5. Both had their oil changed within the first 2000 miles with Mobil 1, and both get an oil change every 5000 miles, service reminder be damned. Engines are still made with metal, and still shed metallic particles as they break in. As for my intervals, they may be overkill but I prefer to over-maintain vs under-maintain.

[dave 911]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

To better answer the OP question I would ask:
What kind of miles do you drive? Any extreme conditions like dust, heat, stop and go? Do you plan on keeping the car forever of trade it by the time the warranty is up?

I plan on keeping it until the wheels fall off. I was leaning towards an initial change at 3000 and more frequent than the maintenance table...and it seems like the consensus here agrees. (why am I not surprised given the audience ...)

Thanks for the inputs

[Porchdog]

I bought my wife a 2013 Impreza in the fall. First oil change was shown in the book at 3000 miles - dealer did it for free. I just did the second oil change - the maintenance book showed all Subaru models, I thought they all showed a first oil change at 3000 - but I could be wrong.

Oil change on that little car was a walk in the park except that everything was to damn tight - oil plug, filter, oil cap. Dealer also over-filled the oil when they changed it and had to much air in the tires.

I used Mobil 1 0-20. I have a lot of faith in Mobil 1. My old college roommate is a lube additive research chemist at Mobil and a hardcore gearhead. He assures me that the only issues with prolonged change interval and synthetic oils are additive life and moisture buildup/ ph change. He claims there is virtually no change over time to the actual lube, but the additives are depleted and the oil is contaminated.

He teells me that they are constantly running engines on the dynos without changing the oil - but they use very sophisticated filters and they custom replenish additive levels. He claims most modern engines will run pretty much indefinitely with this treatment.

[aschen]

My opinion is that the mfg probably knows best, at least about making a car last until the warrentee period.

I personally change my oil at 5-6k in my dd 06 wrx. It seems like a good compromise between sudgested and wastfull. I can do it in 15 min. I use shell rottella synthetic in all my cars except the 930. Mostly because it is well revied and is cheap at the neighborhood walmart.

[David]

On my ex's BMW, I just waited til the 10,000 mile (or whatever it was) first oil change and let the dealer do it.

On my new Cayman, I changed it myself at 1,000 miles and then paid the dealer to do it at 10,000 miles just for the paper trail.

So my answer is, it depends on whether I view it as just a car or a something I hope will last a long time for me and the future owners.