[GTO]

Image Source - DIY BMW Oil Change

The quality of oil is key to a smooth, efficient & powerful engine. Simply put, if there is only one thing you'll do for your engine, use good oil & change it on time.

What oil change interval do you stick to? I think 10,000 kms is the sweet spot. Not too early, nor too late. I stick to 10,000 kms for a synthetic oil change on my cars. I don't use mineral oil, but if I did, I'd probably change earlier.

15,000 kms oil change recommendations have become popular in the last decade. Sorry, but I don't agree with them. If I ever buy a car with a 15k service interval, I'll change the oil at my own cost at the 7.5k mark (thus keeping the interval even). 15,000 kms is simply too much for India's stressful driving conditions (short distances, stop & go traffic, low average speeds, dusty environment, extreme heat etc.). 15k intervals were introduced mainly by European manufacturers to shed that 'high on maintenance' image they suffer from.

Related Thread - Your favourite engine oil?

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Technical Stuff!

[saket77]

I change my Zen's engine oil between 5-6K kms or 1.5 years, whichever is earlier. Since my car is a low mileage car as I was away from it for a while, it has seen most oil changes based on the time frame rather than the kms clocked. I normally use mineral oil (Castrol Magnatec). While manufacturers recommend changing oil in a year's time frame, but I generally do it around 1.5 years. However, I make it a point to check the physical condition of the oil on the dipstick once it crosses 1 year mark. However, I have never found it deteriorated so much that I needed a change before 1.5 years.

The addition to my garage, the Civic, will be dealt on similar lines too except for the OEM synthetic oil. I would go bankrupt if I follow Honda's service/inspection schedule of 3 months

Regards,
Saket.

[arunphilip]

Voted 7-10k for the same reasons GTO outlined - too much start/stop travel, idling and crawling in the city, etc. My mental calculation is to halve the recommended oil change interval.

Honestly, we need an engine running time gauge (like some cars have) and use a rule of "x hours of running / y kms covered, whichever is earlier" type of recommendation.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by saket77

Since my car is a low mileage car as I was away from it for a while, it has seen most oil changes based on the time frame rather than the kms clocked.

That's a very good point ! I also change the Jeep's oil once a year although it touches nowhere close to 10,000 kms in that time.

[Viju]

Nice thread.

I use a 2007 Honda Odyssey for which Honda recommends an oil change every 5,000 km. I have a daily commute of 80 km and with some weekend drives, I hit the 5,000 km really soon. Though I don't mind the extra expenditure, it is a bit inconvenient to go to the ASC / after-market shop to buy oil / filter every 60 - 70 days. The oil filter also needs to be replaced every 10,000 km.

Hence what I have decided to do is - use the best quality synthetic oil I can buy from the aftermarket. Buy a genuine Honda oil filter. Replace every 10,000 km.

Since I service the car myself, I don't need to take an appointment at the ASC either.

I live in Japan and rarely use the car in traffic. The temperatures are not extreme, and dust is non-existent. My daily commute involves winding village roads with low speeds, but very few stops. Hence I think my strategy should hold good for my pre-owned Odyssey, even now, after 1,10,000 km. Fingers crossed.

Voting for Option 3!

[Rahul Bhalgat]

I check the oil at 8000 km. So far, I have always found the oil in the acceptable condition at 8000 km check. So I have been changing the oil at 10,000 km.

Even at 10,000 km, the oil appears to be ok. But I do not take chance.

I make it a point to be present during the oil change and I collect and inspect the drained oil. For my petrol car (SX4 VVT), the oil drained at 10,000 km could have lasted for another 1000 - 1500 km. But there is no point is stressing the oil that far.

I have been using Shell Helix (Maruti Suzuki Genuine Oil) till 30,000 and then switched to Castrol Magnatec.

[VeyronSuperSprt]

I have cars that I use purely for long distance - and another set of cars purely for city drives. I use the 15K service interval for the long distance drivers as they are 99.9% long distance drivers (my 2 skodas). The only city drive they have is for filling in diesel / checking air before a trip and wheel alignment or service visits . And of course leaving and entering a city. They have done about 65000 kms (Rapid) and 46000 kms (1.8 TSI). If they were subject to city use, I probably would use a different interval. But I believe none of the Germans should be used for extensive city use and much less purely city commutes. The Rapid does 15K in about 9 to 10 months and 1.8TSI a little longer.

