Oil changes: dealership or generic oil change place? And how often?

[SteamingFish]

I bought my new 2004 Passat (with turbo) a year ago. Six months ago, I brought it in to the dealer for its first oil change, but they said to come back when I have 5000 miles, which I did this morning. A coworker who was a mechanic for nine years at both types of places said it's a waste of money to bring it in to the dealership and also that you should change the oil every three months or 3000 miles without question. I certainly don't have the expertise to argue with the guy, but why would the dealership turn me away when they could have gouged me then AND now, instead of just now? Also, isn't it worth it for them to do all the extra checks they do? Or am I just foolishly paying for peace of mind? I have no idea how much it will actually cost. What do you guys think?

[RunDownHouse]

I do every 3k miles, period. As far as I'm aware motor oil doesn't break down over any sort of short time period, so I don't know why you'd need new oil if you'd only driven your car 500 miles in three months.

[Shajen]

depends.

on the oil (some new synthetics are good for 5k miles

on the dealer's mechanics.

on the make and model of your vehicle

etc, etc.

[teamdonkey]

people who make money from you changing your oil recommend you change it every 3000 miles. People who don't, don't. Read the owner's manual for your car. The manual for my Accord recommends every 9k miles or so, my wife's Mini recommends longer than that. I imagine each car is different, but my guess is 3k is unnecessary for any car bought in the last 15 years.

[TeeJayORTj]

[ QUOTE ]
people who make money from you changing your oil recommend you change it every 3000 miles. People who don't, don't. Read the owner's manual for your car. The manual for my Accord recommends every 9k miles or so, my wife's Mini recommends longer than that. I imagine each car is different, but my guess is 3k is unnecessary for any car bought in the last 15 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I agree. For my Civic the manual says I think like 6K miles or 6 months. I usually try to bring mine in around 4500-5K. Also most of my miles are highway so I think that makes changing the oil every 3K even more pointless.

Also if you only drive you car 1K miles over 6 months it is good to change the oil it can get stagnant and go bad.

[benza13]

My dad got a BMW 535 or something last year and they recommended 15k miles between changes. This was due to the synthetics used and everything. He still changes it every 5k. I usually go 3-4k on my Jeep.

[imported_The Vibesman]

[ QUOTE ]
people who make money from you changing your oil recommend you change it every 3000 miles. People who don't, don't. Read the owner's manual for your car. The manual for my Accord recommends every 9k miles or so, my wife's Mini recommends longer than that. I imagine each car is different, but my guess is 3k is unnecessary for any car bought in the last 15 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

True.

I've never had an oil change done anywhere. It takes about fifteen minutes to change the oil and oil filter in a car and it's not rocket science. At most dealerships this shouldn't even void your warranty, tons of Americans do their own oil changes.

[BoogerFace]

For my gf's 2002 Passat 1.8L Turbo, the correct answer is 6 months/5,000 miles and get the synthetic oil. Conventional oil can result in the 'engine sludge' problem.

[vulturesrow]

Some of the answer has to do with what kind of driving you generally do. Lots of stopping and starting tends to break the oil down more quickly, whereas long highway type drives where you are more or less at a constant speed are a little easier on the engine and the oil. But generally speaking, the 3000 mile guideline is a bit outdated unless you are driving an older car.

[swede123]

I change my own oil, mostly. It takes about twenty minutes in all and you can ensure the stuff is done right (which may or may not be the case at Jiffylube or whatever).

The 3000 miles or 3 months thing is a great example of (false) marketing actually becoming a popularly accepted "truth." Why on Earth would the engineers at Honda only mention 7500 mile intervals on oil changes if there was some compelling reason to go with 3000 miles.

Basically, for most cars subjected to normal driving conditions 10000 miles is probably a pretty reasonable number. Of course you should do what you feel comfortable doing, so keep the grease monkeys of the world fat and happy, and change that perfectly good oil whenever they tell ya to.

Swede

[SippinSoma]

Read your car manual.

