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Originally Posted by Gilda
Ok. According to the owner's manual the computer monitors mileage and engine speed to monitor oil life. Isn't this at least an improvement over just picking a number of miles and applying that?
Part of the reason we chose the car we did is the low mainenance--the car's computer says when to take it in for service, and the services are all included for the first three years, and it's not supposed to need anything but fluids, filters and tire rotations until 100,000 miles.
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It's an improvement, but the trend of long service intervals is a worrying indication that manufacturers are willing to trade durability for convenience. The average buyer does not keep a car until it dies, and someone who is going to trade in a car or switch cars when the lease expires won't notice that they get 100,000 miles less on the engine because of increased service intervals.
The other factor is that consumers are simultaneously extraordinarily gullible and extraordinarily cynical. If they go to a dealer that tells them a car can go 10,000 miles between oil changes because it's engineered better than the one sold down the street, they're not going to believe the guy down the street when he tells them that the guy with the 10k interval is lying, because not only is he asking the customer to believe ( the counterintuitive idea) that a company is willingly selling an inferior product and claiming it to be superior because of the inferior trait, but it appears the salesman is also admitting that his product needs more upkeep to work as well as the competition. Toyota had a werious sludge problem with their 3.0L engines because they gave in to pressure from competition to increase service intervals above what was safe.
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By the way, why the higher numbers on the oil? I was told by the more mechanically inclined in my family to tell them when I took it in for the oil change to substitute 10w-30 for the recommended 5w-20 in the manual. The higher numbers are acceptable, so I did that, but I'm curious as to why?
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Another worrying trend; Manufacturers are so desparate to squeeze an extra half a mile per gallon out of their cars that they once again sacrifice engine longevity to appear better to customers. Honda does it for the efficeincy reputation, most do it out of desparation to meet CAFE regulations.
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I could ask Sissy--dad taught her all this stuff when she was like 12, but why rely on family when you can ask some stranger on the internet?
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Because I have nothing better to do.
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Originally Posted by Gilda
I did have them put in the 10w30 synthetic, as per my sister or wife's instructions (I forget which).
Gilda
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As it should be. I use 10w40 in the summer (car is 15 years old and still going strong, but I kicked it up from the reccommended 10w30 because I drive it hard) and when the temperature is going to be below freezing most of the time, I switch to 0w40, and top it off with progressivley heavier oil as it gets warmer (I burn about a quart every 1000 miles and start to top off with 15w40 then 20w50 before the spring change.)
Another benefit: heavier oils designed for diesel engines (it'll say so on the bottle) have more durable additive packages that will scrub the engine more thoroughly and protect better.