Oil Change Schedule

[Iamtheeggman]

I am a rookie to Infiniti and to "Japanese" cars. I was told by a car salesman that Infiniti's and other luxury cars can typically go 7500 to 10k miles without an oil change.

I just bought an '04 G35 with 55k miles. Should I go the 7500 route?

Also, what mileage should I expect? I am not a speed demon but I am a pretty aggressive New Yorker living in MD.

[Joey666Crack]

5k at most, in my opinion. .

[pfarmer]

I am a rookie to Infiniti and to "Japanese" cars. I was told by a car salesman that Infiniti's and other luxury cars can typically go 7500 to 10k miles without an oil change.

I just bought an '04 G35 with 55k miles. Should I go the 7500 route?

Also, what mileage should I expect? I am not a speed demon but I am a pretty aggressive New Yorker living in MD.

No one can really tell you what is best for you. 7500 route is probably a good number for an average driver but more often doesn't really hurt either except maybe the pocket book.

Use a good quality oil such as Mobile 1 for example and use a Nissan filter. I would consider maybe changing the filter out more frequently if you are concerned. I think a good indication is simply to pull the dipstick out and look at the appearance of the oil.

Perry

[jmcohen23]

I am a rookie to Infiniti and to "Japanese" cars. I was told by a car salesman that Infiniti's and other luxury cars can typically go 7500 to 10k miles without an oil change.

I just bought an '04 G35 with 55k miles. Should I go the 7500 route?

Also, what mileage should I expect? I am not a speed demon but I am a pretty aggressive New Yorker living in MD.

most of it will really depend on your driving habits. I think 10k is probably too long. I get mine done twice a year (4-5k miles). It's only $50 each time, so the expense is not a major issue.

In terms of mileage, do you mean MPG? If so, you should get about 20 in MD. Keep in mind that MD drivers are awful. The brake when they shouldn't, and speed up for no reason.

[Iamtheeggman]

Amen to the MD driver comment. You forgot to mention the almost total lack of turn signal usage.

[jakz0rz]

for people who drive almost 100% int he city with relatively short trips; what would you suggest the oil change interval to be?thanks

[tollboothwilley]

If you do it all city driving for the most part I would recommend what Infiniti recommends 3750 miles.

I change mine at close to 4000 miles regardless of the type of driving that I'm doing. I use Royal Purple oil 5w-30. Nissan Filter. Great stuff.

[SVTCOBRA]

3 to 3.5K miles on Mobil 1 Syn & Nissan filter.

I would never go any further than 4K on any oil!!! my .02

Oh, and I've been changing my own oil for 30+ years.

[biggie]

Standard Infiniti recomendation is 3750 according to local dealerships.

Haven't even taken mine in for its first one since I've owned it, but it will be free, after that I'll be changing at home.

[Poyzinous]

all Bmore and DC metro areas suck for driving. left lane drivers going at the same exact speed as the center lane. I think everyone should know this: There is only ONE rule for the left lane,THERE MUST ALWAYS BE A CAR IN FRONT OF YOUIf there isn't, you're driving too slow, and there is a parade of vehicles trailing closely behind you wondering why your car hasn't been shot down by an angry F-18 patrolling the Highway annoyed at the fact that you're going at the exact same pace as the guy in the lane next to you who's too much of a sackbreath moron to realize he should speed up to open a gap or slow down to allow overtaking. Rant not over. Furthermore, I think the State police should give these jackholes fines for impeding traffic flow and causing backups that annoy everyone for miles of road behind the perpetrating peon that should be banned to city streets only. Rant now over. Anyway, infiniti likes us to do oil changes every 3750 miles. Most cars that are driven calmly can go 4500 miles. The oil capacity is only 5 quarts. If it had a 7 or 8 quart capacity, it could easily do the 7000 mile intervals. Since I'm at a dealer, I do my changes every 9-2500 miles.

[Iamtheeggman]

Wow. That rant is awesome and justified. I like your style Dude. I am often able to go faster in the middle lane or far right. It's insane over here.

Anything else I should know about the G35? I was a jeep driver so they have all their quircks

[jmcohen23]

all Bmore and DC metro areas suck for driving. left lane drivers going at the same exact speed as the center lane. I think everyone should know this: There is only ONE rule for the left lane,THERE MUST ALWAYS BE A CAR IN FRONT OF YOUIf there isn't, you're driving too slow, and there is a parade of vehicles trailing closely behind you wondering why your car hasn't been shot down by an angry F-18 patrolling the Highway annoyed at the fact that you're going at the exact same pace as the guy in the lane next to you who's too much of a sackbreath moron to realize he should speed up to open a gap or slow down to allow overtaking. Rant not over. Furthermore, I think the State police should give these jackholes fines for impeding traffic flow and causing backups that annoy everyone for miles of road behind the perpetrating peon that should be banned to city streets only. Rant now over.

so tell us how you really feel................

regarding lack of signal usage, I was going to mention that, but then I recalled that when I was driving in NYC, nobody used their signal (or stop signs for that matter, I hear they are mere suggestions).

slight tangent here, it would be nice if someone could organize a tutorial workshop on changing oil and other maintainence items. I've always wished that knew more about cars mechanically, and eventually be able to change the oil myself. I know ya'll say that it is really not that difficult, but I'm always afraid of breaking something.

