[Cautionary tale]

Dealer had put in synthetic blend on showroom floor, should I follow general rule of changing oil every 5000 miles? A good mechanic will say every 5000 but people at dealer will say 7500, I don't completely trust oil life indicators.... should I switch to complete synthetic? Spending alot more money to change at 5000 or will synthetic just last twice as long? Which one is most beneficial?

[Eric SS]

I personally do full Synthetic every 5k on my cars. You can definitely get away with longer if you want. My BMW scheduled maintenance is every 15k which I think is pushing it a bit but they seem confident and that's in a turbo application. Don't worry about the "every 3 months" thing or whatever timeline they tell you. Non-synthetic oil has been in the ground for millions of years. A few more months won't hurt it

[SpeedIsLife]

A lot of places base the "Every three months or 3,000 miles" rule of thumb based on older engines that do need the oil changed more often...that and they make money on it.

It all depends on how you're running it..running it hard with conventional oil? Yeah I'd say about every 4,000-5,000 miles. Normal, everyday driving with some spirited jaunts in there with synthetic? I'd say you could stick it to about..7,000 miles or so.

[Cautionary tale]

They put in synthetic blend and say 7500 but I think that might be pushing it.... yea just come in at 15%, wasn't even a full synthetic.... wow, a bmw with turbos every 15,000, that would be taking a very big chance....

[SS 1LE]

Me- dump the oil at around 750 miles, change to Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic or Amsoil full synthetic and change about every 9-10 months (this is not going to be my daily driver and will only see about 3000-4000 miles a year). On my daily driver, I do 7500 mile full synthetic changes. If you want to see how your oil is and such, you can spend the $25 or so and have Blackstone do an oil test...

[Cautionary tale]

Yea, gm has this thing called dexos? They claim the oil lasts longer, fewer oil changes but me being old fashioned doesn't buy in to the claim... but if they do it to save money on their early free maintenance work, might shoot em in the butt on warranty work later on unless they feel that engine will last long over warranty which may be why they went back down to 5/60 on powertrain unless u pay for it,lol... but most automakers have the same warranty...why would they want u to have a car lasting 20 yrs, just good enough for brand loyalty... I'm not cynical am i,lol?

[Cautionary tale]

Originally Posted by SUMMIT WHITE SS

Me- dump the oil at around 750 miles, change to Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic and change about every 9-10 months (this is not going to be my daily driver and will only see about 3000-4000 miles a year). On my daily driver, I do 7500 mile full synthetic changes. If you want to see how your oil is and such, you can spend the $25 or so and have Blackstone do an oil test...

yea but is the pennzoil "dexos"

[SS 1LE]

Originally Posted by Cautionary tale

yea but is the pennzoil "dexos"

Seems so, but the whole dexos things is just an approval certification that the oil companies have to pay for. It's IMO pretty dumb...

[Glen e]

Originally Posted by Cautionary tale

Yea, gm has this thing called dexos? They claim the oil lasts longer, fewer oil changes but me being old fashioned doesn't buy in to the claim...

"Dexos" is IS A GM RATING - MANY OILS ARE DEXOS APPROVED. The dexos that gm refers to when doing your car is a syn blend, not a true synthetic. Mobil 1 is a full synthetic, is a "dexos" oil as you can see the label here. My dealer puts in Mobil 1 NO CHARGE for the two free oil changes you get with the camaro.:


DEXOS explained here:

http://dexosadmin.com/aboutdexos.html

[SuperSound]

From the owners manual:

Engine oil meeting the dexos1
™ specification of the proper SAE viscosity grade. AC Delco dexos1 Synthetic Blend is recommended.

Failure to use the recommended
engine oil or equivalent can result
in engine damage not covered by
the vehicle warranty.

Definitely get Dexos1 approved oil regardless. I was surprised to see it is not full synthetic factory fill.

[HDRDTD]

http://www.gmdexos.com/owner/brands/

[Tr6]

Originally Posted by Glen e

"Dexos" is IS A GM RATING - MANY OILS ARE DEXOS APPROVED. The dexos that gm refers to when doing your car is a syn blend, not a true synthetic. Mobil 1 is a full synthetic, is a "dexos" oil as you can see the label here. My dealer puts in Mobil 1 NO CHARGE for the two free oil changes you get with the camaro.:


DEXOS explained here:

http://dexosadmin.com/aboutdexos.html

Thank you for another informative posts Glen.

Factory first fill is a dexos 5-30. I will be switching to Mobil 1 5-30 full synthetic though as I prefer Mobil 1 and used it for AGES. The difference full synthetic vs non is HUGE on the engines. I even use full synthetic on my f150 as well as the malibu.

[Cautionary tale]

Originally Posted by SpeedIsLife

A lot of places base the "Every three months or 3,000 miles" rule of thumb based on older engines that do need the oil changed more often...that and they make money on it.

It all depends on how you're running it..running it hard with conventional oil? Yeah I'd say about every 4,000-5,000 miles. Normal, everyday driving with some spirited jaunts in there with synthetic? I'd say you could stick it to about..7,000 miles or so.

well yea they can make money on it but if they convince a person not knowledgeable about cars to do oil every 10,000 on older car out of warranty, wouldn't they make more,lol

[Cautionary tale]

Originally Posted by Tr6

Thank you for another informative posts Glen.

Factory first fill is a dexos 5-30. I will be switching to Mobil 1 5-30 full synthetic though as I prefer Mobil 1 and used it for AGES. The difference full synthetic vs non is HUGE on the engines. I even use full synthetic on my f150 as well as the malibu.

Thanks for the tip, Mobil 1 or pennzoil are good names, but I bet unless I tell him, they will put in blend to save money for the dealership.... and even if I tell him and he says ok, might try to dupe me,lol