“Beep” my BMW i3 sounds as I turn it on, the dashboard ahead of me lightning up with a speedometer, range guess-o-meter, odometer, and other useful information. But I notice one new light: A red outline of a BMW i3 with the word “SERVICE” written above it. Apparently BMW wants me to change my car’s brake fluid and do an oil change.
I’ll do the brake fluid soon enough, and the oil change I’ll eventually do as well, though I’m in no rush; my oil has maybe 500 miles on it and it’s just one year old. Sure, there are more factors that go into oil quality than miles and age (like moisture content) — and in general I understand that automakers’ service intervals are based on actual data, but they’re also not catered to the individual.
Those service intervals are there to minimize warranty claims, while at the same time making the overall ownership experience more convenient (hence modern 10,000 mile engine oil change intervals and “fill for life” transmissions).
Speaking of “fill for life,” my BMW i3’s rear differential technically never needs its fluid changed. If this were a car that I wasn’t planning on keeping until the end of time, maybe I’d follow BMW’s interval, but the reality is that gears wear over time and send that wear into the working fluid, which itself can wear from all the shearing. In general, the cleaner your fluid, the longer your diff lasts, so why not try to maximize your car’s life expectancy?
Check out the metal shavings in my old i3’s “fill for life” diff:
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Anyway, I typically do my oils a bit earlier than the factory service intervals suggest, and when possible I’ll just check fluids visually (brake fluid, engine coolant) and maybe stretch the intervals a bit for those.
What about you? Do you follow what’s in the owner’s manual or do you live by your own rules?
Top Photo: Depositphotos.com
I get my oil changed in my CRV at around 7,000klms- she consumes oil so I’m usually topping it up long before then. I took it in after 8,000klms last time and the minder still said 40%. The service tech said ‘what you don’t trust the engineers?’ to which I laughed and asked ‘the same engineers who designed it with the notorious VTC rattle? From the same company who refuses to fix said rattle?’
I would follow the maintenance minders if any company built a reliable, long lasting vehicle these days to back it up.
I’ll keep saying it, warranties need to increase to back up a claim of improved reliability with the constant price increases. The warranties haven’t changed since I was a kid lol. Increase your warranty and I’ll follow your maintenance minder.
Lifetime fluid translates to life of the warranty. 10-15k oil changes should get you through the powertrain warranty as well. Good ideas? No.
I mostly follow the manual.
There are some things I will let go. For example, on my current vehicle, the manual states to change the cabin air filter ever 32,000km. But instead, I’m just gonna change it at the same time as the engine air filter… which is every 48,000km.
And depending on the vehicle, I may go do extra things like dropping the oil pan every 100,000 or so miles to check the oil pickup screen which I did on my old 2000 Saab 9-3.
I also may add some maintenance items if I observe something that indicates a potential problem.
On my current vehicle (2017 Ford C-Max Energi), the rear tires have gotten noisy over the past year. And when I rotated them recently, I could tell the noise was due to ‘cupping’.
Now why would that happen? Could be an alignment issue. Could be worn shocks (likely). Could be worn out wheel bearings (maybe).
And thus, I’ve added rear shocks, rear wheel bearings and an alignment as maintenance I’m likely to do in the near future.
I have decided that it’s not economical to change all 13 quarts of oil in my 12 valve Cummins every 3000 miles like Dodge suggests. After a little oil analysis sent out to the lab and I confidently run the oil out to 6-7k.
Other than that, at the factory specs, or annually for the cars that only get driven for a few months out of the year
For the Mondial: there are pages and pages of debate in the forums, but I listen to my specialist non-dealership mechanic.
For the funtodrive2020HondaCRV, I do what the dashboard tells me to do and not a whit more.
No, I go beyond it, especially on transmissions, my 2022 Hyundai recommends changing the fluid at 80,000 miles, I did it at 60k and will do it again at 120k later this year
Kind of? If I plug all my driving info into Hyundai’s app it recommends oil changes every 3,000 miles for me. To me that seems like a scam to get their dealerships more income. I don’t think any regular car needs oil changes THAT frequently.
That being said my car does live a hard and thankless life that’s filled with heavy traffic and commute related misery and it has a high strung turbocharged engine that’s not exactly known for its reliability. I only drive like 7 or 8,000 miles a year but they’re hard miles. At this point I do an oil change and tire rotation every 6 months. It’s probably overkill, but to me it’s worth the peace of mind.