The city drivers are filled in on the basis of 1 year in which they probably do only about 3 to 4000 kms max. So the oil would be changed within 1 year regardless of the kms run.

[avira_tk]

I change the oil around 7.5k kms on my punto MJD. Next week at 90k service it'll be the twelfth change, last time I couldn't get that air filter cleaned at the garage, I guess there is some sluggishness due to that. 15k is just a marketing gimmick because wear and tear is not covered by warranty.

[saion666]

I change the oil for my A-star once a year, that is also the only time that the car visits the service center in a year (for the last 5 years).

Although the service advisor advices not to change the oil since the car has never crossed more than 6000 km in a year, I still get it done.

As for my two wheeler, a Suzuki Access, I use it extensively and specially in city traffic, I make it a point to change the oil every 5 months.

[abirnale]

Precisely what manufacturer recommends. What's the point not following their recommended schedule? Anything overshoot or ahead of time? The logic I follow i - they know their machine better than us. Since my usage is a typical, nothing straining just stick to the manufacturer recommended one.

On my older car I used to do every 5-7K Kms. I did not find anything extraordinarily great anyway.

The manufacturers know their products better than the customers. My erstwhile Linea's oil change interval was 15 k km/1 year, whichever is earlier and the present XUV 500's, it is 20 k km without any time limit, which I follow scrupulously. Of course, my cars always carry spare oil for topping up. So, I voted for 'Whatever the manufacturer recommends'.

[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

My next scheduled visit to the dealer will be for the first service at 30K km or 2 years. So if I do not face any issues, I will probably be visiting the dealer only once during the lease period.

That's a Skoda Octavia Combi 1.6 TDi. That's the service interval in some parts of Europe. That's double of what they serve here in India.

Originally Posted by GTO

15,000 kms oil change recommendations have become popular in the last decade. Sorry, but I don't agree with them. If I ever buy a car with a 15k service interval, I'll change the oil at my own cost at the 10k mark. 15,000 kms is simply too much for India's stressful driving conditions (short distances, stop & go traffic, low average speeds, dusty environment, extreme heat etc.). 15k intervals were introduced mainly by European manufacturers to shed that 'high on maintenance' image they suffer from.

I don't think the Europeans did this to shed the high maintenance image. I think synthetic oil technology has moved on. Even if the conditions here in India are twice as worse than that of Europe, it's still even. Let's also consider the fact that the engines there take a longer time to warm up than here in India( not a big difference though) or the fact that Germany's autobahns push the cars there to atleast 80% of the engine's capability.
Yes, the conditions here are bad. But if manufacturers can give a 15k / 1 year interval with utter confidence plus warranty, I don't think we should be worrying about this. The fact is I've never heard of any European engine seizing because of engine wear and tear due to this 15k interval.
Yes, it may extend the life of an engine from 3 lakh kms to maybe 4 or 5 lakh kms. But who even keeps their car for so long? Taxi drivers? Yes. Normal commuters? Handful.
I maybe wrong though.
Regards
Turbohead

[dhanushs]

The cars that I use frequently - The Manza, I change it before it hits the 10k. So, I'd -vote for 7.5k - 10k interval.

All the other cars, the Fiesta, The ikon, The Palio once a year.

The Jeep - Well, I try to change it at every 3-5k, but some or the other reason crops up and the oil gets changed much much before. Especially the gear oil and diff oil life is typically one water crossing.

The Pick Up - Well, the MDi turbo goes as per manufacturer recommended intervals.

[libranof1987]

I follow the change-oil-based-on time-frame-than-kms-clocked logic since both my cars run much less than 10k kms/year.

Honda recommends 5k kms/6 months for the City but we generally end up taking the car in the 7/8th month, although it typically clocks only 3k ish kms by then.

Hyundai recommends 10k kms/1 yr for the i20 so we take it in at the one year mark; although it barely runs 5-6k kms.