Prematurely? Changing Oil & Filter

[BruceandBobbi]

Prickly to some. Loved by others.

You don't see my PM's. Never had a negative one.....Yet.

My last word on it.

[ron2503]

Clearly, I don't do many kilometres, most of which are touring, rural km's - no towing, etc. At the 12 months dealer service - due early November - I'll probably have only around 7,000 on the clock anyway (less than half of the recommended 15,000).

Thank you all for very helpful advice - as I said previously; it's all on board.

Cheers . . .

I dream of doing 15,000 in 12 months. I'm lucky if I pass 6 months before clocking up 15,000. Though over the last few months, with not being able to get out and about and not socialising on weekends, I may actually string it out to 12 months for once.

[WHID]

I'm lucky if I pass 6 months before clocking up 15,000.

Clearly, you are extracting much better value from your car than I am mine, Ron.

Good for you - I have a petrol, city sedan for around town, so I have to cast around for country trips in order to get the Paj. Sport out. Not always easy when the fishin' season is closed and the lakes, which are 'open', have a freezin' cold gale blowin' across 'em. Brrr!

Cheers . . .

[BruceandBobbi]

Sorry chaps.

I didn't mean to start a 'flame fight'. Sometimes, the written word has difficulty conveying the intended message.

Go well . . . WHID

No flame fight mate. Just fun.
Hope you are able to soon get out more in you Sport.

[OzzyRookie]

What does the manufacturer state with regards to vehicles operating under severe driving conditions . Seems a lot of owners are ill informed of these conditions . Manufacturers agents should always be using genuine oil filters but will always use their compatible bulk engine oils unless requested otherwise. I get my annual services done at dealer using genuine DPF Mitsubishi oil as the SQL is very important. Intermediate 6 month services are done at home with genuine oil and filter . Peace of mind maybe but i have never encountered an issue by servicing old school .

[WHID]

What does the manufacturer state with regards to vehicles operating under severe driving conditions.

I'm on a similar page as you Ozzy.

In "Severe Usage", MMAL Maintenance Schedule says that one should double the frequency of oil changes i.e. 6 months or 7,500km; whichever comes first.

Save about <5% of my very low kilometres travelled, nothing I do could be classified as 'severe'.

This time round, I am going to leave an intermediate oil change. I'm thinking that an intermediate oil change will be on the cards when I get to 18 months beyond purchase. I will probably have done only about 10k km by then. In the meantime, I'll do the 12 month dealer service come November. Kilometres travelled will never be part of the equation for me I'm afraid - time based services only.

When/if I live long enough to sell the car, someone will have a very well looked after, over-serviced car on their hands.

Cheers . . .

[CountP]

If anyone thinks doing an intermediate service is OCD. Our Polo purchased with a Zupps warranty gets serviced every 6 months regardless of kilometres. So it gets an oil change every 3000ish kilometres. I am honestly worried they are going to wear out the thread on the oil pan.

[JohnFromPerth]

Oil change intervals have been widely discussed on other pages of this forum.
Seems a general consensus is that 7500km or six months is a good compromise.
15000km or 12 months is probably ok if the vehicle does long runs with light loads.
Stop start driving and short runs are hard on oil as it never gets up to temperature to drive off absorbed water and other volatile nasties.
Use a genuine or well known brand of filter. Cheap no brand or house brand filters can burst under pressure or have poor filtration material. You get what you pay for.
Be careful tightening the sump plug. It is a steel plug in a soft aluminium sump, so there is a danger of stripping the thread out of the aluminium.