Did I Void My Warranty??

[globe9]

I posted a question a little while back about a notice I received from Nissan telling me about 6 month service. My 2010 Rogue has very LOW miles....about 2,400 right now(only drive to work and back about 8 miles each way). I bought this Rogue in early March. I had planned on getting my first oil change at 3k miles at the dealership as it's free. Someone in the other thread brought up the "3 months or 3k miles...whichever comes first" Well obviously the 3 months have come and gone...actually pushing about 7 months now. Did I void my warranty by not having the oil changed yet? I didn't even think about the 3 month time span

Also, what about all the other service times on the schedule...I'll never make their estimations right now. My Rogue will always be low mileage, it's just how I drive, or rather don't. My last car was a 1992 Mazda Protege that I got as a gift brand new....it had 87,000 miles on it in 2005 when I finally got rid of it. Thats an average of about 6500 miles a year. What should I do?

[harryg]

you didn't void anything....unless your engine blows up right now(highly unlikely), or something like that, and Nissan determines the cause was you didn't change your oil in 6 months then your engine warranty will be void...

by the way im also in the same boat as you, drive very little...my rogue is 1.5 years old and ive only driven less than around 7500km...my service advisor told me to just change my oil+filter every 6 months or so, therefore i should change my oil+filter twice before having to do the major services like the 12000km service

i would change it now since you do very little driving daily which doesn't allow enough time for the oil to burn off any water vapor which has formulated inside it

im sure phillipa while chime in here soon and add better info

[harryg]

I got my rogue on April 29,2009 and so far it has less than 1500 km on it...i only drive to school which is about a 15 minute drive, or around town, maybe a short highway trip once a month...anyways the dealer sent me the a little letter stating that i was due for service..i know the first service is supposed to be at 6000km, and that there is a special oil that helps with the break in period, which is already in it....so would it be alright if i waited til the 6000km mark to get the first oil change or should i go in sooner???

HarryG


New postby philipa_240sx » 02 Aug 2009 01:20

Short distance city driving is actually quite hard on the engine and the oil. 15min is not enough time for the engine to properly warm up. As a result, accumulated gasoline and other contaminants from cold starts are diluting the oil instead of being evaporated and burned off. This is weakening the oil's lubricating properties and could damage the engine.

I would try to get some longer distance/duration driving in if you can. Possibly on a weekly basis.

Another concern is the effect such short distances will have on engine break-in. A few longer city trips (not highway) with lots of stop and go driving will help with this. This will help to seat in the piston rings and other components so you get the best 'seal' and improved fuel economy and performance.

As for the oil changes,

Without doing a used oil analysis, it hard to recommend something. With such short distance driving, duration becomes more important than mileage. Here is what I would do:

- Get a clean plastic bottle/jar that holds about 120ml (about 4oz), with a good lid (screw cap). Hint: look at food containers, etc at the grocery store.

- Do an oil change as the dealer suggests. I also recommend going for a minimum 25 minute drive, immediately before your oil change to evaporate any gasoline in the oil. This is necessary for proper oil analysis.

- As the oil change is being done, ask them to collect an oil sample using the bottle you provide. The oil should be collected as it is draining from the motor. Don't scoop it from the pan or collect as soon as it starts draining.

- Send your oil off for analysis. There are many labs, here are a few:

http://www.wearcheck.ca - Located in Burlington, Ontario, Canada
http://www.blackstone-labs.com - Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA

When you get the analysis back, please post the results here. Then I can recommend how frequently you should change the oil.

If you don't want to go through the trouble of oil analysis, then stick with the 3 month oil change interval. Yes, it's frequent but I am quite concerned about the short distance driving you are doing.

found the response from philipa to my question (seems similar to your situation)

[philipa_240sx]

HarryG copied my other post above, and this is good advice. Oil analysis is the best way to determine the health of your engine oil and if it needs to changed more/less frequently.

Nissan can deny warranty coverage if you fail to properly service your vehicle. That includes oil changes. If you want to get technical regarding the intervals, then read pg 7 of the Maintenance and Service Guide:

http://www.nissanusa.com/content/dam/ni ... _N_SMG.pdf

[MadHungarian]

We need a lawyer (hint, hint). Reading page 7 and then page 11is interesting (confusing?). Page 7 says you SHOULD follow either Schedule 1 or 2 as a condition of your warranty--see below. Does "should" really mean "must?" Why not then use "must?"

Page 7: "As a condition of your vehicle's warranty, you are responsible for properly maintaining your vehicle. In maintaining your vehicle, you should follow either Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 as listed below. Use these guidelines to determine which maintenance schedule to use."

