Quick car/oil change question

[PasadenaTrudy]

I have a 2016 Camry that I have owned for 6 months. The dealer keeps emailing me that it's time for my first oil change. I only have 1,250 on the car. Should I just wait until I have 5k miles on it? Thx!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. IIRC back in the 3 mos/3000 mi days it was a good idea to do the 1st change earlier than normal.

[Callmecrazy]

2. Nah, you're all right...

My dealership didn't call me until I had 5000 miles on my car(they check my mileage through OnStar).
Most new cars can go 6000 or so miles between oil changes.

[PasadenaTrudy]

3. Thought so, thx n/t

[alarimer]

4. I get the same emails.

They are just estimating your mileage, based on the time you've had the car. Most people drive >1000 miles a month.

[Scuba]

5. Oil ages over time regardless of miles. Nice new car, change your oil.

[bigwillq]

6. I would go to at least 3,000 miles.

I normally change mine every 5,000-7,000.
I have a 2015 Nissan Sentra. Went 8,000 before the first one.
The guy at the place I get it changed said I could go 5,000. I am pushing it a bit with the extra 2 or 3,000 miles, but I never had any issues before with my other cars doing it this way. I lease, so I get a new car every 3 years.

[flvegan]

7. What does the owner's manual say?

I'd go with the Toyota literature that your warranty coverage is likely anchored to.

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

8. I was having the same issue with my

2015 Z71 Silverado, which came from the factory with synthetic oil, as I assume your car did, also. Synthetic oil is good for 5000 miles, they say, and does not degrade over time as does "regular" oil, eliminating the need for oil changes within-time constraints. The dealer recommends every 6 months but it isn't imperative for anything other than padding the dealerships bank account, if you happen to be a low mileage driver like me.

They started bugging me with robocall reminders right before the 6 months. When I finally gave in and went in for an oil change, it was at 8 months and just under 2400 miles. My on-board computer diagnostic system was telling me that my oil was at 64% life left. The techie that checked me in showed me on the dipstick that the oil was still as clear as it was at 4 miles, when I took possession, and said I really didn't need a change.

My wife worked at a dealership for a time, in the finance dept. She was who you'd sit down with after agreeing to terms, to sign all the paperwork and get license plates and registration. She'd tell me that while the dealerships realize profits on sales, much of the overage goes to cover sales commissions. The service dept. is their bread and butter. They'll offer you free oil changes, for instance, for say, 24 months. One every 6 months/5000 miles, to get you accustomed to coming in, where they'll sell you various filters and such at inflated prices, compared to an "Autozone" and install them at outrageous labor costs.

[PasadenaTrudy]

9. I just use local mechanic

My dealer is a long drive for me in L.A. traffic. No thanks!

[tammywammy]

12. You can go farther than 5,000 miles with synthetic

I have a Volkswagen Tiguan, oil change is every 10,000 miles.

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

16. Yeah you're right, I think my owners manual says up tp 7500

[Major Nikon]

10. Engines are now broke in at the factory

This was not always the case so the old rule was to do the first oil change after a few hundred miles because the engine would be making a lot of metal shavings which would quickly clog up the filter.

Some people still do change their oil early the first time. I'm not sure it's all that necessary. When in doubt, read your owner's manual and do what it says as it will have the best recommendations for your particular vehicle.

[Mosby]

26. modern engines have higher tolerances

And, in the case of cylinder walls, are polished to an almost mirror finish.

That's why you don't need to "break in" an engine, though the first oil change is still important.

In the old days during the first 300 miles or so the oil was basically like lapping compound with all the specks of metal, the abrasive quality was what created the good seals around the rings and valve guides. Leave the original oil in to long and your wearing down the engine prematurely.

[Major Nikon]

27. That's very true about higher tolerances, and it's also true that lubricants are much better today

However, the basic method of break it hasn't changed all that much. The difference is this process is done under controlled conditions at the factor which results in a much better seal between the cylinder walls and the piston rings. That's the biggest reason why modern engines don't use oil like they did decades ago.

[tammywammy]

11. Follow the owners manual

[B Calm]

13. I change oil at 3,000 miles and rotate tires at 6,000. I don't drive that much and

I know that oil is is still fine regardless of how long it takes between oil changes. Friends of mine go 5 to 6 thousand miles between oil changes. My advice is save your money and change it at 3 thousand.

[KentuckyWoman]

14. My brother the car fix it guys says

Low mileage on synthetic or blend oil you can go a year.
The tires, even sitting on the payment still need rotated at least twice a year.

Old fashioned oil you still gotta go every 3-6 months depending on your geographic location (lots of hot or cold or dusty etc) because it will shorten the life of your engine.

[rurallib]

15. If your Toyota is like mine there will be reminder come up on the speedometer at 5000

that should be the time to change the oil.

On average Americans drive about 15,000 miles a year or 5000 every 4 months.
Since they probably use synthetic oil it will be fine to wait until the full 5000 is driven.

[PasadenaTrudy]

19. I was thinking

there'd be an alert.And I've always used synthetic oil in my cars.

[Boxerfan]

17. 5k is a very safe #....

Dealers bread & butter is the Service Dept. & yes they are pumping for a sale.

