# 1st oil change when?



## thaicruze (Jul 21, 2011)

Depends on the engine I guess. It's in the service manual. Mine is every 15,000KM. 1.8L


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## Dennis_Mn (Jan 20, 2012)

RyanPatty said:


> i have a 2012 cruze eco and i was told to get the oil change when the percentage was at 20-15 i have just under 11,000 km on the car without oil change. checked the oil lvl looks good getting a little dark but its only at 38 percent. My question is when did you guys get your 1st oil change at.


My car wanted the tires rotated at 7500 miles so I decided that since I was taking it to the dealer for that, I would have them change the oil as well. Next oil / tire change is next week sometime.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Change it. I always change out the factory oil at 1,000 - 1,500 miles to get any metal shards out of the system.


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## thaicruze (Jul 21, 2011)

^

yea. They won't refuse you if you take it in. If you feel like doing it, go for it.


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## mhsvideoman (May 6, 2012)

My '12 Eco has 7,500 Miles on it and the computer says its at 33%. Book says to change it when the light car tells you. So- I'm waiting till the light comes on. If the engine blows- it's on Chevy. I'm just doing what they tell me to do :th_salute:


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## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

If it does blow it will be after your warranty runs out. 

Better to change too early than too late. I've always followed the 3 month rule.

And don't pay to much attention to the color. It will get dark quick.


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## MikeW (Nov 29, 2010)

obermd said:


> Change it. I always change out the factory oil at 1,000 - 1,500 miles to get any metal shards out of the system.


I do this with every new car I purchase. Maybe it is not necessary to change out "break-in oil" so soon, but for $30 or so it is cheap enough.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Dennis_Mn said:


> My car wanted the tires rotated at 7500 miles so I decided that since I was taking it to the dealer for that, I would have them change the oil as well. Next oil / tire change is next week sometime.


fftopic: Check your tread depth. Depending on your driving habits, you may need to rotate much more frequently. I rotate my tires every 5,000 miles and my son needs to rotate his about every 3,000. A lot of low speed turning will wear the front tires much more quickly than the rear tires.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

mhsvideoman said:


> My '12 Eco has 7,500 Miles on it and the computer says its at 33%. Book says to change it when the light car tells you. So- I'm waiting till the light comes on. If the engine blows- it's on Chevy. I'm just doing what they tell me to do :th_salute:


Change your oil now. The AC Delco oil in the car from the factory and that's used in dealers is not good past 5000 miles (or 8000 km) based on several used oil analyses. 

If you folks want to run the oil life monitor to the point where the light comes on, that's a false economy. The 1.4T needs the oil changed at 25-30% on the oil life monitor to live a long life. The turbo really beats up on the oil. I've had several used oil analyses that showed that 25% is about the point where even full synthetic oil needs changing. The oil analysis I ran to 10% on full synthetic 5w-30 that met dexos1 looked scary. The oil had sheared to a 5w-20, and iron and aluminum, two key wear metals, had trended up sharply over the last oil analysis done at 30% life remaining on the OLM. 

We've already seen one case of a 1.4T sludging when somebody changed with cheap oil and went the distance on the oil life monitor. This engine is not a 3800 V6 that can go 10,000 miles on cheap oil for 250k miles with no issues. It needs regular oil changes. 

Based on the empirical evidence I've seen, I think GM set the oil life monitor too optimistically in this car. 25% is where one should change the oil. I've got the oil analysis to back up that assertion.


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## socalcruze (Aug 4, 2012)

My plan for the Cruze is to keep it simple - oil & filter change and tire rotations every 5,000 mi (at about 4,300 miles now). Probably a little bit of overkill, but the 18" tires will be expensive to replace, so the frequent rotations is probably worth it. The driving I do is pretty harsh, lots of stop-and-go mixed with relatively short open-freeway stretches. Frequently hot weather too. With the turbo, under any driving conditions, I would not go past 7,500 miles or 6 months, whichever comes first. Many folks don't realize that the oil can become acidic over time as well, it isn't just the miles.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Exhaust gas recirculation with positive crankcase ventilation recirculates a lot of junk coupled with environmental pollution, temperature, and humidity. And depends on whether you do a lot of highway driving or many short trips.

Cruze had 6,000 miles on, 38% remaining oil life, but the oil was getting dark, so I changed it. Never want to change oil too soon with a brand new engine, a break in type. Those that did end up with an oil burner, dealer will tell you, consuming a quart in a thousand miles is normal.

Those first 36,000 miles go fast, then its your responsibility. So I go by the color. Chevy dealer advertises a 20 buck oil change. But if you bring your Cruze in, tells you it requires dexos, price jumps up to 70 bucks. You can change it yourself for 30 bucks, five quart Mobil One with a dexos label from Walmart, and a five buck Delco filter from rockauto.com, but to get that price, have to order a half a dozen.


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## RyanPatty (Sep 28, 2012)

my driving is also 80% highway do about 4500km a month on it so i will wait till 30% then take it in to get the tires rotated also.


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## MD5335 (Oct 16, 2012)

I changed mine yesterday at 1,404 miles. Replaced with Mobil 1, with a AC Delco filter. A 24mm socket would have been handy (got one NOW). Only a small amount of oil dripped from the filter canister as I removed it, but was prepared with a towel under the canister.

The outgoing oil was pretty dark and (surprise to me) had the viscosity of water. It came out so fast that my drain pan was overwhelmed with the flow. Almost made a mess! Maybe next time I'll leave the filler cap on the engine for the first part of drain.

The filter looked pretty clean. 

I didn't send for oil analysis, maybe on the next change.

Only my humble opinion, but the Eco has a small turbo engine working pretty hard. That makes lubrication and cooling pretty darn important. Stretching oil changes would seem to be risky to me even though I could save money (up front) by "honoring" the oil life readout.


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## HisandHers (Aug 18, 2012)

I had mine changed last week at 4200 miles.My dealer sent me the 19.99 oil change coupon but when I got there they said that since it uses Dexos it would be slightly higher.They ended up charging me $26 including tax.


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## tecollins1 (Nov 6, 2011)

HisandHers said:


> I had mine changed last week at 4200 miles.My dealer sent me the 19.99 oil change coupon but when I got there they said that since it uses Dexos it would be slightly higher.They ended up charging me $26 including tax.


thas a pretty good deal.
mine is ever so close to its second one. last time i did it on my own. we will see if its worth the hassel to find or buy jackstands. last time i used ramps... that was a pain. i found out that day the cruze is just low enough to cause a hard time.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Great thread!
I do just want to note that the OLS (Oil Life System) does not keep track of the level of oil in your Cruze, and so it is a good idea to periodically check that. 

Sarah (Assisting Stacy), Chevrolet Customer Service


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