# Oil change interval ???



## elykoj (Nov 1, 2013)

I know this has been asked a zillion times but I am out of warranty and doing my own oil changes now. I am not doing Amsoil so I have decided to use Mobile 1 5W30 Extended Performance Full Synthetic. I will be using a factory GM filter. How many miles should I go "safely" till my next change? Should I just go by what the car tells me to change it at or do to it being synthetic I can go longer? I dont want long debates over this cuz i know the arguments over all the different oils, so just looking for an answer to my specific question. I have a 2014 1.4T LTZ


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## cruze01 (Mar 25, 2011)

I use Pennzoil Ultra, I have run oil samples and determined that 7500 miles is the sweet spot for me. I'd feel safe saying that the Mobil 1 would perform just as well.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

I can only tell you what I do....2012 eco.....Mobil 1 Extended Performance, GM filters.

I change around 5000 miles or when the % shows 50% or slightly less.
Changed mine this weekend at 42%......miles....I didn't look but seems like that percenrage is in the 5k range when I've checked in the past.

My driving is primarily short trip and essentially just do two oil changes a year......late spring, early fall.

I admit this is likely overkill of the highest but it makes me (and the Cruze) happy.

Rob


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Assume you know how to reset the oil miles remaining on your DIC, owners manual says you can go up to 600 miles past this point. No quite as conservative as Robby, but do a lot of highway miles, so do my oil changing when its down to 20%, starts getting kind of darker at this point. If you don't even come close to this mark, have to change your oil at least once per year.

Reason why I brought up resetting your oil remaining, just the other day, was talking to my son's mother-in-law. She pays to get her oil changed, but her dealer did not know how to reset her oil remaining amount.

Mobile One dexos hardly cost a bit over 5 bucks more than using conventional oils, but my Chevy dealer wants 40 bucks more, screw you, will change in myself.

Also wonder how many people are getting screwed being charged for a new oil filter, when they leave the old on in there. Caught my dealer doing this. Well my ex-dealer.


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## winks79 (Dec 20, 2013)

Change mine every 5k, and use synthetic oil, on all my vehicles. Never had an oil related issue on any vehicle I have ever owned.


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## zen_ (Mar 15, 2015)

I was reading the data sheet for the AMSOIL signature (probably the best oil money can buy), and noticed one thing that made a lot of sense. They have the service life listed in miles, or hours. To me, hours makes more sense because 60-70% of my miles are hard city miles with lots of idling. I keep a log of my MPG with average vehicle speed, so it's easy to ballpark how many hours are on the oil. I think the oil life monitor also factors this, but who knows what their formula is. Last few fills I was on a trajectory for 10K with, again, almost all city miles. 

Personally I have been using SuperTech synthetic with ACDelco filters on 5K intervals under severe service, or about 300 hours. The SuperTech stuff is just Mag 1 in a different color container (if you see WPP stamped on the bottom), and only cost like $1 more than an inferior semi-synthetic. The oil life monitor is usually at about 50% when I change, but again, that doesn't seem accurate at all. Would hate to see what the cheapest semi-synthetic DEXOS oil looks like after 10K in severe service if people go by that, all the way down to 0% before changing.


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## _MerF_ (Mar 24, 2015)

I trust the computer's estimate and change when it's around 20%. I was curious a few years back about whether to trust the car's oil life estimation and by all accounts it measures the viscosity of the oil as it breaks down...so pretty good by my book.

Noone will fault you for being more conservative, but I personally feel no pressure to increase the maintenance costs of the car by changing the oil more often than necessary.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

If using anything other than AMSOIL Signature Series (or a somewhat comparable oil like Xado Atomic 0W-30), stick with the oil life monitor and replace it by the time it reaches 5% for 2013+ models. If on a 2011 or 2012 Cruze, do not exceed 8,000 miles without an oil analysis. 

Bear in mind that 6 months or 7500 miles is the point at which our oil filters begin to degrade significantly. A filter change at that point is only advised if there is an oil suitable for an extended drain. M1 EP is not. Furthermore, Mobil 1 specifically recommends against exceeding OEM drain intervals on vehicles under manufacturer warranty. 

Lastly, even GM fully acknowledges that "full synthetic" is nothing more than a marketing term. There are "full synthetic" products on the market that perform at the same level or even worse than the dexos1 "synthetic blend" oil the dealer fills.


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

I agree with Xtreme, I asked my dealer when I should be changing my oil, and they said there's nothing wrong with waiting until 5-10% is displayed and that I won't be damaging anything in my vehicle by doing so.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Ha, an oil analysis cost more than the price of new oil. Back in the pre-PCV days, using that breather pipe sucking up road dust like crazy, regardless of what you did, needed a complete engine rebuild in the 50K mile stage. A lot has changed since then. Prior to the 1949 models, Detroit has adding nickel to the the sheet metal, rust through was rare. But marketing figured out, this was hurting new vehicle sales. 

1949 was the year that Detroit discovered rust. Ha, debate what I should do with my old oil, one good use of it would be to paint all over the sheet metal to retard corrosion.

Lots of talk about oil changes, when to do it, many different opinions, but for the last 50 years or so, key reason for dumping a vehicle was it was a pile of rust. Could drive them a bit longer when they had a frame and air conditioning was with holes in the doors. Also history with unibodies, the center of the vehicle starts to sag.

As an old timer, with oil, just look at the color. But with 100K mile PT warranties, follow their rules. Only 40K miles on my Cruze now and already over four years old, so in the next year, won't even come close to that 100K mile mark, but limited by this five year. So all this will be history. Rust also only has a five year warranty.

So you do what they want you to do, throw it away and buy another, this is very good for THEIR economy,


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