Hello, I just bought 2010 Outlander ES and noticed that service book shows oil change and filter after 7500 miles. I've always changed oil on my Nissan after about 3500-4000miles. Is 7500 miles a little to long?
What do you think about using synthetic oil?

 

If you go 7500 miles, use a good synthetic like Mobile1, Pennzoil Platinum, Castrol Syntec. Watch Advance/Autozone/O'Reilly auto parts stores for oil deals. Advance will run 5 quarts of Mobile1 full synthetic with Purolator PureOne for 25 bucks. Can't beat that. You might want to ask the dealership what they recommend. I would not run a standard dinosaur oil 7500 miles. Synthetics have really come down in price.

If you have a WalMart, check them out. They have 5 quart jugs in my area for the above oils for 23-25 bucks. I make sure to get a good oil filter as well, Mobile1, Purolator, and WIX are good. Do not use a FRAM. While Motorcraft is generally used for Fords, their oils can be used in any vehicle. Their oil analysis show that it is a pretty good oil that holds up well. Walmart sells their 5qt synthetic blend jug for 12 bucks.

I've changed my oil change indicator to 5k miles as my wife does a lot of stop-go city driving. once we are out of warranty, I'll take an oil sample and send it off to Blackstone Labs and see how far we can stretch the oil change intervals.


Before I got the outlander, I was a die hard 3k mile interval guy. Now that I finally have a nicer car, I've read up on oils. They've gotten quite a bit better.
If you are interested in reading up on oils, http://www.bobistheoilguy.com

 

I had my first oil change recently and they offered me synthetic backed by the fact that it will last longer and I don't have to go there every 3 months. But the maintenance schedule states that oil change should be done every 3 months. While I believe that the synthetic deal is a valid one and makes sense, I wonder if the warranty will void if you don't change the oil every 3 months regardless of the oil type.

I ended up getting Mobil1 1000 with OEM filter MZ690072. It wasn't cheap.

 

Thanks for your opinion guys. How often do you change your oil and filter? Why do Mitsubishi recommend changing oil after 7500 miles? I use synthetic in my Nissan Altima and change it every 4000 miles. I use Mobile One and Purolator. I buy it at Advance Auto Parts when they are on sell. Now since I bought this Outlander new, I just wonder if I should drive until 7500 miles before changing oil. When my Altima was new I remember changing oil after firs 2 or 3t miles.

 

I change it myself every 5,000 miles. I use Synthetic. I think 7,500 is too long, even with modern high quality synthetic oils.

 

If you drive mostly prolonged highway miles, you can easily get 7500 out of a good synthetic oil and filter as there is less stop/go driving that adds stress than just running the engine at a constant load.

I change every 5k miles. From bobistheoilguy, that is a very safe mileage for synthetics. Since our oil reminder is setup for 3750(?)/5000/7500 mile increments, I'd set it at 5 and follow that until the warranty is up. After that, I'd run 7k miles, change it and take an oil sample and send it in for analysis. They may tell you 8 is safe or stay at 7k miles.

 

Oil is pretty good these days. 7500 no problem with dino oil esec if you do mostly highway. I do mostly town driving, so I use a syn and change every 6 months..which comes out to about 5 to 6K miles

Does the manual say 3 months? I thought it was more like 6?

 

My manual says 6 months or 7500 miles whichever comes first for a regular schedule. Severe is 3 months 3,750 miles.

 

When I asked dealer's mechanics they told me that if you drive in a city, meaning lots of stop lights then you are Severe conditions, if you mostly drive highway then you should follow normal oil intervals. I think I'm going to change mine every 5000 miles.

 

5k seems like a good middle point. For some 3k miles is under 2 month of driving and that's too frequent to do oil changes...