# Mobil-1 Extended Performance



## 20126spdRS (Dec 27, 2011)

OLM will change with driving habbits... some people are seeing close to 10k intervals following OLM. As long as you are using the Dexos oil you should be good to grow. me personally i use the mobil 1 dexos and still change at 3-5k, its a new car and im stuck with it for a while mine as well be safe. 40 bucks every other month in maintence to be worry free ill take it.


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## deerebilt (Apr 6, 2012)

20126spdRS said:


> OLM will change with driving habbits... some people are seeing close to 10k intervals following OLM. As long as you are using the Dexos oil you should be good to grow. me personally i use the mobil 1 dexos and still change at 3-5k, its a new car and im stuck with it for a while mine as well be safe. 40 bucks every other month in maintence to be worry free ill take it.


I totally agree.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

3-5K on synthetic, unless you're doing really abusive stop-and-go driving, racing, etc., is throwing away money. The OLM on our Honda seems to want to stretch out intervals to 12,000 miles or once a year if <12,000 miles are driven, which in my book, seems to be way too long on conventional dino oil as well - so there goes my respect for those things.

I'm just wondering what IS a reasonable guideline for life expectation for the oil, particularly based on people that have had oil analysis done on their Cruze or from Mobil-1.


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

...as mentioned above, the OLM responds to *HOW* your car is driven: (a) if mostly cold, short, in city, slow speed driving, the OLM will _quickly_ *reduce* its estimated percentage (%) number; but, (b) if mostly warm/hot, long, highway, higher speed driving, the OLM will _gradually_ *extend* its percentage (%) number.

...FWIW, I follow the OLM until it says 20% life, then I have the oil changed, which has (so far) been about 12,000 miles duration each time.

...here's more information about "how" the GM OLM system works: http://www.cruzeforumz.com/265-post1.html


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

20126spdRS said:


> OLM will change with driving habbits... some people are seeing close to 10k intervals following OLM. *As long as you are using the Dexos oil you should be good to go*. me personally i use the mobil 1 dexos and still change at 3-5k, its a new car and im stuck with it for a while mine as well be safe. 40 bucks every other month in maintence to be worry free ill take it.


I disagree with the above bolded in red, due to the nature of the Dexos1 oil that GM dealerships will put in your car. This is a synthetic blend and is, at best, suitable for a 6,000 mile oil change interval per both oil testing analysis and technicians at the dealership. The OLM can only be trusted when running full synthetic oil, at which point my recommendation is in support of 70AARCUDA's. 



jblackburn said:


> 3-5K on synthetic, unless you're doing really abusive stop-and-go driving, racing, etc., is throwing away money. The OLM on our Honda seems to want to stretch out intervals to 12,000 miles or once a year if <12,000 miles are driven, which in my book, seems to be way too long on conventional dino oil as well - so there goes my respect for those things.
> 
> I'm just wondering what IS a reasonable guideline for life expectation for the oil, particularly based on people that have had oil analysis done on their Cruze or from Mobil-1.


Oil change intervals as well as oil testing analysis results will be very dependent on driving habits, duration of trips, and a variety of environmental factors. Someone who drives their car 5 miles each way to work and back every day will find themselves with a legitimate 3-5k OCI, while someone with a 50 mile round trip of highway-only driving will find a a 10-12k+ OCI. Oil testing analysis is recommended for everyone as their environment and conditions will change. 

As a general recommendation though, Mobil 1 Full Synthetic oil seems to do excellently in our Cruzes and can be trusted to protect your engine for the duration of the OLM's recommendation.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

70AARCUDA said:


> ...as mentioned above, the OLM responds to *HOW* your car is driven: (a) if mostly cold, short, in city, slow speed driving, the OLM will _quickly_ *reduce* its estimated percentage (%) number; but, (b) if mostly warm/hot, long, highway, higher speed driving, the OLM will _gradually_ *extend* its percentage (%) number.
> 
> ...FWIW, I follow the OLM until it says 20% life, then I have the oil changed, which has (so far) been about 12,000 miles duration each time.


Gotcha...thanks for the explanation. Cars I've had before just had a set 'service' light that came on an an interval pre-set in the computer. Most mechanics I've talked to said that they are set too long for cars running on conventional oils (that they just want to brag about long service intervals) and they do see sludge problems on particular models around 100K in their lives. Newer Saabs and Jeeps were well-known for this - luckily I owned older models of both.

