When to change oil on a new car? (1 Viewer)

When would you change the oil on a new 2019 Subaru Ascent?

  • 1,000 Miles

  • 6,000 Miles (Owners Manual)


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Need your help.

Picked up a 2019 Subaru Ascent the other day and owners manual says first oil change is 6 months or 6,000 miles. My plan is to change the oil at 1,000 miles to clear out all the oil after the break in period. At 6,000 miles I'll change it again to stay on schedule so I don't mess up my warranty.

The internet says a ton of things and I can't get a good answer.

I asked the Subaru peeps... and they're leaning towards the manual, but 3,000 miles if used under severe conditions. I keep cars for a long time and just want the best chances on this little 2.4L Turbo.

When would you change the oil?

Let the fighting begin...
 
My experience is biased since I've only ever leased a brand new vehicle. 2017 Subaru Outback. I got a sweet deal on the lease and know I'm not going to end up purchasing it. First oil change was free at Subaru so I waited till 6k.
 
Go for it. Certainly won’t hurt to get rid of any debris in a new engine.
 
As I have an old car I used to change the oil every 4000 miles. After a few years, I now change oil every 2000 miles. I think I need to change something in my car. But I'm not an expert, often I just use car service.
 
I got a new vehicle last year and researched this topic pretty thoroughly. All of the reliable info I could find stated it was not necessary to change the oil outside of the manufactures' recommendations. Today's engines supposedly do not have the metal filing issue and seating issues of older vehicles. Nearly every manufacturer out there is now recommending at least 5K at the first oil change and Toyota is at 10k now? With lifetime powertrain warranty? I wouldn't sweat it and I decided to just follow their protocol.

Although, its certainly not going to hurt if you want to do it early.
 
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I did like your thinking when I got my new tow reg 2017 super duty dully diesel. First oil change 1k second change 5k
 
Had a few brand new vehicles over the years and always did first change @ 500 miles. Oil is cheap, engines are not.
 
I always change new engine oil at 500 miles. Just a drain and fill. Can’t hurt. But I suppose it could hurt to wait, especially on a Subaru... not being biased, they have had extended open recalls for 100k-120k mile engine replacements historically
 
No you leave it in.

It cause 0 harm, and maybe helps seat things in better. But mostly it causes no harm to leave it to their recommendations.

Engines take like 15K miles or more to really "break" in. But like said above it isn't like the old days.

You will do what makes you feel good, but in my aircraft mechanic type of thinking from my training I would just leave it be. At the oil change I would switch to synthetic oil. I run it in my engine, (except my cruiser as it leaks too much on old seals).

If you do change the oil try collecting it and thin it out a little and run it thru a fine filter and let us know if you see metal filings. Curiosity eh.
 
I did my first oil change in my 4Runner at 7500 instead of 10k. But otherwise I go 10k oil changes like the manual says. I figure the engineers at the manufacture have a pretty good idea of what is the right way to go.

I did the math once for my 4Runner and if I changed the oil every 3k instead of 10k, I'd spend more on oil extra oil changes than the cost of a factory new long block by 200k. So my view is save the $ and if something ever does go wrong - I'd probably saved enough to buy a new engine. And that seems unlikely.

What I don't know is whether Toyota or other manufacturers use a special breaking engine oil for the first oil change that has additives or ??? that you could actually make it worse by changing. I don't think seating rings is even a thing on new engines anymore. I suspect that's also the case for the engine bearings and such. They roll off the assembly line ready for 100% duty on day 1.

- Except GM. My parents last new GM truck actually had no oil in the front diff. It seized and blew up at about 10k miles. Having some oil is always a good idea. With a GM it probably pays to have the dealer at least check all the fluids....
 

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