Oil Change Question

im20agn · #1 (**permalink**) 10-03-05, 03:40 PM

Have a new 05 CTS it has 1200 miles on it. I'm going to be taking a road trip with it in November. By the time I leave, it will have about 2000 miles on it. Should I change the oil before I leave, or somtime during the trip after 3000 miles. The total road trip will be about 3500 miles.

HSD100 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-03-05, 03:49 PM

You'll be fine until you get back from your trip. I've found oil changes are needed between 6 and 7 thousand miles. As long as you'll be driving under "normal driving conditions" you won't have any problems. Keep an eye on your DIC for reassurance.

CTS V6 3.6 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-03-05, 03:54 PM

PODunk · #4 (**permalink**) 10-03-05, 03:55 PM

There must be as many different opinions as there are folks that own cars, about oil change intervals. I have always changed the oil when the DIC tells me to. GM went to a lot of trouble to design this feature, and I find that it works very well. I always went by the DIC on my Corvette and that is what I plan to do on our CTS. Anything more (like every 3K miles) seems like a waste of oil and time to me. I'm sure there are going to be differing opinions on this!

rydr2 · #5 (**permalink**) 10-03-05, 04:09 PM

Do the trip and not worry about the oil. I have done a 3,000 miles trip last month and now have 6,000 miles on my 05CTS and still shows 55% oil life.

tomm · #6 (**permalink**) 10-03-05, 05:19 PM

Yeah, I have 8000 miles and I still have 25% left on the DIC. I only own cars for a few years and as long as its under warranty I will do what my dealer says and their suggestion was to only bring it in when the car tells me to.

SuperCrew · #7 (**permalink**) 10-03-05, 05:47 PM

I agree with the rest. My 04 came stock with Mobil 1 synthetic oil, which allows you to go longer between oil changes ( Iassume the newer ones do as well). This bascially means you could very comfortably go 10,000 miles on an oil change. Call the dealer to see what they recommend, I think they say what you're seeing here, but I am a little uncertain about the first oil change - i know many people say get that one done early to remove any shavings in the oil pan from the new engine break in. Don't know if that rule still applies or not.

Hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip.

TX_SS · #8 (**permalink**) 10-03-05, 06:00 PM

i would def change the oil befo the trip.i always do my first oil change @ 1500 miles and 5000-7500 miles after that or every 4 months interverals..

ps i dont follow on DIC.. just dont trust the computer. DIPSTICK is what i go by..