20% on a monitor for a car designed for synthetic oil and monitors driving conditions sounds like a good "compromise" point to me.

I think I'll send in a sample of my oil at that mileage and have it tested.

My mom's 1974 BMW was leaking from the valve cover gasket; going in to replace that revealed a mess of sludge that I'd never like to see on any of my cars if I can help it. Running synthetic in my last car at the change intervals I did revealed a head where the cams, valves, and everything looked almost new at 210,000 miles.

View attachment 6024


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

jblackburn said:


> 3-5K on synthetic, unless you're doing really abusive stop-and-go driving, racing, etc., is throwing away money. The OLM on our Honda seems to want to stretch out intervals to 12,000 miles or once a year if <12,000 miles are driven, which in my book, seems to be way too long on conventional dino oil as well - so there goes my respect for those things.
> 
> I'm just wondering what IS a reasonable guideline for life expectation for the oil, particularly based on people that have had oil analysis done on their Cruze or from Mobil-1.


The OLM on our Honda is dead-nuts accurate with full synthetic 0w-20 oil. I had the valve cover off of it recently to adjust the valves, and it was spotless underneath. The little light goes off, I change the oil, and it keeps on ticking.

Based on analyses of a full synthetic dexos1 oil, I'd change at 20-15% of the OLM, regardless of mileage. The oil I used was out of specification at 10% OLM. Any dexos1 oil will do the same since dexos1 is a fairly tight specification.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Good info. My parents have had a 2003 Acura and 2007 Honda in the family. The 2003 seemed to want to go 10,000+ miles on an oil change (it never did, but it seemed to be what the light wants), while the 2007 seems to have a monitoring system as the Cruze does that takes into account driving habits. Both used conventional oil. 

I think, just out of curiosity, I'll try 8500 miles or 20% on the OLM, whichever comes first, and send my oil in for testing as more of a benchmark for what I should be doing with it. They told me that right around 7500 miles was appropriate on my Volvo. 

The oil change is very easy on this car. The canister could be easier to access, but my first time with a canister filter. Wow! So much less messy than the old spin off filters that bled all over you when you took em off. 


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app


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## blk88verde (Apr 30, 2011)

When I had my 2002 Mercedes C230K factory fill was mobil 1. This was a supercharged 2.3 litre VVT twin cam 4cyl 6 speed manual car. The oil change\service light came on at fixed intervals. 1st oil and filter change was 10k miles as was each subsequent change. Car ran fine for the 39k miles I leased it. I do not recall using any oil between changes. I am using Mobil 1 in my Cruze - I will change at 7 to 7.5K miles.


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## gman19 (Apr 5, 2011)

Running Full Synthetic, my OLM took me to 10K miles at 21%. Thru 13K+ miles I've changed at 2K (went full syn to get rid of break in oil)....and at just over 12K following the OLM.


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## GoldenCruze (Dec 18, 2011)

Just had the oil changed yesterday at the dealer on my '12 2LT. The OLM was at 11% with a bit over 9,000 miles on the odometer. Opted for Mobile 1. While talking to the guys there I learned that the AC Delco Dexos oil is made by Mobile. I would have waited longer before the oil change, but I'm about to leave on a road trip and didn't want the OLM to hit zero during the trip.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I did two oil analyses, one at 30% and the other at 11%. The 30% showed an oil near the end of its life. The 11% showed an oil that was dropping dead. It was just a little too thin at operating temperature. 

I'd not recommend anybody go past 20% on the oil life monitor unless they have verified through oil analysis that the oil is good. That's the number that my car seems to need its oil changed at.


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## Notso4eign (Dec 22, 2012)

I work at a dealership. Instead of using the GM oil we use Pennzoil Platinum. If you plan on doing the longer intervals I'd just follow the factory recommendations, which is 7500, that way you don't have to worry about any warranty issues. We still recommend around 5000 miles for synthetic, but most of our customers fall under severe driving conditions.


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## gt_cristian (Apr 7, 2012)

This may be out of topic a little, but how does one make sure the dealer doesn't use bulk oil instead of regular quart bottles? I hear a lot of people say bulk oil "sucks" because it is recycled and therefore cheaper? Is there any truth in that?

I asked my dealer one and they said "it doesn't matter, it is the same thing".


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