First Oil Change at 500 Miles: Good Idea or Waste of Money??

[@stevenlefebvre2991]

Definitely, I do it to all my vehicles I am a machinist and a mechanic. I can tell you for a fact it is the most important thing you can do to a new vehicle if you want to increase the longevity of your vehicle you should also do it to your transaxle.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Agreed

[@ralphwood8818]

Waste of money If you have a decent oil filter.

[@tag_76]

I have no idea if it's necessary, but here is my schedule for every new vehicle I have ever bought. 1st change at 500 miles, 2nd change at 2000 miles, 3rd change at 5000 miles, and every change thereafter every 5000 miles with fully synthetic oil ONLY. I've never had a motor or oil related problem over the last 32 years.

[@kalani1987]

Do you factor in time as well? Say, change oil at 6 months no matter the mileage?

[@tag_76]

@@kalani1987 I do not. I 100% go by mileage.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Same here

[@mikeschlup5279]

Every time I have done this I have a lot of metal in the oil..

[@donwyoming1936]

I do 10k mile oil changes. Never had an engine issue either.

[@mikeflores2000]

Both Toyota and Lexus sent me letters resisting oil changes before 10k miles and 12 months. My new Toyota gets lousy gas mileage after 100k miles doing 10k oil changes. Manufacturer sells units not interested in long lasting. I change the oil on our new Lexus every 6 months or 4,000 miles.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Wife took her Grand Cherokee in at 1000 miles for her “free” oil change. They refused until I got involved and demanded it

[@Jayzilla-jr4fr]

My rule is 1K miles for break-in, but please don't forget the rear diff and xfer case as well. It's always a glitter party with the first break-in fluid change.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Agree

[@chuckgrenci6404]

On my recent purchase of a '25 CT5, 3.0 L twin-turbo V6, I did my first oil change at 350 miles for my own piece of mind. I also opened the used oil filter to see how much contaminants were caught from the new engine. There wasn't a lot in the filter, however there was some; some specks of unknown material as well as some aluminum swarf (less than a sixteenth of an inch). I probably would have been fine, but I felt better about the early oil change. I then did my 'first service' from Cadillac at 1700 miles so I'm sure I gave my engine it's best chance to live a long life.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Doesn’t hurt that’s for sure

[@gregorymalchuk272]

I remember seeing the owners manual for an early 1950s Buick that recommended the first oil change at 500 miles. Keep in mind that your oil analysis only measures microscopic and molecular sized metals. The macroscopic metal glitter particles don't necessarily show up in oil analysis, but contribute significantly to wear, iron and steel particles in particular.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Makes sense.

[@marklohmann6267]

Having driven for over 50 years , I’ve never worn out an engine. I will say I’ve never kept a car over 10 years. My early days I changed oil every 6mos or 3000 miles. Using semi synthetic oil, every 5000, and full synthetic every 8000 or one year whichever comes first. I have friends that go the same interval and have kept them for 300,000 without engines wearing out. Hondas and Toyotas.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Thanks for sharing

[@johngraves1216]

i tell people all the time i have never heard of motor failure due to too frequent maintenance

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Yep

[@puncht37]

I bought a `25 Silverado with 5.3. 5 miles when I got it. I changed the oil at 597 miles. UOA shows high copper and silicone.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Yep

[@A2J_Tim]

every new engine needs early oil changes for awhile, also if your plan is to keep it I would look at adding some sort of bypass oil filtration system that filters down to 1 micron, just to keep your oil as clean as possible which will allow it to live much longer than average, also a high grade synthetic with good detergents to keep carbon from building up which will also be filtered out by the bypass oil filter system.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Agree

[@alank8266]

There are so many driving circumstances that will kick you out of the 10,000 mile service interval, but people aren't informed of this. What is considered "severe service" is what a large majority of passenger vehicles on the road experience every day and require a shorter oil change interval according to the owner's manual.....but alas, most people never even get it out of the glove box. I didn't start at the 500-600 mile point, but my early production '24 Tundra has had oil changes at 1200, 5000, 10000, and 15000 miles.....it hasn't eaten itself yet. The service deptartment don't know what to think, but I insisted and plan on keeping it for the long term. Also, 1990 Chevrolet S10 with 4.3 liter V6 has had no engine failures at 298,000 miles with oil and filter changes every 5000 miles or slightly less. Enjoyed the video!

