Galen:

Again, it was not about the dollars. It is about being able to believe in the manual provided with the equipment.

I am also a SCUBA diving instructor. The manuals that come with this gear state that it should be inspected annually, unless it is in commercial service. We do not have techs in this industry that tell us to do inspections every nine months, because the manuals are wrong.

I have a shop full of woodworking tools as well. I follow the maintenance of that equipment based on the manuals.

It just seems silly to me that the manuals are forced to be printed with inaccurate information to be politically correct......

And it makes it hard to believe any of the other maintenance schedules listed.

 

Guess I should move someplace where the oil changes are cheaper. I stopped at the dealer to inquire what the oil (only) would have cost if they provided it.....$60.10.

 

I for one agree with jsisabella.

Not only does the Crossfire have a printed maint schedule, the car's onboard computer inputs info to the FSS that let's you know when maint is due. It calculates how your car is driven along with a few other things that determine when maint is due.

My car was built in Jun '03. It now has 3.5k on the odometer (it sat on the dealers lot not being driven much before I took it home in Dec). The FSS tells me I still have another 4k to go before service is required which takes it up to 7.5k miles. I don't think DC put the FSS in the car for sh-ts and grins. It's there for a reason. Read about the system in the owners manual... pretty cool what it does.

I "used" to be an oil change fanantic changing it ever 3k come rain or shine. I always noticed the oil was not dirty at all at 3k, but I still changed it anyway.

I finally decided this is silly, throwing away good oil... and extended the oil changes out to 5k figuring an additional 2k could not make a big difference. Although I never had the used oil analyzed, it looked and felt no different.

The Crossfire uses "synthetic" oil. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the synthetic stuff supposed to be alot better for the engine as well as extending oil change intervals???

Not long ago (I can't quote a source from where I read the information) I saw an article that stated how the 3k oil changed was basically industry hype. I also heard one of our "radio" mechanics on a Saturday call in show say the same thing.

My dealer even has gone as far as to print up his "own" recommended service schedule. Think about it... the manufacture provides a maint schedule, the car has a computer that tells you when service is due and the dealer comes out with one of his own going from 7k to 3k??? There's money to be made there folks, and it's your money they're taking.

I take good care of my vehicles, much better than the average person and personally feel 7k is fine. Heck, the 10 year old Honda still gets parked on the far end of the parking lot... you can't ask for more "TLC" than that.

Bottom line... go with the schedule you feel is best. Me, I'm tired of all the big corparate rip-offs along with the consumer hype they put out and throwing money away... blame it on old age (gotta start saving those pennies so I can afford that Viagra stuff in a few more years). :wink: :wink: :wink:

 

Just curious, why are you guys paying $70 or $80 to get your oil changed? Can't it be change for alot less if you did it yourself?

I'd rather do it myself than let some rookie lube guy at the dealer touch my car... You'd save money and have piece of mind in knowing that it was done right.

 

I haven't changed mine yet, but a reason or two or three why folks take it to the dealer could be...

1. It's easier than doing it yourself. You have to pull a panel off the bottom of the car to access the oil pan = hassle.

2. The tires are too wide to drive up a standard do-it-yourself ramp = hassle

and

3. Most of the people who buy the Xfire are on the older side of life and don't work on their cars like they did when they were younger = just getting too old to fuss with it, let someone else do it.

Just my reasoning........ :wink: :wink: :wink:

 

And Reason #4: It is a lot easier to prove that the oil was changed when you have a receipt that it was done. It is getting important for warranty claims. My dealer has a large sign hanging in the repair department that says all periodic maintenance must be done to keep the 7/70 warranty in effect.

I don't know if that is a D/C policy or a dealer policy, but it is is clear where things are headed....

 

D/C is getting pretty strict with oil changes and service on their cars.They know their engines are solid and only fail because of lack of maint.I got a chrysler engineer at work that changes the mobil1 syn. in his srt neon every month.

 

Just a question... As long as you follow the DC maint schedule and the FSS you're covered, right?

Once a month? Kind of on the "extreme" side. How many miles does he drive a month?

