Vehicle Dealership Oil Changes and Recalls

[newbury]

I bought a new Impala and came with 4 oil changes within two years irrespective of the mileage. They went through the whole exercise, oil change, tires rotated, etc. even though each time I only had maybe 2000 miles on the car. If I had to do it, it would never have been doe that way.

They claimed I should change the oil every 6 months and they were willing to do that for the first 2 years so I let them.

One more free oil change and 20 point check, then what?

Does anyone ever change oil every 6 months or was that just a way to get me sucked in to get used to their system?

I understand tractors are supposed to get oil changed every year even though very few hours are put on it. Does that make sense?

Only if you don't care if it's needed or not.

Trust but verify once it's off warranty. Get a Used Oil Analysis. Especially if you are running synthetics. DON"T go by oil "color". My 7.3's "keep" a quart or more (out of 15) in the HPOP. As soon as you put in clean oil that quart of old is mixed with the new.
So I change the oil and it's black in a couple of miles.

I ran my 2002 7.3 almost 20,000 miles on Rotella T6 without an oil or filter change and the reports were still great. Ford advised every 5,000 miles.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Everything in my fleet and my works fleet gets changed at required intervals or 12 calender months, whichever comes first.

Chris

 

[jack707]

I do all oil and fluids changes on my truck and car.

 

[fidowanttobe]

I understand tractors are supposed to get oil changed every year even though very few hours are put on it. Does that make sense?

I sold an Oliver 1850 I had for extreme snow removal only. The buyer asked about the last oil change, I said that I didn't know and but I'm sure it has less than 30 hours on it. He scolds me and says "I change it every year". My response, "some years it doesn't even get started" to which he replies' "That doesn't matter" !!!! Seriously??? :duh:
I'm SURE the old scrapers and Cats I see around the country that set for YEARS before they are needed, have their brand new oil changed yearly.

 

[RollingsFarms]

I sold an Oliver 1850 I had for extreme snow removal only. The buyer asked about the last oil change, I said that I didn't know and but I'm sure it has less than 30 hours on it. He scolds me and says "I change it every year". My response, "some years it doesn't even get started" to which he replies' "That doesn't matter" !!!! Seriously??? :duh: I'm SURE the old scrapers and Cats I see around the country that set for YEARS before they are needed, have their brand new oil changed yearly.

Why couldn't he check it himself? Diesel oil is usually black but you can still tell fresh oil from one that needs to be changed.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Oh we have all sorts of makes to choose from, the problem is the GMC store is owned by the same family that owns Chevy. They also own Nissan. Want Toyota? Great, they also own the Mazda place next door. So it's really hard to shop around cause they're all owned by the same people.

That is the way it is here also, one guy owns almost all the dealerships in Hot Springs, another guy has all the dealerships in Arkadelphia and in Little Rock, one man own every brand car dealership there is although there are multiple dealers there. I don't use their service dept for simple things like oil changes although my wife's Honda came with one free oil change that she took it in for but that was it. At least the one or two times I have used the dealer for service, there was no wait time. Now that my local mechanic shop owner has died, I guess I will have to find out how the service is if I need some major repair.
We did have a similar issue when in Ft. McMurray Canada. You had to have an appointment for everything (usually at least 2 weeks to get one)and even then it may not get done that day. The issue there is that it is 500 miles to the next town so they have you by the short hairs and not much you can do unless you want to take a 9-10 hour drive and I am not sure you would get much better service in Edmonton either.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I sold an Oliver 1850 I had for extreme snow removal only. The buyer asked about the last oil change, I said that I didn't know and but I'm sure it has less than 30 hours on it. He scolds me and says "I change it every year". My response, "some years it doesn't even get started" to which he replies' "That doesn't matter" !!!! Seriously??? :duh:
I'm SURE the old scrapers and Cats I see around the country that set for YEARS before they are needed, have their brand new oil changed yearly.

That sounds like the Army way. We used to service the vehicles on a regular time interval regardless if they never moved from the parking spot. Even then when we took them on maneuvers, many of them would break down before they got out of the motor pool for various reasons. That taught me that it is worse on a vehicle to set than to be driven regularly.
Even knowing that, one of my tractors might set for 6 months between uses. I regularly have to charge up the battery on the 6 year old machine since it doesn't get used enough to keep it charged. I have 58 hours on this last oil change and I don't plan to change it anytime soon. It was done at the 50 hour mark with Rotella T6 in 2011. I see no need to change it for 58 hours even if it has been 5 years since its last change. It sets under a shed out of the weather all the time.

 

[newbury]

Why couldn't he check it himself? Diesel oil is usually black but you can still tell fresh oil from one that needs to be changed.

How do you tell fresh oil from oil that needs to be changed on a vehicle you are not familiar with?

 

[Diamondpilot]

How do you tell fresh oil from oil that needs to be changed on a vehicle you are not familiar with?

Must be a carnival trick!

Chris

 

[RollingsFarms]

How do you tell fresh oil from oil that needs to be changed on a vehicle you are not familiar with?

Well, first thing I'd do is smell it for fuel (usually a tell tale sign of oil that needs to be changed or worse....engine problems), check the oil filter (a fresh oil change is going to have a fresh filter with no fading or rust or anything like that.....it'll look new). A lot of guys write the hours and date on the filter too so that helps. I'm not mechanic but I can check for basic things. Look for grease on the tractor too, a tractor that's been greased regularly most likely has had routine oil changes and maintenance done to it over the life. You're always taking a gamble buying used but these are some ways to at least help you determine what you're getting.