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Thanks!

[@jgboys1]

I agree. I did my first one at 1,130 mile mark. I change it every 6 months whether it needs it not. I drive less than 5000 miles a year so I average a little less than 2,500 between oil changes. It a 2022 with an extended warranty so I’m not taking any chances with the dealership coming back and not honoring it if I ever get any engine issues.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

I think once a year would be fine

[@jgboys1]

@ usually I would but I have a 2022 WideBody Challenger and they state in their owners manual that they want you to change the oil every 6 months or 3000 miles on the 392 Hemi engines.

[@jeffsullivan3101]

I bought a new '23 4Runner the first week of September last year and the first oil change was at around 600 miles. I changed it again the first week in November with just another low 750 miles on that change to get it in line with my usual oil change interval on my other 2 cars. I used 0w-20 on these first two changes but then switched to 5w-30. I used 0w-20 for the initial break in period just in case there is some truth to the cold flow characteristics of 0w versus 5w as the base oil. After that I changed to 5w-30 as after some research I found out that the rest of the world uses 5w-30 in the 1GR-FE engine that is in the 4Runner along with many other Toyota models. I'm an old guy and think that this new super thin oil is just not "thick" enough to provide a proper amount of oil "film" on moving parts. In my opinion these new thin oils depend too much on the additive package to make up for the low viscosity of the base oil. I will admit that this makes buying oil easier as all of my cars are now on the same "weight" of oil. I do oil changes every 6 months or 6k miles weather either of these variables have been met or not. I have a '12 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5.7 Hemi with 120k on the clock that has not developed the notorious "Hemi tick" so far.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

I’m not a fan of the 0w oils neither. It’s for fuel mileage

[@abesavona594]

100% agree with early oil changes. I just did my first one at 660 miles.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Nice

[@Flashtone08]

Dealership told me they wouldn't do it. Said the hell with it and went for Jiffy Lube, and i overheard the guys telling me im crazy. Oil is cheap engines arnt. With oil getting thinner and thinner ill pay extra to change it out more frequently.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Wife took her grand Cherokee in at 1500 miles . They turned her down until I stepped in. Most just don’t understand.

[@JohnnyUtah9173]

They were probably saying you were crazy for bringing your brand new car to Jiffy Lube 😉

[@lotsofthisandthat9791]

Crazy cause you spent $30.00 on a vehicle costing tens of thousands? I don’t think so. I change my new engine oil at 500 miles.

[@charlesb4267]

In the last while I had been looking around to see if it made sense buy a used pickup and some dealerships offer a free look at the carfax, while a carfax can not show what shops who do not record items or if maintenance is done privately, one can get a theme of who and where the vehicle was being maintained if there is a consistent record to follow on certain vehicles. The theme I was most often seeing was in my mind down right crap maintenance when it comes to oil change intervals and half the problem is oil minders in vehicle brands that are a total joke and the customer believing its performing magical oil analysis under their hood, and those that go by what the dealer ( or manual told "lied" to them as to how easy and infrequent the maintenance is ). And those that extended their already horrid oil change interval to over double what the dealer would have told them. Oh and going back to your theme of a first oil change after an initial short break in period, I never spotted one truck that had done that in the various local dealers used lineup as that oil change was barely any different in distance then the future oil changes. I don't know what the story was with all the used trucks I looked at on line in the area, if the original owners never intend on keeping them that long or they started having issues as most would have been well past the engine warranty since that is not that long on a gasoline engine or they started to have issues and dumped the vehicle ( often at another brand of dealership ). Sure didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling to look at the maintenance records. Yes, I am absolutely an advocate of doing an oil change after a short initial break in period, a lot of metals are created in that first short time period and an oil filter does not catch them all. In fact I believe in the next oil change period to be at least halved from a normal future maintenance plan as well, it certainly can't hurt.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Thanks for the comment!

[@charlesb4267]

@@whatyaknowjoe67 LOL, it was a longer than intended comment but whew, I got that off my chest !

