What brand of oil is everyone using and what interval?

[Kinkyllama]

You know I use Seafoam in my BMW motorcycle and it makes a huge difference in smoothness of the motor, and mileage per gallon. I also notice that when I change the oil, its not a dark after 3K.

+100923408. I've used seafoam on about 10 cars between mine and friends now. That stuff can work wonders. I just use the vaccum tube mehtod, haven't tried putting it in the gas tank.

You shouldn't change oil before 3k miles unless you live in extream climates and drive very hard or you spend a decent amount of time at the track. It's just too early and not very good for the engine. Being in Arizona and redlining my car at least 25x a day I usually change at 3k-3.5k or within 1k if I spent a weekend on the road course.

[AveoRob]

OMG!! You guys are using Mobil 1??? The Aveo is the cheapest car sold in the US and you are using the most expensive oil sold for it? Synthetic has a place, but is total overkill for the general population. And 3K intervals? Man, I hate to say it but you have been brainwashed by the oil manufactuers. Many years ago oil suffered viscosity breakdown after 3K or more, but there have been vast improvements since then. Read your user manual, for normal driving it is like 5K or 7.5K interval. As for sludge build-up, if you follow the manufacturer's change interval, I have never heard of engine failure due to build-up. As for mileage, the extra 25 bucks for Mobil 1 should offset any savings in fuel costs. All that said, I use 5W-30, as per the manual, whatever is on sale for 2 bucks a qt., and an AC/DELCO PF47 filter every 5K. Follow this schedule and you will get hundreds of thousands of miles from your engine.

[mikedudley17]

i use mobil 1 cus i love my engine. i change at 5000 miles cus i love my engine. its all about love, not whats on sale at autozone for 2$/qt. also with the turbo comin around soon...well its nice to have nice oil in ur ride is all. plus i beleive mobil 1 is made here in the states, not somewhere in bufu arabia.

[subachad]

oil? whats that? is it something I should concern myself with?

[GeorgeJ]

Thanks for the input. I have decided to go with conventional at 5000 mile intervals with a Wix filter. Just picked up Valvoline in the 5.5 quart jugs for $7 each at ChinaMart. With the filter each oil change should cost around $8.25.

[AveoRob]

Mikedudley

read this

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/peek-oil/

[mikedudley17]

Mikedudley

read this

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/peek-oil/

taken from article:

"Well I hereby give pistonheads permission to skip their next regularly scheduled motor oil change. And the one after that one. In fact, if you’re not planning to keep your car for all eternity, consider forgetting oil changes altogether."

No thanks, I will change at 5k. I love my engine and if love makes people crazy, like changing oil every 5K miles, well then i need to be in a insane asylum.

"These days, it’s common to hear of documented engine life of 500k miles and more. A fleet of Chevy gasoline V8 pickups pulling trailers delivering car parts overnight all over the Midwest has run a number of bow tie bombers to over 600K without failure. A 1987 Saab 900 just hit the million mile mark without an engine rebuild. Yes, the Saab owner used expensive synthetic oil and changed it regularly in his million mile quest. But how long are you planning to keep your car?"

This paragraph has to do with what again? Regular maintenance helps you get that far.

"Obviously, I don’t expect pistonheads to forgo engine oil changes completely– if only because following manufacturer’s recommendations safeguards your potential warranty claims. Still, if warranty isn’t an issue and you’re not planning on keeping your car past 150k or so, and you run it under favorable conditions– a long commute, lots of highway miles, milder climate, etc. — consider extended intervals. If you have a three year lease, well, that’s between you and your conscience."

My conscience says change the oil, thats what a boosted motor would want.

"Pistonheads who lavish low interval oil changes and high octane go-juice on the cherishd machines do so more for their own peace of mind than their car’s mechanical needs. It’s sweet, but unnecessary."

Oh how sweet it is.