But for the good old days-I just finished running in a VW type 2 motor. It now has 6k miles on the motor & the oil has been changed at least 10 times.

The 1st was zero miles after the cam break in procedure. There were also some dialing in of the camtrain (all custom) etc so it got obsessive attention and even more oil changes than a normal engine. These are air cooled -not "normal" even by VW standards. The same motor was used by the Porsche speedster so parts are $$$$.

Hopefully my last motor rebuild-it took me 3 months & if it was by the hour-ferghettaboutit. Limited strength etc.. but I managed through sheer determination-and lack of common sense.

[PasadenaTrudy]

20. My first car

was a '72 Super Beetle then I drove a '68 Camaro, so I understand!

[vanlassie]

18. My 2015 Civic didn't tell me to change the oil until

It was at around 10,000. I was shocked.

[PasadenaTrudy]

21. Wow! n/t

[Hassin Bin Sober]

22. I used to be a 3mo. 3000 mile guy.

But the new cars we've had lately insist you go by the engine monitoring.

We had a Mini convertable back in 2005 that blew a tiny bit of smoke. The dealer mechanic claimed it was because we changed the oil too soon. Never did understand it but there it is.

[Hotler]

25. That doesn't sound righto me either. A little bit of oil could...

be a leaking valve stem seal.

[Hotler]

24. My dealer says with newer cars go 5,000 before oil change and..

with older vehicles like my 1999 Silverado K2500 it is every 3,000. They use a longer lasting oil in newer cars and by all means get your owners manual out and please read it. Yes the dealers bread and butter is their service department. The factory maintenance schedule is there for good reason and if followed and if repairs are performed right away before they get worse your new car will last a long time. Find yourself a good dealer service department and let them be the only ones working on your car. They will know you and your car, keep records on your car and the technicians know about your new car very well. I will never let a Grease Monkey or Superlube etc. change my oil ever. I have read and heard about inexperienced techs striping drain plugs or not putting in enough oil or over filling. I used to drag race cars, roadrace motorcycles and did all my own maintenance and wrenching. When I bought my new truck in 1999 I made the decision to not work on four wheel vehicles again except to change a battery or windshield wipers or light bulbs. I have been with the same Chevy dealership since and they have never tried to sell anything that wasn't really needed and I have never been ripped off by them. I can always trust their work plus I get a warranty on parts and know that the parts are not cheap knock-offs. In this day and age you very much get what you pay for and if you want cheap $10.00 service take it to Backyard Bob, if you want quality take it to a good dealer, it will be money well spent.

[Major Nikon]

28. I only use the dealership for oil changes

The last time I went to one of those quick oil change places they stripped out one set of threads that is used to hold together the air filter housing even after I told them I didn't want my air filter checked. I didn't discover this until it was too late to hold them responsible. The repair was a real pain in the ass and negated any money I had ever saved by using them.

So not only can you rely on those amateur places to fuck up your vehicle eventually, you can also rely on them to conceal their fuckup from you, and to be incapable of fixing their fuckup.

My local dealership either sends me coupons or they have an online special going pretty much all the time. This brings down the price to pretty much what the quick places charge.

[PasadenaTrudy]

29. I use a local mechanic

not the Jiffy Lubes.

[jmowreader]

30. Whatever the manual says, that's what to do

You're in the same boat as my parents. They bought a 2016 Hyundai a little while ago. Three months after they got it, they started getting "time for your first oil change!" postcards. (Hyundai wants to see your car at 3000 miles so they can give it a going-over.) Problem is, right after they got the thing we got a foot of snow, and they used their pickup all that time because they didn't want the new car to get hit.

[trof]

31. The dealer is scamming you. Click and Clack say 5000 miles.

The rule used to be every 3000 miles.
Click and Clack say that engines are much better now, and 5000 miles is just fine.

I have found my Toyota dealer to be outrageously expensive and they recommend maintenance that isn't needed.

I found a good, local garage where they are honest and charge reasonable prices.

[underahedgerow]

32. Edmunds says it's ALL a scam.

Oil chemistry and engine technology have evolved tremendously in recent years, but you'd never know it from the quick-change behavior of American car owners. Driven by an outdated 3,000-mile oil change commandment, they are unnecessarily spending millions of dollars and spilling an ocean of contaminated waste oil.

The majority of automakers today call for oil changes at either 7,500 or 10,000 miles, and the interval can go as high as 15,000 miles in some cars. Yet this wasteful cycle continues largely because the automotive service industry, while fully aware of the technological advances, continues to preach the 3,000-mile gospel as a way to keep the service bays busy. As a result, even the most cautious owners are dumping their engine oil twice as often as their service manuals recommend.

After interviews with oil experts, mechanics and automakers, one thing is clear: The 3,000-mile oil change is a myth that should be laid to rest. Failing to heed the service interval in your owner's manual wastes oil and money, while compounding the environmental impact of illicit waste-oil dumping.

snip; "The company's most advanced synthetic product (Mobil 1 Extended Performance) is guaranteed for 15,000 miles."

Good article, good information. Stop getting scammed by the oil cos. http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/stop-changing-your-oil.html

[Orrex]

33. Replace your motor oil with maple syrup

Sure it costs more, but it's eco-friendly and keeps your engine smelling great.