[@Jay-nc7vk]

A friend of mine bought a new 2017 Tacoma years ago. He followed Toyota's guidelines changing the oil every 10,000 miles from day one using Castrol full synthetic and OEM filters. Truck today has 96,000 miles and uses no oil, runs great, no leaks, and no sludge detected. He used a high-tech fiber optic camera (from his line of work) out of curiosity to examine parts of the internal motor the best he could with no disassembly and no sludge was detected. He does not baby this truck but runs it daily for work purposes. Thoughts to ponder... Castrol is great oil? Toyota may be ok with their guidelines? Toyota makes a great engine that can take long change oil intervals?

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Interesting…does it have Turbos?

[@Jay-nc7vk]

No, NA 3.5 L V6

[@LeadStarDude]

When I get a new engine, my first oil change is between 60 and 100 miles, and I put conventional oil in. My second oil change is between 500 and 1000 miles, and then I swap to synthetic blend. After that, I do 5k mile oil changes using fully synthetic oil. This is the process I learned from my dad and grandpa.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Might be a little much but nothing wrong with it

[@LeadStarDude]

@whatyaknowjoe67 most of the shearing happens during the first 60 to 100 miles. There's no reason to leave that in there for 500 to 1000 miles. imo

[@john_dee1431]

I think the question to ask is whether or not there is sufficient protection with modern oil packages to mitigate the effects of, not just 500 miles or so, but as Blackstone refers to ‘a few oil changes’ worth of it.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Been running mobil one myself for 26 years. Zero engine issues

[@ChatNoir443]

Has the phrase "your engine failed because you changed the oil to much" ever been muttered?.....no Chang oil after you buy it, then every 5000 miles.....why 5000?....cause its easy math.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Perfect

[@TheAmerican1963]

I so agree with you !!!!! 🙂

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Thanks

[@timc7175]

For sure, my first oil change is 500-1k miles. Differential / Xfer case at 5k. Cheap insurance in my mind.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Agree

[@timothyayers9431]

Do that apply to hybrid cars too

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Yes

[@juke699]

Great idea

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Can’t hurt

[@jimdailey1985]

Good idea

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Thanks

[@flexjay87]

500 mile oil change on a new car is a very good idea.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Totally agree.

[@user-tk4gc9jn3n]

100 percent yes

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

👍

[@GregariousAntithesis]

Break in oil should be conventional oil then swap out to synthetic this is important

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Most new vehicles come with synthetic or semi synthetic from the factory

[@markday5797]

Good Idea.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Yep… I think so

[@kennytam2310]

I worked at a lawnmower shop in my teen years, seen a lot of metal in the oil at start up. Bought a new Honda Ridgeline, drove home, changed the oil when I got home from the dealership with a 100 miles on the odometer, again at 1000 and then by the algorithm on the dash which at times over 9000 miles. Not obsess with changing oil, just the first couple oil changes. My other truck, 1997 Toyota T-100 with 305K, doesn't burn a drop of oil, I'm still driving it today, change the oil every 10k.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Thanks for the comment

[@user-tk4gc9jn3n]

10k is pushing it

[@kennytam2310]

@@user-tk4gc9jn3n pushing it because?

[@jokim99]

Always

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Agreed

[@anthonynicholich9654]

It is a good idea although I will never buy a new computer module electronic car but the society's too stupid to understand how engine works so it never happens

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

All of society has been dumbed down. Thats the plan…forced to rely on someone else

[@LA_Commander]

Going to any Chevy dealer is a waste of money.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

You don’t save a ton of money doing your own oil changes…but I don’t want some untrained kid touching my vehicles

[@bedlamite42]

Oil is cheap, engines are expensive.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Yep!

[@ibmtpx24]

Stop treating a car purchase as an investment.

[@tsaa5902]

It is an investment dingus.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

True

[@ChatNoir443]

Cars are not investments, I agree. They are a tool, no different then a hammer or tables saw. I take care of my tools

[@jamesanderson4696]

probably the most important asset anybody has. i always plan to keep them 10+ years and over 200,000 miles.

[@donwyoming1936]

500 mile 1st oil change is a complete waste of time and money. Im not sure what you're trying to do. Any metal fragments will get caught by the filter. I cut open the filters after every oil change. Brand new, 10k mile 1st oil change? Nothing. No metal flakes. Nada.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

Hard to see the smaller metal getting into your bearings. And I have worked in the automotive world for 35 years. I’m more concerned about the contaminants…

[@Steven91992]

500 to 1,000 is way to soon. Your engine's still breaking in.

[@whatyaknowjoe67]

And again at 2500…doesn’t hurt