[Blarg]

The 3,000 miles isn't because your car will really always need it then -- a check of the oil could show it to be relatively clean and non-gritty. But it's still not as good as really fresh, because what you're really doing is not correcting a problem necessarily but investing in what's comparatively really cheap maintenance. Oil changes are unbelievably cheap compared to dealing with the issues that can arise from not doing it when it's needed. Think of it as insurance.

And oil check places generally do lubing and fix other fluid levels in your car, too. For 20 of 25 bucks, it's well worth it.

HOWEVER -- some of the guys who work there can be real jerks, retarded, or both. DO NOT TRUST THEM, but do checks on your own.

I used to go to this Jiffy Lube, stubbornly thinking next time would be different, next crew on my car would be different, etc. I think maybe they were more racist than incompetent. but who knows.

Anyway, 3 out of 5 times, my fuel pump hose wasn't connected properly when I drove away. Very soon after leaving their lot, an overwhelming smell of gasoline came into the car. Such that I was sure if there were a spark, I would have immediately gone up in flames in the driver's seat. Each time, I pulled over(once in the freeway I couldn't pull over for quite a while, it was pretty worrisome) and saw that my fuel pump line was not connected properly or had come loose entirely, spewing gasoline all over the hot engine. I consider myself lucky those guys didn't cause my car to explode or maybe kill me. And they did it over and over. No other Jiffy Lube ever did that, yet these guys did it repeatedly? And it was such a completely bleeding obvious and important thing like putting on the fuel pump hose properly?

Whether they did it because they were racist or retarded(I find it hard to believe anyone is that retarded), they put my car and my life on the line. (By the way, they also cost me some gas.) Be careful you're with good, responsible mechanics. The bad ones will fu__ you up.

[ QUOTE ]
I change my own oil, mostly. It takes about twenty minutes in all and you can ensure the stuff is done right (which may or may not be the case at Jiffylube or whatever).

The 3000 miles or 3 months thing is a great example of (false) marketing actually becoming a popularly accepted "truth." Why on Earth would the engineers at Honda only mention 7500 mile intervals on oil changes if there was some compelling reason to go with 3000 miles.

Basically, for most cars subjected to normal driving conditions 10000 miles is probably a pretty reasonable number. Of course you should do what you feel comfortable doing, so keep the grease monkeys of the world fat and happy, and change that perfectly good oil whenever they tell ya to.

Swede

[/ QUOTE ]

3k miles was appropriate back in the day. The newer cars do not need to be changed that frequently, but the industry relies on the past truths to help sell more [censored].

The best way to see how often you should change your oil is to look at the oil. If it still looks rather light, you're changing it too often; if it looks like a Russian Imperial Stout, you're not changing it often enough. Driving conditions determine how often you should change your oil.

Why are they [censored] with your fuel lines for an oil change?

[vulturesrow]

[ QUOTE ]
Why are they [censored] with your fuel lines for an oil change?

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably because Blarg is an obnoxious know it all who probably tried to tell them how to do their job. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Blarg]

LOL. Hardly. I sit in the room reading a magazine and don't even see what they're doing. Or walk around outside and find some place to get a coke. I don't even see the guys who are doing it normally or talk to them. I pay my money to the cashier and am polite as hell, and mind my own business.

I am one of the few white guys in the neighborhood, though, and I've received some very hard looks walking into Hispanic-only shops in the area.

[Blarg]

They check the fluid levels and do lubrication of something like 20 points in your car when they do an oil change at Jiffy Lube, and pretty much the same at Jiffy Lube imitators, too. They get all over your car, even vaccumming it and leaving a ton of Armor All splooge all over your dashboard and steering wheel even if you tell them not to.

[kenberman]

I had a buddy who worked at jiffy lube when he was about 16, and he is about the least mechanically oriented guy I know.at jiffy lube, this did NOT make him unique.

he told me some war stories about car's they screwed up...emptying the brake fluid by accident, filling up the wrong container in the car...I mean REALLY basic stuff that they screwed up.

I generally prefer going to an independent gas station/auto mechanic to have it done. maybe a few extra bucks, but they knew what they are doing.