15,000 mile maintenance

[Z71]

Why pay hard earned money on senseless oil changes when an extended drain alternatives exist? Why is so hard to believe that a synthetic oil can 10,000, 15,000 or even 25,000 miles in the meantime saving the environment through less oil dumped?

Cheap insurance is wasting money.

[Dirk]

I've worked on both sides of the fence, for a dealership running a service dept and for the car manufacture, so I've seen plenty of true life horror stories of people taking the claims written on the synth. oil cans as gospel.

Story of 2 cars:
(1) Owner purchased new car, at 500 miles replaced oil with synth (top shelf) oil. Vehicle was towed to the dealership at ~18K miles as the engine stalled and would not restart. Upon inspection, engine was seized. Oil was pure sludge. Owner had to purchase a new engine. [Oil company would not take responsibility...car manufacture would not take responsibility as he didn't do the required maintenance]. I did authorize the car manufacture a 50/50 split with the owner purely for cust. satisfaction.

(2) Owner purchased a new car. She drove ~200 miles a day of highway driving. She brought the car in for oil change every 3,500 miles. At 108K miles she had her first repair. The headlight blew out. 2+ years of driving and not spending a single dollar past oil changes, air filters and brakes at 80k.

Since the headlight was her first "repair"...the manufacture replaced the bulb for customer satisfaction. Seems like good insurance to me

[crystal_red]

Sorry Dirk, but that's BS. I have owned 3 cars all bought new and used nothing but Amsoil Synthetic. I change oil once per year or every 15K. I have sold 2 of them and had the engines checked for wear. There was NO discernible engine wear at all. I also know folks that have NEVER changed oil and are still driving cars with well over 100K on them by simply adding a quart every so often as needed! There is something terribly wrong with an engine that seizes at 18K from the oil (or lack thereof) that was used. I would hazard a guess and say that the oil pump failed or was failing which allowed the oil to 'sludge' up and the engine parts to seize up.
I am not saying that you are lying, just that this is bad and incomplete information.

[JackB]

I have to agree with crystal red. I have owned many cars over the years including 11 Cadillacs and oil problems would make the bottom of the list when it comes to car problems. I also know people that have run cars with no oil changes but just adding oil when needed. I would not do that but the "it is good insurance" line over the years is basically just wasting money in my opinion. Follow the DIC and you will be fine. Everyone that has owned cars for a while should ask themselves just how many people they know that traded in their car because the oil failed and ruined the engine. I would suspect it would be hard to find anyone.
My last DHS I traded for the CTS is a good example. I had 145K on the car and planned on keeping it for another year or so. I ran Walmart dino oil and the Northstar ran fine but i experienced the head gasket problem which prompted the trade. If that did not get me it would of been things like the heated seats failing, torque converter lock up solenoid going bad, stability system notice etc. Usually a multiple of little things that end up causing us to pull the trigger on a replacement vehicle. Problems with engine because oil was changed at 10,000 rather than 3,000 miles...not going to happen.

[Alpet]

Originally Posted by 2laidback

In my humble opinion: If you are a low mileage driver. Once a year wether you need it or not. I don't care what the DIC says I don't exceed 6,500 miles. Oil change with fresh mobil1 is a good insurance.

I totally agree, I drive about 8K a year, drastically down from 25K from my previous job, & now change oil & rotate tires once a year.

[Dirk]

Crystal_red....You may be right about the oil pump, but doubtful as a faulty pump causes lack of pressure and will cause the engine to sieze. With lots of nasty metal pieces everywhere . But the oil would still be fluid, not sludge. Sludge is caused by particles getting suspended within the oil molecules.

The reason I recommend to the forum to be dillegent about changing the oil is not that the oil it self will breakdown, but that the engine wears causing metal bearing particles and piston ring particles and other gasket materials to be suspended in the oil. These don't make for good lubricants. The oil filter tries to catch all it can...and part of changing the oil is changing the filter.

Simply, the cleaner the oil the better it is for the engine and you will less likely have wear issues as the engine gets older.

Just advice....