Oil for a mirage

[Mark]

LOL...no argument here. Just stick to the recommended intervals while the car is under warranty.

THIS post is from a forum member who went 15,000 miles on Mobil-1 0W-20. His Blackstone oil analysis is in the post.

If one report of a car used in 55F+ climate justifies all this for you, that's great! That wouldn't apply to my car, however.

[Mark]

Yes, we all have to make our own decisions. And maintaining the requirements of a warranty is certainly a consideration.

I put synthetic oil in all of my cars. Typically whatever the factory-recommended weight is. I've been doing annual oil changes since the mid-90's. For me, that's typically anywhere between 8k and 12k miles. Sometimes less. Rarely more. I've never had an oil-related problem on a modern car. Typically, I don't keep a car more than 2-3 years... but, I did have a 1994 Saturn for 7 years, a 1996 Saturn for 10 years, a 1996 Miata for 6 years, a 2006 MINI Cooper for 6 years, and a 2007 Miata for 8 years. No oil problems with any of those engines.

I had an oil pressure relief valve stick open on a my 1996 Miata engine. That's a rare, but known manufacturing tolerance problem. Happened to some 96-97 Miatas. Caused low oil pressure on cold starts until the relief valve closed after driving for a couple blocks. I ended up replacing the oil pump and the crankshaft bearings. Everything inside that engine was astonishingly clean at over 80k miles.

I had the camshaft on my last Spitfire engine get munched because the guy who built the engine (not me!) didn't tighten the oil pickup tube... oil starvation. We can't blame the oil for that.

But, I've never had an actual OIL related failure. 10k oil changes on good synthetic oil has worked reliably for me for a very long time.

I admire everything you share, & I never mean to be disrespectful to anyone. Since you really don't keep your cars for very long, it's a little hard to come away with much for me.

I drove a brand new $5300 1990 Ford Festiva for 14 years. Super Tech 5W-30 conventional oil and cheap Fram oil filters changed every 3,000 miles. Never burned a drop oil. Never had an oil change done by anyone, but me. I regret the selling car, because many were heard of going beyond 250,000+ miles easily. I know you are familiar with these cars.

I can't say the same for my first 0W-20 vehicle (Mobil 1 changed every 6,000 miles). At 90,000 miles it was burning 1 quart of oil every 1,000 miles. Recommended oil changes were 7,500 miles. I would have been adding 6.5 quarts of oil between changes on top of the 5.5 quarts to begin with. Short block was replaced by the manufacturer last fall (6-weeks @ dealership). It has spent this past week at the dealership. When I took it in for an air bag recall a couple weeks ago, I asked them to check for oil leaks. Right head gasket was leaking oil, which means pulling the engine out for this vehicle. Engine is pulled out and more leaks have been discovered. Dealership is wanting to make this right, but the product may suck!

None of this engine work has cost me a penny, and I am given a new loaner car in the meantime. I am not mad at the dealership, but I am disappointed in the product. My vehicle appointment was for 7:20 am this past Monday. I called today thinking I could pick up my car tomorrow (having Good Friday off of school). They are not done working on my car. I wouldn't hold my breathe on getting it back next week.

I know this is beyond any type of oil, and I am not blaming it on that. I am just disgusted with today's cars. It's just how I feel. If I bought sometime else, I think I would search for a 1st or 2nd generation CRV or RAV4, because I know those vehicles are somewhat bullet proof. I don't mind spending money on a vehicle, even though I drive a cheap Mirage most of the time.

[Loren]

In general, I think cars are WAY better than they were prior to the 90's. Of course, some manufacturers still make better cars/engines than others. And EVERY maker has their flaky models, and their occasional lemons. And EVERY model of car has its own quirks... some more relevant than others. (for the Mirage... so far, it seems the CVT might be finicky, the electrical connectors by the door don't like to get wet, and... uh... the engine absolutely does not like to be over-revved)

[Mark]

In general, I think cars are WAY better than they were prior to the 90's.

I would totally agree with that! Cars made significant improvements during 1990's. I don't miss carburetors on cars & those pretty much disappeared by the 90's. Almost every car that I owned had some type of carburetor issue. I don't miss them! I'm glad the period just prior to air bags was short lived. I don't miss those automatic seat belts flying at you when you started your car either.

I haven't kept all of my vehicles for extended periods of time either. Raising a family & life in general changes over time. If you buy a boat, you need a vehicle to pull it. Move to a ridge top in the country and AWD becomes more important in the winter. Things like that changes a person's needs.

[stevedmc]

I like turtles.

[MacClyver]

Well I bought 5w30 for it and a Purolator filter. This first oil change I want to establish a baseline, closest to what I know. Then next time in all likelihood I will go 0w20 just to see what difference there is.

Eggman, my commute is 14 miles each way, so not that far but not exactly short either. I do my best to avoid making short trips by car.

(0W-20, 5W-20, 5W-30, synthetical, conventional, etc...). You apparently don't drive much.

... I put 25K on my current car in a year and a half.

But fair enough about 1/3 my miles were traveling to Geo meets, and since the Mirage will be reserved for warm weather use it won't be the exclusive catcher of miles driven. I'd have to ask Michael(mt999999) to be sure but iirc it got a single oil change at 2000 miles, though that's still 3 year old oil that's been sitting in it. I've never batted an eye at driving out of warranty cars, if it is indeed voided no big deal to me. Sidenote I find it funny the calls: "Attention did you know your cars warranty is about to expire", and be able to retort, huh I think your calling me 16 years too late and hang up The inherant reliability which allows Mitsubishi to gamble on such a long warranty period is what counts.

Pryme, though most of my driving might be technically "city" there's little stop go, you know a light or two per mile sort of drive. Timing lights to be green makes city into low speed highway.