Originally Posted by BrushRoadster!

Long-interval oil changes are, in my opinion, nothing but a fantasy.

Oils are SLIGHTLY better than they were, but the definitely ARE NOT miracle oils, even if they claim it.
When auto manufacturers went to longer oil change intervals, the ONLY thing they did was change the print in the owner's manuals from 3000 miles to 10,000 miles. It cost them only the price of the print. It eased the maintenance load on the dealers, who offer "maintenance for life" or include "lifetime oil changes", knowing full well that they will only have to do an oil change every couple of years, because now they only have to do it when the manufacturer specifies, and that is like once every two years or so, whereas formerly they would have had to do 3 oil changes for free every year on a customer's covered car.
If you want your car to last, fresh oil and a fresh filter are the best thing you can do.

I have a Jaguar that has a "Sealed for Life" transmission. It's a total crock of s***, and I have no idea how they thought they could get THAT to work. Their engine oil changes are all long-interval. The differential actually has NO DRAIN PLUG AT ALL, and NO FILLER PLUG! Jaguar was trying to relieve the constant complaint that Jaguars "need a lot of maintenance." They didn't fool the enthusiasts, who are smart enough to ignore the owner's manual, and change all their fluids regularly. In fact, there is a member-designed kit to install a drain plug, a dip stick, and a filler tube on Jaguar XK-8 transmissions.

If you want your Crossfire to last (And they DO, as we have seen by the number that have reached 200K miles and are still running just fine!) I guarantee you that the owners of these cars are NOT using the Mercedes-recommended servicing schedule. That schedule is for people who want to get a new car every few years.

By then, the car is out of warranty, and the owner who bought it used has to face the risk of failure due to poor prior maintenance and servicing. Mercedes is not worried about them at all.