First off, let me say that this is not about the age-old (and boring) synthetic v. conventional oil debate. This one just has to do with what Mitsubishi recommends or requires for our vehicles.

The image below comes from a file in the Owners area on mitsubishicars.com, under 'Service Schedule'. I guess this is their overall maintenance schedule for all vehicles(?) Anyway, the wording is clear that synthetic oil is required.



Here is the wording from the similar page in the actual warranty and maintenance manual that came with my Outlander.



There's nothing in the maintenance manual or in the owner's manual that I can see mentions synthetic oil being required.

I bet this question has come up beforehere- does anyone know what Mitsubishi's guidance is?

(Edit. Rats! It looks like the links tothe images aren't working. I triedputting the jpgs on Flickr and then copying in the image url - not sure what the problem is)

 

when i take my vehicle in they pop in 5w20

 

My dealer uses 10W-30 because of the extreme summer heat here in Phoenix. Also because of the heat I followmitsu's severe maintenance schedule which has oil changes done every 3,000 miles. I've never used synthetic motor oil in the 25 years I've lived in Phoenix and see no reason to start now if my oil is being changed every 3,000 miles.

 

AT 3,000 miles it probably still look a lot like when it was put in.

 

I agree oil changes every 3,000 miles is probably overkill, but even though I lift the hood every week or two and check fluids I like the fact my dealer also checks them and tops off as needed. Putting the vehicle up on the rack and giving it a quick check by the technican also gives peace of mind which is important because my wife and Itake several car trips a year. The$32 each for a couple of extra oil changes a year is well worth it to me.

 

I used to do every 3mos instead of mileage, that's even worst since I drive low miles. So since then I figure I'd go with miles instead. I know you can't have too much oil change since more frequent will actually be beneficial to the engine, but that would be throwing away precious $$ to the drain.

 

i follow the severe maintenance as well. i do a bit of driving but hardly enough to hit the milestones before i hit the suggested time frames. whichever comes first, every 5000km for me. and sometimes less depending on how the weather has been. if we get excessive freexing and thawing i take it in more often to avoid any condensation in the oil.

we use synthetic oil in the ford mustang only because its such a winey piece of ford....women and their mustangs....gross.