Quick change and Synthetic oil

[wrenrj1]

Just curious,

How much have TT members been paying at the dealership for a synthetic oil change, and what interval have you been changing it out? I'm considering making the change. I currently run dino oil about 4k before changing it out.

I'm not looking for do it yourselfer's costs, but if you do chime in, I'd like to know your mileage intervals. Thanks.

Wren

[chunko]

I've given up on synthetic...that's S**t is too expensive. Every 3K with Dino oil and I should be good to go.

If I was using Synthetic....it would still depend. With the way I drive (a wee bit fast) I like to change my oil often just to be safe. I may switch to synthetic after 10K miles or so once the engine is well broken in and I can feel more comfortable with longer intervals. Even then, I probably wouldn't go past 5K personally.

[mtofell]

Castrol 5W-30 (non-synthetic), somewhere between 3500 and 4000.... try to be closer to 3500.

[PuvMan]

Did my first oil change at 1500... using dino
then switched to mobile 1 5w30 ep at 4500

will do changes every 5k now

some say thats over kill on synthetic, some say its too long. I feel safe running this interval.

[Pot Hole]

Castrol 5W-30 synthetic at first oil change (4000 miles) and again at 10,000. I will continue with synthetic every 6000 for as long as I own the truck.

Given the lubricating superiority and longevity that synthetic oil has over regular oil, I don't think that the $3.50 per quart I'm paying is too much at all.

[TitanFan59]

First change at 3k and mate it with Rotella T Syn. Boo Ya!

[kman]

using 5/30 M1 (7 quarts) and Pure-one filter, change it every 6K.

[Blackin]

I'm running Amsoil full synthetic and pulled my stick this last weekend and looked at it. Still crystal clear. Don't even know how many miles I got on it at this point without looking at my cheat-sheet in the glove box. Well over 4k though I'm sure.
I'm also using an extralong filter which holds an extra quart of oil(8 qts total in my Hemi)
I think the cooling and performance increases are either a myth or highly overstated at the very least. Not having to change half as often is nice though.

Damn expensive stuff though.

[phatmax]

I only have 500 miles on the Beast at the moment, but I am going to use Mobil1 , just like I did on my Maxima.

After doing googles on Syn life, I feel EASILY comfortable with my first change at 3000, simply to check on the engine, and then 6500 on change two, and then from then on 8500 miles to 10000 miles.

The new Syn BLENDS that Mobil1 came out with go up to 7500 miles.
The new Mobil1 EXTENDED full-syn is guaranteed to 15000 miles
I figure that somewhere inbetween lies regular Mobil1 Full-syn.

I would say anything less then 7000 miles on full synthetic and you are wasting your money.

On the Syn blend that the stealership uses, I would not go beyond 6000 unless you KNOW what brand it is.

[phlydude]

I want to say that my delaership charged something like $45 for the synthetic change. Their logic was "that truck takes 7 qts of oil".
I ran the original oil, changed it with Dino once and then over to full synthetic since. I go about 7000 miles between changes - I drive 95% highway.
I followed the 7000 mile interval in my accord and it came out looking thick and black running dino. The past times in the titan, the oil has flowed smooth but defintiely darker than new and I figure about the end of it's useful life.

Granted, synthetic can be a little pricey but seeing what happened to Dino oil in a 4-banger accord, I wouldn't dare push dino past 3000 in this motor.
I tried the German Castrol 0W-30 and it was OK but tough to find an $6 a qt not on sale.
I bought my Mobil1 @ Wally world for $19.87 for a 5 qt jug. The single qts are $5 each so I bought 2 big jugs initally and will work off of it adding a jug or two to the supply as I keep going.
Sure, it costs about $30 with the filter to do the change. Jiffy places charge about that for regular dino and then you have to contend with them losing bolts or forgetting to fill up your oil or not changing your filter (it happens at the dealership too). At least for $30 and 30 minutes, I know it is done right.

[phatmax]

Say 120,000 miles total usage

Dino Oil:

~$25 (per change at jiffylube) every 3000 miles:

$25 x 40 changes = $1000

Synthetic:

~$40 (per change at home) every 8500 miles:

$40 x 15 changes = $600

Gee.............

[kman]

Originally Posted by phatmax

Say 120,000 miles total usage

Dino Oil:

~$25 (per change at jiffylube) every 3000 miles:

$25 x 40 changes = $1000

Synthetic:

~$40 (per change at home) every 8500 miles:

$40 x 15 changes = $600

Gee.............

good calc, you must be an accountant.

so at this price differential, we'll breakeven somewhere after 70K.

[Bayou Titan]

Originally Posted by kman

good calc, you must be an accountant.

so at this price differential, we'll breakeven somewhere after 70K.

It looks like to me you will break even after a couple of changes.

[kman]

Originally Posted by Bayou Titan

It looks like to me you will break even after a couple of changes.

Oops! duh am i stupid, don't know what i was thinking, to much coffee today i guess.

[wrenrj1]

Thanks for the replies, but back to my original question, what does it typically cost at the dealership for a synthetic oil change, and (as some have answered) how long are you running synthetic oil between changes.