[kmckis1029]

i drive city/highway mixed... i have a heavy foot... i change with Royal Purple 10w-30 with K&N filter every 3000-4000 miles depending on when i have time to get my oil changed...

max i ever went was 4500 miles... and ill never do my girl like that again but the oil didnt look that bad...

the G loves the purple stuff

[Kendahl]

It depends on the kind of driving you do.

Infiniti has two schedules -- 6 months / 7,500 miles or 3 months / 3,750 miles. If most of your driving is done on free flowing highways you can get away with the longer schedule. If most of it is short trips (less than 10 miles or 30 minutes) or stop and go on crowded roads, go with the shorter schedule.

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

I change mine at 3-5k miles... but I check my oil every week so i know how clean it is

[pfarmer]

for people who drive almost 100% int he city with relatively short trips; what would you suggest the oil change interval to be?thanks

One study of N.Y.C. taxis indicated with syn oil you could go about 25 k without a major issue. However what they were doing was changing the filter frequently. This was with older rigs with larger oil filters. So basically each time the filter was changed you added a quart of oil. I am settling on the 5-7 k area for oil changes, probably will go with 5 k for keeping it on a easy to remember number since I just had it done at around 13500 and am approaching 15k. So I figure my next change at 20 k.

I think 5 k should be a good number for nearly anyone using a high quality oil and filter, unless you really drive it hard, then maybe 500 would be a good number. Just check it fairly often and if you notice a major color change, then change it earlier, if not then keep it the same or consider even going a little later keeping it within suggested parameters for warranty purposes.

Perry
Modified by pfarmer at 10:51 AM 7/7/2009

[pfarmer]

Standard Infiniti recomendation is 3750 according to local dealerships.

Haven't even taken mine in for its first one since I've owned it, but it will be free, after that I'll be changing at home.

For schedule one maintenance it is 3750, for schedule two it is 7500.

Schedule one maintenance:

UseSchedule 1 if you primarily operate your vehicleunder any of these conditions:• Repeated short trips of less than 5 miles innormal temperatures or less than 10 miles infreezing temperatures• Stop-and-go traffic in hot weather or lowspeeddriving for long distances• Driving in dusty conditions or on rough,muddy, or salt-spread roads• Towing a trailer, or using a camperor car-top carrier

Schedule two:

Generally, Schedule 2 applies only tohighway driving in temperateconditions. Use Schedule 2 only if youprimarily operate your vehicle underconditions other than those listed inSchedule 1.

None of the items listed under schedule one applies in my case so I will formally be following schedule two, that is except I always look at everything anyway.

Perry

[Poyzinous]

you can always follow schedule 3. Every 5,000 miles if you're somewhere in between 1 and 2. Thats the case with my Father's Pathfinder. Very little city driving. I'll change it for him at 4-5k.

[abqhudson]

It's no wonder the car companies are in trouble. The "manipulate the customer any way possible" attitude and lack of any clear intent to serve their customer is exemplified again by the BMW policy (they PROVIDE the oil change) of 'It's OK to go 15,000 miles' and Infiniti's policy (they CHARGE you for the oil change) of "you need to get it changed every 3750 miles". Of course, it really doesn't make that much difference because most folks don't keep their cars long enough to notice a difference and most folks just don't care or pay much attention. You do what you gotta do to maintain the warranty. Once it's out of warranty, my judgment is that 5000 miles on synthetic oil would be just fine for most people.

And for jmcohen23, who is apparently bothered by folks who speak their mind - as evidenced by the rude "so tell us how you really feel......" that's how I really feel.

[pfarmer]

It's no wonder the car companies are in trouble. The "manipulate the customer any way possible" attitude and lack of any clear intent to serve their customer is exemplified again by the BMW policy (they PROVIDE the oil change) of 'It's OK to go 15,000 miles' and Infiniti's policy (they CHARGE you for the oil change) of "you need to get it changed every 3750 miles". Of course, it really doesn't make that much difference because most folks don't keep their cars long enough to notice a difference and most folks just don't care or pay much attention. You do what you gotta do to maintain the warranty. Once it's out of warranty, my judgment is that 5000 miles on synthetic oil would be just fine for most people.

And for jmcohen23, who is apparently bothered by folks who speak their mind - as evidenced by the rude "so tell us how you really feel......" that's how I really feel.

Many studies show it really isn't so much an issue with the oil wearing out as one of using a quality filter to remove particles in it. The problem is that filters only hold so much garbage. I am not sure of exactly how much the Infiniti holds but many large motorbikes holds about 1 ounce and many large filters on cars and trucks can hold up to 2 or more.

The big advantage of changing frequently is removing what settled in the pan. On some industrial applications the frequency is handled by actually looking for the metal electronically (I think GMC may have this option on some vehicles). Oil analyses itself will show that chemistry wise modern oil will allow long periods between oil changes.

Perry