Too many car companies tell me either the manual transmission never needs its oil changed, or it’s some absurdly high mileage that I’ll never hit. But I always have it changed within the first 10k of ownership so that it cleans up any of the break-in debris.
Something usually happens to my cars that means I’m doing routine fluids when I’m in there anyway. Like the calipers seize and need replacement (thanks, Obama, er, road salt). Might as well bleed the other ones since it’s ridiculously easy with a vacuum bleeder. Or the water pump starts weeping after 3 years. Coolant just got mostly changed with the new pump!
Gear oils and transmission fluids are the exceptions to that rule. Those do get changed on schedule of every 4-5 years. Amsoil Severe Gear in a light duty application for it should be fine. Same with transmission fluid after installing an auxiliary cooler that keeps temperature around 180*F or so.
I generally follow the schedule now that I have the money to do so. When I was broke and diving beaters I had to focus on getting food in my belly, so….priorities.
I usually stick to the factory (rather than dealer) recommendations for most things. My last few cars call for 10k on oil changes, but that just feels wrong – so I have that done at 5k when the tires rotation is due anyway.
I also do a post break-in early oil change at ~1000 miles – in case the engine had any leftover residue, and since there is often a tendency for fuel dilution before the rings are seated. That didn’t work out so great with the Land Cruiser 1958 I got a great deal on back in May. They oil was drained just fine, but something “went wrong” and they only filled with 0.5 quarts. It didn’t run for long, but it sounded pretty horrible.
The engine seemed okay once the oil was replenished, drove just fine for ~150 miles, and the drained oil showed no obvious contamination. I still wasn’t okay keeping a carefully broken-in, new car that knew to be compromised, since it felt more like an issue that will show itself well down the road. The dealer bought t back for what I paid, and gave me the same great deal on a LCLC Premium they had on the lot. I didn’t even look at the higher grade LCs when I bought the 1958 because they are never discounted around here.
To their credit, the dealer owned their mistake from the start and never pressured me to keep the compromised truck. What could have been a disaster ended up a win!
As mentioned yes to 5to6k for oil and yes to top tier with no ethanol for the PHEV and lawn equipment. Also take care of all filters myself. Extended factory warranty so the rest is by the book.
Somewhat. I have a 2016 Mazda6 with 91,000 or so miles.
I change the oil every 5,000 miles with Castro 0W-20 full synthetic and a Wix filter. I changed the coolant at 88,000 or so miles. Mazda recommended it at “10 years or 120,000 miles.” I don’t drive long distances on a frequent basis due to living in a small town, so I haven’t hit the 120,000 mile mark. But the car was built in August of 2015. So, I went ahead and had the coolant flush done.
Changed the spark plugs a little past due as Mazda recommended them at 75,000 miles. I did them at 83,000 or so. They still looked okay.
Mazda says the car has “lifetime transmission fluid” and never needs a transmission fluid change. I don’t like that idea, myself. So, I had that done about a month ago for peace of mind.
This car was bought new by me in October 2015 and paid off in September 2019. I really have gotten spoiled not having a car payment these last few years, so I’m trying to make this thing last.
I have both a 2014 and a 2015 Mazda 3.
You might look into it and notice that Mazda recommends 5W-30 oil everywhere in the world. They only recommend 0W20 in the US, in order to eek out a little more fuel economy to meet fleet average standards.
I used Castrol 0W-20 on the 2014’s first 190k miles, but the valvetrain was starting to get noisy. I switched to Castrol 5W-30, and the engine sounds so much better! And my fuel economy is not noticeably changed.
I changed to 5W-30 in the 2015 on the next change (96k miles), it’s top-end sounds quieter too, and I’m not going back.
Interesting! I’ve always thought that 0W-20 was an odd recommendation. It’s practically water!
I’ve been amazed at the spark plugs on every car I’ve owned made after about 2000. My first car was a 1967 Toyota and doing the distributer cap, rotor, points, plugs and condenser just seemed like something that had to be done every 15,000 miles. I remember having to replace the spark plug wires also when they went bad. Since around 2000 every ICE car I’ve owned had plugs that looked almost new at 100,000 miles. Besides fluids, there just isn’t much to do anymore!
