[8pack]

Love our '13 3.6R. In my other cars I have done an oil change around 1500 and then again at 5k. The first recommend oil change is at 3750 on this vehicle and the dealer paid. I have seen some people are doing a change at 1100 miles. Any down sides to.an early change?

I don't really care about the $, I just want to be sure we break this in correctly and I habe seen posts with some cars with what I call excessive consumption for a modern engine. More than a quart every 3k.

I will be changing to full synthetic at 3750.

Very interested in others opinions and experience.

Thanks

 

[Thai]

Wait. No benefit for early oil changes.

 

[Novablue]

These engines are very clean. There's no loose metal or other contaminates in there.

Sure you can do an oil change, but it's like giving yourself a blood transplant when you are perfectly healthy. Why would you?

 

[imwjl]

Very interested in others opinions and experience.

It is in the manufacturer's interest to minimize warranty claims and have a brand known to be a good one. They employ engineers who know and test more than all the arm chair directors on the web.

The 14 year old vehicle my Outback replaces did well with scheduled maintenance.

When I was in fleet and equipment operations I noticed some machines and engines were problematic, used oil, when they got same care and operation as others.

Add them up and I feel they would not give us instructions that jeopardize their well being.

 

[AWDFTW]

Follow the service schedule in your owner's manual.

 

[Scoobie13]

I use to think that too...that you should change the oil at 1000 miles. But i'm just going to do the standard recommended at 3000 miles for my first and follow the regular schedule after that. Also note that our 3.6 does not need synthetic. Conventional oil is good enough.

 

[fun2drive]

Your call. I changed mine at 1400 miles over to synthetic. I could give a flip what others think because in the end it is my car not theirs.
I guess that is why my BMW M3 was operating perfectly at 284K miles when I sold it to a friend recently with synthetic oil changes at the prescribed times.

I will in all likelihood keep this vehicle for 12 years or more and put a lot of miles on it.
I also plan to change the diffs and the transmission fluid at about 30 again with synthetic and then not again for around 50K more miles.

Overkill? More than likely but having changed new engines with screens and no filters there was always a lot of small metal particles in the screens which hopefully is in our filters.

I back mine with Blackstone analysis which I will do once I hit 7500 added miles from the initial change. Actually synthetic oil should last twice as long as 7500 miles until the TBN is depleted.

Your ride your call. For the record the oil I drained looked excellent and had not changed color much from the combustion process and certainly would have been fine at 3750 but I wanted to get started on synthetic oil....

 

[bruce_van]

What? My dealer recommends oil changes every 3,750!!!

That's double the rate as recommended by Subaru. Am I being advised to do unnecessary service?

 

[rico567]

What? My dealer recommends oil changes every 3,750!!!

That's double the rate as recommended by Subaru. Am I being advised to do unnecessary service?

Let's look at it by asking the famous question of M.T. Cicero before the Roman Senate 2,000 years ago: Cui bono? (Who benefits?)

There is a reason this question is so old. Cops look for motive; in this case, we ask ourselves: who makes money from oil changes, the manufacturer who publishes the recommended OCI for your vehicle, or the dealer?

Yes. That's correct. Now just change the oil when the manual says to.

 

[awd-gg]

What? My dealer recommends oil changes every 3,750!!!

That's double the rate as recommended by Subaru. Am I being advised to do unnecessary service?

go with the manual?
Who know better abt the engine? Subaru Engineers that design, test and re-test and re-test the engine or some service guys at your local subaru dealer?

If you go to jiffy lube and the likes, they will tell you 3000 miles interval!

 

[lavarock]

The way I see it there is some junk in the engine left over from the manufacture and assembly process. The sooner that material is removed the better. I can not see where an early oil change can harm anything (pocket book but it is a one time thing). If there is junk in the oil I can see where 3500 miles or more may do harm.
The more important thing is to not lug or use cruise control or run at a constant rpm for the first 500-1000 miles. If the rings are seated before the cylinder walls glaze then the oil consumption will be less.
I changed my original oil at 500 miles and did not allow the engine to lug or stay at a constant rpm for the first 1000 miles. At 2000 miles I started a 2400 mile trip towing a 2000 lb utility trailer down US 395 on my way to Yuma for the winter. During that 2400 mile trip my 3.6R used less than 1/4 qt of oil. I plan to change the oil now that I am at 4500 miles. Future changes will be 5000 miles or one year which ever comes first.

 

[RobMunach]

The way I see it there is some junk in the engine left over from the manufacture and assembly process. The sooner that material is removed the better. I can not see where an early oil change can harm anything (pocket book but it is a one time thing). If there is junk in the oil I can see where 3500 miles or more may do harm.
The more important thing is to not lug or use cruise control or run at a constant rpm for the first 500-1000 miles. If the rings are seated before the cylinder walls glaze then the oil consumption will be less.
I changed my original oil at 500 miles and did not allow the engine to lug or stay at a constant rpm for the first 1000 miles. At 2000 miles I started a 2400 mile trip towing a 2000 lb utility trailer down US 395 on my way to Yuma for the winter. During that 2400 mile trip my 3.6R used less than 1/4 qt of oil. I plan to change the oil now that I am at 4500 miles. Future changes will be 5000 miles or one year which ever comes first.

You will void any warranty coverage for oil related failure of you engine if you change it once a year. Unless you are using Amsoil - who provide their own warranty.

 

[mikelipke]

You will void any warranty coverage for oil related failure of you engine if you change it once a year. Unless you are using Amsoil - who provide their own warranty.

And this statement is based on....?
Amzoil's warranty is....?

 

[AWDFTW]

What? My dealer recommends oil changes every 3,750!!!

That's double the rate as recommended by Subaru. Am I being advised to do unnecessary service?

Follow your owner's manual. Not the dealer.

 

[RobMunach]

And this statement is based on....?
Amzoil's warranty is....?

Doesn't he owners manual require 7.5 month intervals?
Amsoil covers any oil related failure to mechanically sound engines using their products. Check their website.

 

[Primotenente]

Am I being advised to do unnecessary service?

Yes

 

[mikelipke]

I did.
Not an Amzoil fan or believer.
To each, their own.

 

[Looby]

Not an Amzoil fan or believer.

Ditto. Never liked or trusted multi-level marketing (MLM) companies.

For many years, Amsoil refused to get certified for conformance to
API performance specs. More marketing hype than engineering?

...just never smelled right,

Looby

 

[missin44]

No advantage to changing early, that said the only down side to changing early is to your bank account.
Amsoil while I'm sure an outstanding product is way over hyped, use fully synthetic in correct grade that gives the best price.

 

[VicVinegar]

What? My dealer recommends oil changes every 3,750!!!

That's double the rate as recommended by Subaru. Am I being advised to do unnecessary service?

Yes. My dealer wrote up a sticker saying to come back in 3,000 after my 3750 change. I'll be back when the book says unless I do it myself. The dealership charges a ridiculous upcharge for synthetic. I was going to switch on the 2nd change. I'd love to know how they justify a $30 conventional change, but a $70-80 synthetic change.