 

If you have an engine failure and can show oil change receipts you should be fine. As far as doing the oil change yourself....8.5 quarts of mobil 1 and filter isn't cheap.Probably cost you over $50 in parts if the oil was on sale!

 

A little more info on LOF service intervals...

Chrysler is non specific about oil change intervals due to the monitoring of the engine oil quality by the pcm. Yes, there is a sensor submerged in the oil pan that monitors the resistance of the oil, along with programmed variables such as idle time, hard drive time, hi speed drive time.. etc.

Thus we have the...

FSS- Flexible Service System

This is the monitor on the dash.

This monitor can recommend an oil change as early as 1500 miles or as long as 10,000! (yikes!) This is based on the above listed inputs/criteria.

Now- I personally change my oil every 3k on my non-synthetic vehicle. Would I go past 5k on synthetic? Probably not. I too have seen our motors abused- and the $5000 estimate to replace a 2.7 would be conservative in a DC 3.2 Benz motor... SO in conclusion:

If the FSS says to change it... CHANGE IT
Can you change it sooner- absolutely!
Would I reset my interval and ignore it? Better have those LOF receipts when you want warranty engine work in my dealership- DC will require it!

By the way... LOF services are not a money maker for the dealerships.... At my dealership we charge 19.95 for a normal oil change. By the time the dealership pays me, the parts guy, the service writer, the porter, the cashier, the management there is not enough money left for the parts! Yes I am telling you we actually lose money on an LOF at 19.95. This is done to keep you the customer coming to us, so when you do need real service, you will come back to us.

 

My understanding is that in Europe they change the oil less often and the recomended change interval is longer. Same car. I am sure that running Mobil1 to 7k or even 10k is not doing any damage to my car. I have a Miata. If your manual allows up to 10k under warranty, what's wrong with that? Have you ever seen the synthetic tested out as bad after being in a car? Use a top quality filter. Perhaps only the Chysler brand is available now - I don't know. I could see some cheap filter, like the big name brand that is sold now at all the discount stores, failing before 7k or 10k, but I won't use that brand. No, I don't want to say the brand name and get sued, so let's just say, do research before using filters. You guys probably have the orignal equipment brand only, so it may not be an issue. I know when I owned the first Stealth here is this area, I was limited to Mitsubishi filters only.

8) LOREN

 

Mercedes is not clear on their oil change intervals.They want you to follow the maint. computer.Chrysler is very clear in their service manuals.They recommend 3k oil changes and never exceed 6k on all their american cars.The Viper uses mobil 1 syn. and they recommend 3k oil changes.It might be the European goverment that makes them stretch the oil change intervals for enviromental purposes.

 

and the fact that UK delaers will charge anywhere betwen �’50 - �’100 for an oil change or "service" as they call it, most UK cars have oil changed at 12k some as high as 20k

 

I hope you were refering to Kilometes and not Miles :?

 

no miles!

 

Mobil 1 0W-40 was installed in my 2000 Mercedes-Benz E320 two years ago, and since I've only driven 4,000 miles in that time, the oil has never been changed. The dealer said that the car's computer will dictate when the next service is due. This may be some time in the future. My question is, how long does oil maintain its effective viscosity?

-- G. Hutch, Carlisle, PA

Your Mercedes-Benz is equipped with a Flexible Service System which includes a very sophisticated oil quality monitor. The system looks at driving speeds, cold starts, short-distance trips and other factors that can negatively affect oil life. It also monitors the quality of the oil - particles in suspension and other factors - and it can judge when the oil has deteriorated to the extent that it needs to be replaced. Without this kind of comprehensive analysis - in other words, if you had no way of determining the state of the oil in the crankcase - we would suggest the general rule of changing the oil every year in very low-mileage vehicles.


Above is the recommendation from Mobil Corp

 

all the talk about oil changes lately, this should come back to the top.

Poll results as of 4/22/04

5k 50% [ 15 ]
7k 50% [ 15 ]

Total Votes : 30
(hmmm...perfectly even split)

 

I'll change my oil when I feel I have to which will be never. Mind you after the summer I be getting rid of my Crossfire.