I generally consider the factory intervals to be the bare minimum. Though I am a little flexible – reality is my e91 BMW does 1500-2K miles a year in a busy year, and it sleeps in a cozy garage for 9-10 months a year. Factory OCI is 10K/1yr/or if the computer sez change it, whichever comes first. So I don’t necessarily change the oil every year as the computer will call for, more like every other year. My e88 that sees regular use gets an annual change or sooner if the computer sez so – it never has. I also do not believe in “lifetime fill” for *anything*. That car got break-in changes of the transmission and rear-end oil when it got off the boat from Euro Delivery, and they got changed again at 40K miles. The e88 got EVERY fluid changed when I bought it at 46K as it’s a daily, and coolant and brake fluid per the factory intervals since. Those are on time intervals, not miles.
My Mercedes is nagging me for an “A5” service at the moment, this weekend if the weather cooperates. But an oil change on that car doesn’t require more than opening the hood – you suck it out the top. I may defer the air and cabin filters until cooler weather. It’s bloody hot in Florida at this point. But if I get my butt up early enough Saturday, I probably should just do it. It got transmission and diffs done last year, and the coolant with a new radiator earlier this year.
Not always.
The van calls for 5,000 mile oil changes, which is excessive for full synthetic, so I go 10k.
The Viper calls for 6 month oil changes, which is absurd for a car that’s driven 8 months a year and might rack up only 2000 miles in that time. I go annually.
Otherwise, yes mostly within reason.
Yes, only because my EV barely has service intervals, and they’re free anyway. The minor inconvenience of sitting in a waiting room for an hour and having a well-documented service history if any warranty issues do come up is worth it to me.
My old Jeep is way over the mileage of the interval chart, so I just keep tabs on the fluids and filters myself. It doesn’t get enough annual mileage to be that worried about it.
Nah, the system is too imperfect (Honda Maintenance Minder, 2015).
Oil: It ends up recommending 5-6k miles based on “measures wear and tear” (or just RPM count) but Blackstone recommends 10k+. IGNORE.
Air filter: IGNORE. I clean my K&N every 20k or so.
Cabin filter: IGNORE. I change it on the calendar, 2-3 years depending on pollen severity.
Trans fluid: IGNORE. Honda doesn’t recommend changing at all. I do a double drain-and-fill every 30k (about 300 miles between changes).
Blinker fluid: IGNORE. Honda sends me coupons for these every month but I’m pretty sure it’s just so they can sell me a new car.
I’ve generally been impressed with Honda’s Maintenance Minder since I first had it on a car in 2006, so yes, I follow that.
I will change the oil when the monitor hits 20 percent, which usually comes at 5,000 miles. I use full synthetic. I will change the transmission fluid at 50k miles on my little Cruze. I was going to do it on my Sierra, but time got away from me and had it changed at 100k miles. Had the brake fluid changed at the same time. I use Top Tier gas every time.
I think it’s a good idea, if only because of how dazzling a stack of perfect service receipts seems to be when it’s time to sell.
I always thought about that, but also realized it means I spend an extra several thousand dollars just to recoup…a couple hundred?
Similarly, looking a buyer in the eye and showing them my Excel spreadsheet, parts receipts, and oil tests? That’s also the kind of person I would like to buy from. So I’d say it goes both ways, you just have to demonstrate some effort.
I use an app, and you can export a CSV with everything in it when you go to sell. I was able to get the high end of Blue Book Private Party when I sold my Subaru with all that stuff.
Yes unless experienced/reputable shops say something different, which they sometimes do. Oil changes & direct-injection valve cleaning are things I do on my tuner’s suggested schedules over the manufacturer’s recommendations
oh, and I keep receipts/records of every service! They go in a folder that lives in the car
Follow the oil change intervals (6K miles) on all three cars I maintain. Brake fluid gets flushed during brake service, plugs on time, same with diffs, etc. I generally stray from the transmission fluid on my cars once they hit 100k because I’m still of the mindset that it’s not a good idea to do a full change at that age, I just drain the pan and backfill with fresh every oil change. I haven’t needed to replace an AT since I’ve started doing things this way, although that could have something to do with no longer owning Fords…
I should add that I change the filters at the published transmission fluid change interval.
Standard maintenance for me comes due based on time rather than miles, so I don’t have much to worry about. When I used to commute, I rarely got anywhere near the recommended interval and was typically early. I also haven’t needed any significant car repairs in over 20 years.
I live in the land of brutal winters, so I go by season. Right before winter, I do an oil change and spray some FluidFilm underneath everything and give everything a once over. The once again in the spring, after the ugly season. I don’t drive all that much, but giving everything attention before and after winter seems prudent.
I will change the oil in the fall, rather than doing it in the winter in an unheated Garage. I get it.
It also saves you from crawling under the car in the winter.
To the letter, and sometimes before.