My point, I will be running a boosted motor very soon, for that reason, I plan to take care of my vehicle the best way I know how. If the manufacturer says to change every 3-5K miles then so be it, I will change at those intervals or depending on what oil I use like Mobil 1 which is good for at least 5k miles. But it is depressing when I pull the drain plug and the oil is blacker than black. Lets not forget about good old moisture that can get into your motor, especially in the fall/spring seasons. Moisture can wreak havoc on your oil. I love my engine and it is for those reasons why I change my oil when I do. Thank you AveoRob, it was a good read.

[genefitz]

Indeed Mike,

I will let folks say it is not necessary all day. Do I plan to own my car forever? No. But while I have it, I plan to take the best possible care of it.
Not to mention, with my 2005 Aveo, I got the oil changed regularly, every 3000 or so miles (give or take a hundred), and when it came time to trade stubby off, I had records and reciepts of every bit of work done. Oil changes, filter changes, tire changes, brake replacements, everything. That made a huge difference when I finally traded off. Dealerships, as well as personal buyers, tend to give more for a car when they know, and can prove that it has been well cared for.
I am militant, and yes even religious, about my maintenance. I don't expect my little aveo to pump out a million miles, but I want to make sure that it gets all the miles possible.

Oh, and per the service manual:
Regular driving (short trips city driving)
3,000 Miles (5 000 km)
? Change engine oil and filter (or every 3 months,
whichever occurs first). An Emission Control
Service.
6,000 Miles (10 000 km)
? Change engine oil and filter (or every 3 months,
whichever occurs first). An Emission Control
Service.
? Rotate tires. See Tire Inspection and Rotation
on page 327 for proper rotation pattern and
additional information. (See footnote +.)
9,000 Miles (15 000 km)
? Change engine oil and filter (or every 3 months,
whichever occurs first). An Emission Control
Service.
12,000 Miles (20 000 km)
? Change engine oil and filter (or every 3 months,
whichever occurs first). An Emission Control
Service.
? Rotate tires. See Tire Inspection and Rotation
on page 327 for proper rotation pattern and
additional information. (See footnote +.)

Long Trip/Highway
7,500 Miles (12 500 km)
? Change engine oil and filter (or every
12 months, whichever occurs first).
An Emission Control Service.
? Rotate tires. See Tire Inspection and Rotation
on page 327 for proper rotation pattern and
additional information. (See footnote +.)
15,000 Miles (25 000 km)
? Change engine oil and filter (or every
12 months, whichever occurs first).
An Emission Control Service.
? Replace passenger compartment air filter. If
you drive regularly under dusty conditions,
the filter may require replacement more often.
? Inspect engine air cleaner filter. See Engine Air
Cleaner/Filter on page 281 for more information.
? Rotate tires. See Tire Inspection and Rotation
on page 327 for proper rotation pattern and
additional information. (See footnote +.)
? Inspect drive belt(s).

Seeings as I drive mostly in town, I am gonna trust the GM suggested maintenance. But hey, that's just me.

Long live the Aveo!
Long live Stubby!

[KamiQuazi]

I take my car to the dealer and let them do it.

[ontarian_frog]

Mikedudley

read this

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/peek-oil/

[...]
My point, I will be running a boosted motor very soon, for that reason, I plan to take care of my vehicle the best way I know how. If the manufacturer says to change every 3-5K miles then so be it, I will change at those intervals or depending on what oil I use like Mobil 1 which is good for at least 5k miles. But it is depressing when I pull the drain plug and the oil is blacker than black. Lets not forget about good old moisture that can get into your motor, especially in the fall/spring seasons. Moisture can wreak havoc on your oil. I love my engine and it is for those reasons why I change my oil when I do. Thank you AveoRob, it was a good read.

Just to add to this... My uncle, who drives very carefully due to a bad shoulder (in fact he can't use his left arm because he fell off a truck... kenworth) had to change the cam and bearings in his Taurus because he didn't do regular oil changes. He would wait until the car reached 3000 miles, which often took 6 to 8 months to do so... oh and he didn't get any warranty either.