BUT page 11 says the schedules are the MINIMAL requirements--see below. This implies following the mileage (rather than time) recommendations for very low mileage cars should suffice--or not?

Page 11: "The following Maintenance Schedule has been compiled by Nissan to assist you in performing the recommended maintenance services and keeping appropriate records of services performed. Along with the related repair invoices, receipts, and other such records, a properly documented maintenance history could enhance the value of your vehicle should you ever wish to sell it. The services listed represent the minimal Nissan recommended requirements for each time/mileage interval, up to 120,000 miles / 96 months. Beginning on page 52 you will find a log that should be used to track when and where services were performed. Ask your Service Advisor to update your log each time your vehicle is serviced."

Lawyers?

[philipa_240sx]

Lawyers? Sigh....

So long as you can show proper maintenance, there shouldn't be an issue. If you failed to change your oil period, then we have a problem.

I had a warranty issue with my '03 Altima. I produced documentation that I performed proper oil changes... which I did myself every 6000mi. Technically I was driving part city/part highway. This could have been construed as Schedule 1, but it made no difference as I still performed oil changes earlier than what Schedule 2 required.

Even though it was 1000mi past the warranty expiration, Nissan still honored the warranty and performed the repair. The repair was an expensive one... at least for Nissan, not for me.

[MadHungarian]

I thought the question was what IS "proper maintenence."

The original post concerned a very low mileage car--let's say 3500 miles per year. The car is serviced at the end of the first year of ownership--the mileage is LESS than that prescribed for the first oil change, but the oil change is overdue by 9 months for the first service and 6 months for the second. Or should the owner have had the oil changed at 875 miles (3 month service) and/or at 1750 miles (6 month service) to maintain the warranty?

THAT is the question. It seems to me that changing your blended or fully synthetic oil every 1750 miles is just a bit much!

[philipa_240sx]

THAT is the question. It seems to me that changing your blended or fully synthetic oil every 1750 miles is just a bit much!

Unless all of those miles long trips (>20min), then absolutely change it even at such low mileage. Short trips are a killer for engine life for the reasons I mentioned above.

Nissan recommends oil changes every 3 months or 3750mi under severe service. That would include:

- Repeated short trips of less than 5 miles in normal temperatures or less than 10 miles in freezing temperatures.
- Stop-and-go traffic in hot weather or low speed driving for long distances.

If not to maintain the warranty, then do it for the longevity of your car. If you consider that four oil changes a year is about $120-$150, it's cheap insurance compared to replacing a $5K motor. If that isn't enough reason, then I don't know what to say...

[Pescakl1]

At least, change the oil every 6 months, and if you don't want to spend too much money on it, buy every brand conventional oil (PYB is an excellent choice) instead of synthetic. Wait for sale to load your stash in order to save even more.

[kerrton]

I believe it's important to not overcomplicate things, the maintenance schedule says to change the oil every 3 months regardless of mileage, so I'd recommend doing just that.

Like Phil said, oil changes are cheap but are completely essential to your engine, why would you want to try to push the limits or cheap out on something so essential and with such a high return on investment (small cost = huge benefit). If nothing else, consider it to be erroring on the side of caution, which is much better than waiting too long for service and prematurely wearing the engine. The only way I'd consider altering this schedule is if you were to take oil samples for analysis, then you could dial in a more precise service interval suited to your particular driving habits.

One other thing - when I look at buying a used vehicle, I don't even consider taking it for a test drive if the owner or dealer can't produce full service records which I go over in detail, comparing to the manufacturer's schedule. While I was shopping for my last car I was shocked at how many people and car dealerships could not produce this, and every one of them assured me that it wasn't important because they had the car inspected and it came back ok, or the one I think is hilarious is "I just had all the maintenace done so you're good to go!". I laugh hard at that one, they drive the car for 50 to 100k with little or no maintenance, putting hard miles on the vehicle with dirty fluids causing excessive wear, then when it's time to sell they change all the fluids and they think this solves all the problems - well by that time it's far too late and when I tell them this they just don't seem to get it, and the just assume I'm a jerk for questioning their logic.

Anyway, I'm not suggesting anyone on this forum is like that, but my point is that when I look at purchasing a used vehicle the service records are the first thing I look at, and from the point of view of the seller this is a very valuable thing to have. All those oil changes at regular 3-month interval will pay you back if and when you go to sell the vehicle, assuming you have a wise purchaser who recognizes the value of maintenance done on time.

The end result for me was, I bought a brand new Rogue in 2008 because I quickly got fed up with sellers not demonstrating good vehicle maintenance practices, so following your maintenance schedule is very important for more reasons than just maintaining the warranty.