i was just wondering when i need an oil change on my 03 tls. I just hit 3000 miles. In my other car, i changed oil every 3000 miles...is it the same with this car>? How does the whole scheduled maintenance work for bringing it to the dealer?

 

7000 miles. read your manual.

 

I change mine every 5K miles

 

3000 miles is a conventional answer.... don't follow it, you have to consider the following factors:

1. Is is synthetic or regular oil
2. What kind of oil filter
3. Driving conditions (highway or city, mixture?)
4. For How long the oil was in your car.
5. What does your manual says
6. When do you plan to sell your car, do you lease?

 

All of the maintenance questions are answered in the manual. The recommended interval (on standard oil) is anywhere from 3000 to 7500 miles depending on your driving style and type (highway vs. city). The manual also goes over the recommended dealer services and at which miles to do what service. You can also get a brochure from the dealer outlining what the services do... when to get them and their fees....

 

oops this was meant to be a rply to another message. I meant to reply to ColdFusionTL's oil "change" thread? ... oh well.

I used to change my oil every 3k, but now I do it every 3750...which is half of the service interval. Basically I remember the old rule of 3k / 3 months, but every 3k seems a bit much esp. since it's harder to keep track of. 3750 is half of the "service" intervals so it's a little easier to remember.

I've heard BMW/Audi's go for like 15,000 or so depending on an internal sensor. Is it safe to keep oil in your car past 3 months? especially with all that acid and gunk that winds up in the oil?

 

be careful of literature from the dealer. sometimes they add extra services with a corresponding increase in price. go by the manual. if anything goes wrong (particularly something that warranty should cover) you have the recommended services outlined right there in the manufacturer's literature. just be sure to keep your receipts. better yet, use Honda's OWNER LINK on their website to track all of your services. i'm sure Acura's website has something similar.

even though my 2003 Accord manual clearly states 5,000 mile intervals (and that's the severe schedule i'm following - the standard intervals are 10,000 miles now), one dealer was insisting i go in for 3,000 mile oil changes. the GM even went so far as to say that they might not honor warranty repair issues if i only changed my oil every 5,000. :thefinger: we'll see about that. and . . . the dealer's literature had a costly timing belt inspection every 60,000 for the new 4cyl. when i pointed out it now had a timing chain his repsonse was they still need to tear into it and inspect it! i bought my car from a different dealer....

 

Change it! I asssume this would be ur first oil change. After that, every 3k to 7k. My first oil change was less than 2k miles. The car drives alot better.

 

I dun see y you have to change ur oil in the 3 month interval If you dun drive that much. Over 6 months i'd be worry about.

 

I do Blackstone Labs oil analysis, and I use Mobil 1 5W-30.

I used to have a six-month limit on my oil changes, but after getting back such strong numbers (particularly for TBN- a "life" indicator for oil), I'm moving out to 6000 miles (from 4500), or 9 months (from 6). I may extend further, and note that I don't drive the car too much- that's nearly all city miles in hot, humid Orlando.

I'm actually considering just going to 9 months, and up to 10000 miles, and monitoring the oil (visually) more closely.

In fact, they also clued me into the fact that 4000 mile changes on my 23 year old, original engine (never rebuilt) Z28 might be too frequent. And, this for a car that sees some HARD driving!


SoCal is a pretty easy environment for an engine (not too cold, not too hot), so you should be easily safe at 5000 mile minimum.

The oil bases and additives package are a lot better than they used to be. Sure, you can always apply the "too rich or too thin" argument to oil changes, but I'd prefer to conserve the resources (both natural resources, and financial- my money!)

Todd

 

I do mine every 4000 miles............I think its overkill to do it anymore often than that. Plus the fact that I don't plan on having this car for more than 50k anyways, I don't see it running into any trouble.

My 330i only requires an oil change every 15k?? That seems really weird to me but that is what the dealer is telling me. How is this possible?

 

I'll merge them together....

BTW... with the Redline Oil I use I change every 8k-10k.....

 

It either monitors the driving pattern or condition, either way it tells you when to change the oil. At least that is what I've been told.

 

i get my cars done every 3750... i mean i get a free every other oil change so the first one was free for me. it makes me feel better though that i dont have to wait til 7500 to get it done. im still just mentally used to 3000miles for the change

 

3750 first change. manuel says. go for a change now.