I put 2oz of rain x windshield additive in coolant!

[Loren]

Don't get all offended. Over-maintaining your car isn't "wrong", it's just wasteful. That's why long-life coolant was invented. For the record, I don't believe in "lifetime" fluids, either. But, while they might not last forever, they will easily last 5-10 years. Change the coolant when you change the hoses or the waterpump.

You could change your engine oil every 2,000 miles if you wanted to. And your engine would easily last 200,000 miles. Does that mean that it lasted that long BECAUSE you changed the oil every 2,000 miles? No, it would have lasted just as long had you changed it every 6-8,000 miles. You just did 3x as many oil changes as you needed to, and wasted that much oil.

[stevedmc]

Don't get all offended. Over-maintaining your car isn't "wrong", it's just wasteful. That's why long-life coolant was invented. For the record, I don't believe in "lifetime" fluids, either. But, while they might not last forever, they will easily last 5-10 years. Change the coolant when you change the hoses or the waterpump.

You could change your engine oil every 2,000 miles if you wanted to. And your engine would easily last 200,000 miles. Does that mean that it lasted that long BECAUSE you changed the oil every 2,000 miles? No, it would have lasted just as long had you changed it every 6-8,000 miles. You just did 3x as many oil changes as you needed to, and wasted that much oil.

My oil changes are free. I just go back whenever the sticker tells me to. While I am a huge proponent of the 3,000 mile oil change, I believe my dealership changes the oil for free every 5,000 miles. I can't complain to much since its free. As a nice perk, the dealership also has a free assortment of snacks and fancy beverages.

Grandpa served in WWII and he told me they changed the oil in military vehicles once a week. Of course he never went that extreme on his personal vehicles, but he always told me that oil is cheaper than parts.

[Mark]

Oil discussions appear on a number threads. I envy your lifetime free oil changes. My nearest Mitsubishi dealership is 65-70 miles away, & I purchased my Mirage from a dealership that is more like 4 hours away (over 200 miles). Using a dealership for oil changes is not happening.

Being an old fart, breaking the 3,000 mile oil change interval habit was a bit of a struggle for me. I don't mind changing my own oil. The two cars I presently own use 0W-20 synthetic oil, & it is an added cost even if you do it yourself.

We do 5,000 mile synthetic oil change intervals with our driver's education cars. It's what our mechanic recommends. I have sort of adopted that to my Mirage. I realize 7,500 mile intervals are recommended, but I feel better doing them at 5,000 miles. The Mirage only holds 3 quarts of oil. I rather error on the side of to soon rather than to late, & doing it every 5,000 miles is just easy to remember. The wrench symbol appearing is just lame anyways.

It's really nice that your dealership does free oil changes every 5,000 miles. They could make that 7,500 miles, but apparently that doesn't sit right with them either.

I think there is a happy medium to all this, & that includes oil, antifreeze, belts and whatever. Most of all, you don't want neglect to jeopardize any future warranty work being done.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts & opinions!

[fc321]

There is no good reason to do 3000 or 5000 mile oil changes if same manufacturer is advising 7500 mile intervals. Let us not succumb to "emotional reasoning" or "traditionalism".

No need to waste money or good oil. If mitsu says 7500 miles than it means 7500 miles or 1 year. The engineers who designed the car and have seen the car in service all over the world say what they say for a GOOD REASON. So these folks saying to "drive the car hard" during the break-in (contrary to the advice in the owners manual) or to fill the tyres to 45 psi or any other "extreme advice" are taking a major risk.

The best "favor" you can do for your car is not to drive it badly and not be waiting until over 3k rpm to shift to the next gear. The best favor we can do is drive the car gently especially in the first 5 minutes and allow the engine to fully warm up before revving it up like like the Daytona 500.

Driving our car gently will do alot more in the long run towards its longevity than "too early" oil changes. We should certainly stay up to date on maintenance (as per the owners manual) but we are not accomplishing any extra benefit by "too early" oil changes or by rotating the tires sooner than every 2 oil changes. Those things are just a waste of effort.

I brought my car to the dealership once so far. That was for the airbag recall. I dont trust those guys, how long are they going to wait to let your old oil fully drain out when they have 8 other cars in the queue at the oil change bay? When I change my own oil I let that sh1t drip for a solid hour while I go into the house and do other stuff. Is the dealership mechanic going to take such care? Probably if they leave it drip for 10 minutes that would be on the top end of the spectrum.

Those mechanics are rushed, distracted, playing with their phones and answering posts on social media. Nope, sorry I dont like it. And I dont want to buy their $30 wiper blades that they insist I need either. Nor do I like waiting 2 hours at the dealership either. Any mistake those distracted mechanics make could introduce problems to my car that I WILL BE ON THE HOOK FOR. I dont want that.

i dont want the Dealership fondling my car anymore than I want them fondling my wife.

[Eggman]

There is no good reason to do 3000 or 5000 mile oil changes if same manufacturer is advising 7500 mile intervals. Let us not succumb to "emotional reasoning" or "traditionalism".

What do you think about the time requirement?

Schedule 2 in the warranty manual specifies "Change engine oil Every 7,500 miles (12,000 km) or every 6 months"

[Fummins]

There is no good reason to do 3000 or 5000 mile oil changes if same manufacturer is advising 7500 mile intervals. Let us not succumb to "emotional reasoning" or "traditionalism".

No need to waste money or good oil. If mitsu says 7500 miles than it means 7500 miles or 1 year. The engineers who designed the car and have seen the car in service all over the world say what they say for a GOOD REASON.

Just make sure you read the footnotes in the maintenance manual. Not everyone should be following the regular service schedule for some vehicles. I read one that said if the vehicle is used in Canada you have to follow the "severe duty" service schedule. There's a I'm sure many people get screwed by this.

The engineers who designed the car say what they say in the hopes that the car lasts until warranty is up and if it fails before that it's not hard for the mfg to come up with a reason to void it. It'd be stupid for a mfg to design a car to last forever.

[stevedmc]

The user manual also says to adjust the valves at a set interval. I haven't and my car currently has 213,336 miles.

[Loren]

The engineers who designed the car say what they say in the hopes that the car lasts until warranty is up and if it fails before that it's not hard for the mfg to come up with a reason to void it. It'd be stupid for a mfg to design a car to last forever.

Mercedes learned that in the 70's and 80's. Some of those models were SO over-engineered that people just kept driving them and their new car sales declined.

[Fummins]

Our highest is up to 240861 miles. I'm most impressed how there are no leaks on any of them.

[stevedmc]

Our highest is up to 240861 miles. I'm most impressed how there are no leaks on any of them.

Amen.