DIY Oil change between servicing? Worthwhile

[TheArchitect]

I do about 30k+ a year in my own car which has a warranty and servicing plan. Is it worthwhile me giving the car extra oil changes at 6k between services? Its not a highly strung tuner car just a 2.2 diesel mazda 6.

Cheers

[Escy]

Are you going to keep it for long? If not, I wouldn't bother.

[steveo3002]

yeah id do it on a keeper , no point if selling before it hits 100k or so

[TheArchitect]

Its a keeper as im planning on putting anout 90k min on it. Time to find a decent supplier of oil and filters that wont stand out.

[Ozzie Osmond]

6,000 mile oil change on a car that's doing 30,000 a year is IMO an utter and complete waste of time and money. I've got a car on nearly 200,000 miles which has never had an "extra" oil change and is still faultless.

This is classic material for PH driving myths.

[Willy Nilly]

The only way to know what state the oil in is to get it analysed (sp). If you're doing a relatively high annual mileage the engine will spend more time at operating temperature. A 6000 mile oil change is hardly 200 engine hours which a very short interval, a modern engine on modern oils should go to 500 hours no problem.

[trickywoo]

If you are only keeping it 3 years and 90k miles standard servicing will be fine.

In reality it will more than likely be fine for 200k +

[ToothbrushMan]

would it make any difference if the use was short stop starts from cold or long days behind the wheel type journeys?

if its the latter then i dont think its worth it but if its the former then i would consider it good practice as the oils never getting to its optimum temp and more wear will occur at start up. maybe draining the oil changing the filter and fitting fresh can extend its life in these situations as you are removing the tiny particles of cold start wear. also extends the life of the turbo bearings too i would have thought.....

[Barchettaman]

If it's using 5w30 I wouldn't bother, that stuff is excellent and will cope with that mileage no problem providing you're not doing exclusively short trips from cold.

Do you know how difficult it is to change the filter on that engine? Filter change on the Fiat/GM 1.9 diesel is a pig, apparently the new 2.0 in the Insignia is even worse to get to. That would be a factor in the decision for me. As it is I have to take my cars to the Mietwerkstatt here as I need more access underneath to change the bloody filters than a driveway can provide.

[triggerh4ppy]

definately will help you from occuring turbo issues but 6000 is a bit too frquent I think 10000 is recomended on most turbo diesels

[andy-xr]

It's a 4 year old Mazda with 70k already on it according to your profile, and you're talking about taking it to 160k. Oil wont really be the issue, it'll be pumps, clutch and clunks from random areas, I'd stick with recommended service intervals and save the oil money for when something else breaks

[BritishRacinGrin]

Ozzie Osmond said:

6,000 mile oil change on a car that's doing 30,000 a year is IMO an utter and complete waste of time and money. I've got a car on nearly 200,000 miles which has never had an "extra" oil change and is still faultless.

This is classic material for PH driving myths.

I agree with this.

However a half-way house suggestion might be to do an interim oil change using a sucky sucky device and not bothering with the filter. This way you won't have to raise the car or replace the filter, which will limit the chance of the dealer cottoning on to your handywork and using it to dispute warranty claims etc and will also mean that the job will probably take half the time.

[rambo19]

How you drive is more important.

[Garett]

I do 20k a year in my Volvo, I just stick to the manufacturers guidelines of every 12k. That usually means a major service in winter just before the MOT and an oil and filter in summer DIY plus any minor jobs that might need doing.

[DrDoofenshmirtz]

Rust and expensive DPF and dual mass flywheel issues will kill it off long before the engine wears out, so I wouldn't bother.

[DickyC]

The service interval on my wife's elderly SLK is 10,000 miles, 24 months or if the car thinks something is wrong. She doesn't do many miles so the car usually asks for a service at 24 months. Once, I tried changing the oil at 12 months and immediately the car sensed something was different with the oil and asked for a service. As we were not prepared to live with a constant reminder from the dashboard we put the car in to have its nerves calmed.

I haven't done that again.