dreamhonracer

What you guys think about the once per year or when Service Due is lit approach regarding oil changes? I am not used to changing oil once a year and am very uncomfortable doing so. My car is 5 months old and at 60% Oil Life. At this rate, I don't think Service Due will be lit within 12 months. I would rather change oil every 6 months. But if I reset oil life prematurely, all the other maintenance sub items will be whacked and inaccurate ( I think)

Alperovich

if they are feeding synthetic oil, its really good for 12k or 12months. i think they run a filter which also supports this.

you should have no problems changing the oil early if u like.

bmode

I was told your driving habits and conditions have a huge bearing on your oil life expectancy so I'd add that in, and also that changing oil early is never a bad thing despite what the percentages indicate.

GearDriven

My P-car is rated for 20,000 mile/2 years oil changes, so don't sweat it.

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

The computer factors in a lot of algorithms based on your driving habits/idle time/highway time, etc. There is also a special additive from the factory, so I believe it is proper to wait for the MID to tell you to do the first change. I wouldn't go sooner.

lpe387tt

^^^^^
Ditto!!!!!!!!!

As much as it kills me not to change the oil earlier or every 6 months (new generation cars), I would wait for the car to tell you when to do it.

KeithL

I was a religious 3K mile man until my TL, I do it at 30% on the MMS which for me is about 5K miles. I use only Synthetic and I still don't think I would go much over 6K miles or 6 months regardless of the MMS. The probelm with oil sitting is all the additives wear with age as well then you wind up with oil that sits with contaminents in it etching at your internal parts. I'm sure modern oils are great improvement and I figure $20-$30 for a few oil changes a year to protect a $42K investment....

dreamhonracer

Don't you think it will affect the other sub item maintenances? For example: If i change oil 6 months with average of 3k miles. The sub item for air filter will turn on at 15k miles. It will take me 2.5 years to reach 15k miles. Doesn't that mean I won't be changing air filter until 2.5 yrs later? It seems really late. If air filter is based on mileage only, it won't be accurate because I can be in stop and go traffic most of time for the last 2.5 years and that doesn't mean the air filter is not being used just because the car is not moving.

My other questions is whether reseting the oil life prematurely (before 5%) will affect other maintenance codes?

KeithL

At the end of the day the MMS is a best guess, I never leave it as my sole source. I do air filter around 12-15K or 12 months whether MMS tells me or not.