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First of all, there's no "better" when it comes to oil changes. There's "good enough" and "not good enough". Good enough means that the oil is changed before its properties have degraded to the point of failing to clean and lubricate the engine internals.
Basing oil change intervals on mileage is really a crap-shoot. I've heard of people using the calendar instead, changing oil (this for conventional oil in "ordinary" cars) at something like Dec 1, March 1, and July 1. This gives a shorter change interval when the stress on oil is greatest (cold weather, short trips) and longer when the stress is less (warm then mild weather, likely longer trips). But I digresss...
The 9-3SS uses GM's oil life monitor to calculate when the oil is at the end of its useful life. Then there is an overriding limit of one year/10,000 miles, that based in part on the experience with the 9-5. But remember that the 9-5 holds 5 quarts of oil, that one of those quarts stays in the oil cooler when you drain it, and synthetic blend oil was specified. The 9-3 holds a little over 6 quarts, all of it drains, the water-oil heat exchanger keeps the oil at the proper temperature, and only the highest level of synthetic oil meets GM's "long life" specification. Me, I trust the oil monitor (but then, I don't get even close to 0% oil quality the end when the one-year service interval overrides oil quality.
Still there is real benefit to having your car "looked at" every 5000 miles, real benefit to the tire rotation and wiper change features, and peace of mind with respect to the oil. And it will probably pay back more than its price if you sell the car privately some years down the line.
posted by 24.33.227...
, Thu, 19 Jul 2007 20:53:26, Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:30:10
, Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:15:53
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