Hey Everyone, So.... I've had the car now for just a little over a week. I've put on a little over 1,400KM on the new car. I get into the car this morning and low and behold..... my passenger rear wheel got a nail through the tread. not the end of the world I guess. $33 later, they patched the wheel from the inside which is better than using plugs to patch a leak.

while i was waiting for my car to be patched up, I asked the for service rep about the oil change frequency.... i figured since i'm up nearly 1,500KM already, the car says i have 96% oil life left.

I figured that i'd be able to go anywhere between 10 - 15,000KM if i were to follow that.

the ford service rep told me not to go more than 8K or 4 months (which ever comes first)

that struck me a little odd. what's the freaking point to adding an oil life gauge if I'm replacing the oil when it could quite possibly have 50% life left in it????

He said it has to do with the climate we live in which kind of doesn't make sense because then he would be telling me that i could go longer between oil changes during the summer seasons.

I want to get the most out of my oil but don't want to void any warranties. i guess i should just go every 8K regardless of what my car oil life actually says

I will likely look at the owners manual and see what it says and just go by that. if i do this, there's no way the Ford could penalize me if there was any warranty work needed.

 

Cold weather can be bad for oil, especially if the engine doesn't fully warm up all the time. It's best to change it earlier in very cold climates, and especially if you do a lot of short trips.

 

yes, i completely agree with this. I'm talking about -30 (with windchill) on average. nothing too crazy.

The car is driven daily on the highway with about 100km a day.

i'm talking about overall. the theory though means that i should be able to go longer than 8k during the summer season.

 

OK - this is answered.

the owners manual states that the vehicle is equipped with a oil-Life monitor which tells you when an oil change is required. i'm going to just go by that.

it also provides a table with examples. where I live, we don't have severe weather. its not like Winnipeg or Alberta

 

The cold weather has no effect on the oil. Go to 10000KM and change it if that's what YOU want.

 

Your warranty can't be voided by you only changing the oil when the car tells you to. That service guy is full of crap.

 

So true.

 

The more often you come in for oil the more work their shop gets. Always double check what a service writer tells you. Many of them come from customer service backgrounds and don't actually have much automotive knowledge.

 

I swear on this...
I have met some advisers that would change their blinker fluid if their boss told them to.

 

All good points and true!

I'm going to go by what the oil life monitor in the car says. I'll just change it when I have 5% left or when it says to. If I ever have a warranty issue where they challenge me, I will point them to the bible (owners manual)

 

Also remember that your warranty only lasts 60,000 miles, so after that you're on your own.