Hey everyone. I have a Impreza RS Sport Wagon 05 & I don't put much miles on. I had my 1st oil change at 3000 but now it has been 4 months going on 5 & I'm still not ready for a change til 6000 & I'm only at 5400, should I go now & get 1 or wait because then at 7500 is when they tell me to come in for the 7500 maintance check. Ya know like rotate tires, oil change & all those other good things they want you to do. I don't have a problem doing all these things trust me because I want my subie to take me a long way it's just a pain to keep running back & forth to the dealer if I can wait & have all the things done at once. Should I go now or can I wait?

i am assuming you are doing 3000 mile oil changes cause you want too (yay someone agrees with me). Why not go to a oil change place and just let them do it. i think the interval is 5000 miles (look in the owners manual as im not sure). You may think about just letting it go till then.

 

 

nipper

depends. what kind of driving are you doing?

if it's not many miles because you don't drive the car much, then you're probably fine waiting. although personally i'd change it every 4 months since it's cheap and that's only 3 times a year, that's pennies.

 

if you have low mileage due to short trips i would change it now for sure. if this is the case you may see residue/condensation under the oil cap. think it comes from the engine not sustaining operating temperatures long enough..something like that, due to short trips. if that's the case i would definitely change it instead of wait.

[ if you have low mileage due to short trips i would change it now for sure. if this is the case you may see residue/condensation under the oil cap. think it comes from the engine not sustaining operating temperatures long enough..something like that, due to short trips. if that's the case i would definitely change it instead of wait.

 

It comes from the engine oil not getting hot enough to evaporate condensation in the crankase.

I do agree with you, there is no such thing as too many oil changes being a bad thing.

 

nipper

This simple oil question can spark a long, passionate debate, but in my opinion, it is absolutely fine to change your oil at 6-month/7,500-mile intervals, though I might recommend that you take your car on a weekly drive of at least 20 miles or so at operating temperature.

 

Individual driving habits may have more of an effect on engine wear than anything else. Waiting a month or so to do it will not harm your car. Aside from the extremely rare case of catastrophic engine failure caused by loss of oil pressure, most problems with today's cars are totally unrelated to engine oil. In fact, there is research showing that the rate of engine wear is highest during the first 3K miles of an oil's service life. Stated differently, changing your engine oil every 3K miles causes more engine wear according to research conducted by GM, if remember correctly.

 

All that said, I change my oil annually and run Mobil 1 with a filter change at six months. 99K miles and no problems.

Hey everyone. I have a Impreza RS Sport Wagon 05 & I don't put much miles on. I had my 1st oil change at 3000 but now it has been 4 months going on 5 & I'm still not ready for a change til 6000 & I'm only at 5400, should I go now & get 1 or wait because then at 7500 is when they tell me to come in for the 7500 maintance check. Ya know like rotate tires, oil change & all those other good things they want you to do. I don't have a problem doing all these things trust me because I want my subie to take me a long way it's just a pain to keep running back & forth to the dealer if I can wait & have all the things done at once. Should I go now or can I wait?

 

With this type of service, change oils every 6 months. 7500 miles OR 6 months is the maximum limit with regular oils or maximal limit to sustain warranty. The 7.5/15 k "maintenance checks" at $300-600 (honda is the worst) is just a way to fleece new car owner, unless you are totally cluless about cars. 30/60 k is different, lots of fluids changed.

Hey everyone. I have a Impreza RS Sport Wagon 05 & I don't put much miles on. I had my 1st oil change at 3000 but now it has been 4 months going on 5 & I'm still not ready for a change til 6000 & I'm only at 5400, should I go now & get 1 or wait because then at 7500 is when they tell me to come in for the 7500 maintance check. Ya know like rotate tires, oil change & all those other good things they want you to do. I don't have a problem doing all these things trust me because I want my subie to take me a long way it's just a pain to keep running back & forth to the dealer if I can wait & have all the things done at once. Should I go now or can I wait?

 

you're worrying WAYYYY to much about this. get the oil changed when it feels right. i wouldn't go over about 5000. i do mine every 3k.

 

bottom line, you don't HAVE to wait until the sticker says so, and it's NOT going to hurt anything to go a few hundred miles over what the sticker says.

 

just don't be rediculous about it, be responsible and use your best judgment based on the color, level, smell, and time since last service and you'll be fine.

bottom line, you don't HAVE to wait until the sticker says so, and it's NOT going to hurt anything to go a few hundred miles over what the sticker says.

 

just don't be rediculous about it, be responsible and use your best judgment based on the color, level, smell, and time since last service and you'll be fine.

 

I completely agree with The Gods Of Green (even though he/she/they disrespected me a few months ago over my thoughts concerning non-functional hood scoops and my plywood rear spoiler. )

 

Pull the oil cap and look at it. Pull the dipstick and look, smell and feel. Keep the intervals under 5000 miles.

 

HOWEVER your engine is new. It won't be broken in and "de-burred" until around 9,000 miles. Until then, it needs to be flushed of all the abrasive burrs that come off during the smoothing process. Keep in mind that the piston rings at this very moment are still in the process of smoothing the cross-hatched seating grooves of the cylinder walls. When you couple that with the fact that you've got an RS (you do run the pea-wad out of it, don't you?) and drive in a manner which Subaru describes as severe driving conditions ie. short trips, I feel you should change that oil (at the dealer- it's really not any more expensive) at least every three-thousand miles until everything seats and until you stop driving the pea-wad out of it.

 

Also, when it's time to rotate your tires, take it to a tire shop. Many will do it for free just to catch you when you're looking for new tires down the road.

 

Juan