Oil Change Interval Change (Subaru recommended)
 

http://drive.subaru.com/fall13_modes..._tips4#finding

Thought it was interesting that Subaru lists the 2013/14 oil change period as 7.5k miles/7.5 months, but reduces it to 6k miles/6months for the 2015.

Any ideas on why?

To get more money out of you.

first few oil changes/basic maintenance at subaru are free. something like 2 yrs/24,000 miles or 3 oil changes.

Doesn't that correlate to using up the 3 oil changes faster, which means service intervals come sooner, which translate to (assuming you go to dealership for services) going to the dealership faster and more often than you would of a car following the 7.5k interval.

In 100k miles, the 7.5k interval car will get 13.3 (roughly) oil changes, while as a 6k interval would need 16.667 (roughly) oil changes.

Thats almost 2 oil changes more.

In 10 years (120 months), the 7.5 month car will end up at the dealership 16 times if following the month schedule. The 6 month car will be at the dealership 20 times.

The difference would be about 4 oil changes. At the closest Subaru dealer, it costs 54.95 for an oil change for me.

http://3gengagement.dealers.s3.amazo..._service-p.jpg

Over the course of 10 years or 100k miles, one 6k mileage BRZ will be paying 219.80 more than a 7.5k/7.5 month BRZ.

Multiply that by 100,000 cars which equates to $21,980,000 extra

**this assumes no inflation
**this assumes oil changes are constantly $54.95
**this assumes no decrease in time value of money
**this assumes dealership servicing and not DIY.
**this assumes 100k subaru BRZ will be sold

you're assuming that owners will continue going to the dealership for oil changes past that free period. i'm not planning to.
actually, if they're still offering free oil changes up to 24,000 miles, and you get 4 free oil changes at the dealer instead of 3, it will be costing subaru an extra $54.95 per BRZ sold.
assuming 100k subaru BRZs sold as you did, that will cost subaru an extra $5,495,000 by changing that interval. what happens AFTER the free oil change period is a level playing field between DIY, dealerships and other places to get your oil changed.

Me and you both know it only costs like maybe 15 dollars to the dealer or less to perform an oil change. They can do something we can't, buy oil in drums.

even so, it looks like this will cost subaru more, unless they limit the number of oil changes in that free period.

I think it may be free in certain parts of the country...not offered to me here in Oregon.

IMO, because of the faulty oil control rings on the oil guzzling FB Foresters, Imprezas, Crosstreks, and Outbacks.

The majority of people don't check their own oil and sometimes ignore the low oil warning light. By reducing the OCI, dealers can keep a closer eye on oil consumption.

-Dennis

Ah, I hadn't considered that, but because of the timing, and the source of the link (Subaru email talking about oil usage), this makes sense to me.

You get free oil changes? I never heard that when I bought my BRZ

I don't even bother following the intervals. Different variables will make one to change their oil earlier than recommended. For example, if you took your car to a track day, I don't think you'll want to wait till you reach oil change time interval to swap it out.....

According to Blackstone on my used oil analysis with 7500 miles including 4 track days on dealership oil change using Toyota oil, I should change at 10k intervals.
This is for a car in AZ that sees ~4-6 track days per 7500 miles and runs e85.

This is the Golden Post.
I say Sustina 0W20 is good for 15k miles OCI.

I should say that I may never actually take it to a 10k interval just because I'm a freak about early changes, but I do like to know with confidence that going as far as 7500 is absolutely no problem at all even the way we drive and our environment. :D

what type of oil do u use?

I can confirm long intervals. I ran 0W-20 Mobil 1 for 3 autox and 600-700 miles of hard canyon runs (staying in high RPM as most was uphill) on a 7500 mile interval. Blackstone told me to run it out to 9,500 miles next time. UOA is in the UOA thread.

And this is with 54k miles on the clock already

Stock Toyota fill at the dealership. I considered changing, but I may just end up buying it from them after my free services are over. I'll keep doing the UOA and keep track if it stays stable, but I see no reason why not. I have been a sort of oil Nazi on all my past cars and motorbikes, but it's nice to see the factory using good fill.

these newer well built motors have really come a long way in burning clean. the oil in my last car (2007 mazda3) would look good after 5k mi changes while my sister's 2002 elantra would have black as f*ck oil after 3k miles.

When will everyone learn that oil color does not mean much of anything. It's simply the oil cleaning your engine. It's not supposed to look like McDonald's French fries all the time.

I autocross almost every month now, and make a 1 mile trip to and from work almost everyday, so lots of trips without getting up to full temps. My car is garaged in socal so there's never any really cold starts..using Toyota ow-20. I'm paranoid about oil so I'll probably change every 5k miles to be safe. Everyone's situation is different, but I'd rather change a little early to be safe.

Don't worry about it. Canada spec days every 8000 km! The oil is barely even used up by then.

This is reason why the intervals are 7500 or in the past 3000 miles.

If you check your oil monthly and top off appropriately you could definitely go 10K miles between checks.

Also, don't forget to check your air monthly as well.

Do you check your oil and air monthly? You could get away with 10K mile intervals if you did otherwise why not go every 3000 miles like garages used to recommend in the past? :bellyroll:

I never got any free oil changes when I got my new BRZ. In fact, they wanted to charge me $200 for the BRZ's "first 7,500 mile service".

It's really unfortunate that SoA is going backwards on oil change intervals, especially when under normal conditions (especially mainly highway miles), most n/a cars can easily to 10k on synthetic oil.

In the UK, Subaru intervals are 10k miles on n/a cars because the rental fleets refused to carry Subaru's unless they agreed to the longer intervals (according to a Scottish poster at bobistheoilguy).

I know an Outback owner/Amsoil dealer that runs 12-15k miles on Amsoil, guided by uoa's. Some people aren't worried about Powertrain warranty coverage when they run a good oil in the first place. :) He's also a former Air Force rocket scientist so SoA probably wouldn't get very far if he took them to court/litigation over warranty denial. :D

-Dennis

I'm wondering if the offer is dealership dependent after reading through the other thread. when we bought our 2013 outback (in 2012) and 2013 BRZ from the same dealership, i was told "you also get free oil changes and maintenance for 2 yrs/24k, and one free alignment". i asked whether we had to bring the vehicles back to the same dealership, and they said 'no - you can go to any one'.

so, we take both vehicles to a dealership for service that's much closer to our house, and have not paid for any service/scheduled maintenance yet (outback has had two, and the BRZ has had one).

Turbo cars can also go 10K miles between oil changes as long as you use synthetic oil and keep up with checking and topping off your oil.

That's what I do with my GTI and I have had 40K miles with no issues and I run a big turbo setup and also do track days and autox.

checking that my oil is full increases my oil change interval? :bonk:
Go 10k miles and tell me what Subaru/Toyota say when you ask for warranty engine work.
Considering they dropped it down to 6k for normal driving..changing it under extreme conditions 1k miles early doesn't seem that crazy.

All synthetic oils are that good now. Read BobTheOilguy forums. Everyone on there that just tops off and checks oil regularly then goes and gets Blackstone analysis and their labs always say you can go 9K, 10K miles on your oil.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=3188400

Sure you can go with lower intervals but it's only your money and time you're pissing away.

Plus the low intervals were due to drivers that never go under the hood or never even check their air.

Also, we all invalidated our warranties through modding and racing: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...01&postcount=1

From: https://www.subaru.com/my-subaru/warranties-2013.html

What is Not Covered:

Damage Caused By a Non-Covered, Unauthorized Part
These warranties do not cover damage to a covered component directly caused by the failure of a non-covered part, accessory or occurrence of event.

Damage Caused Due to Use of Vehicle in Competitive Events
These warranties do not cover damage to any component that is the result of operating the vehicle in any competition or racing event.

:confused0068:

Subaru is very clear its 3500 miles unless you drive like an old old lady. The 7k interval is there simple to save them on their free oil changes. And a UOA is good for tp thats about it.

Read Extreme conditions definition in the manual, its normal driving, they are just playing on words so you have to buy another at 100k mi.

So I just called the dealer to change my oil under Toyota Care and they said to come back at 10k, but the book says 7.5k. WTF? The dealer says that all synthetic changes are going to 10k now? I called Scion and they said to change it at 7.5

even dealership offers me Free Oil change for until car goes boom!, i won't
i rather buy my own oil and change it myself.

Someone's clueless...