I know this varies based on driving style and age of the engine, amng other things, but I just wantd to get some feed back on oil life. My Mone is an '05 Supercharged with 26,000 miles. I'm used to changing the oil on my other cars every 3,000 b/c it needs it. I got this car with 20,000 and have yet to see the oile change light come on, which is kind of scary.

I checked the oil for cleanliness around 24,000 and I thought it looked like it'd be needing changed soon. I then checked it a few weeks ago and I sware it looked pretty clean.

I drive around 50 miles a day to and from work half highway, half city. I don't drive terribly hard or fast (which is a shame in this car really), but I have had 'er up over 100, and I have jumped hard off the line; but usually I just "commute."

How long does everyone typically go between oil changes?

As always, thanks for sharing your infinite wisdom!

 

i'm sure there are plenty of posts on this topic out there already if you wanted to look for more info.

personally i aim for 3000mi and its always done before 4000mi. daily commute is 78mi, i run cheap oil / filter. and i've only had my oil life indicator pop up on me once w/ around 3700mi on the oil change.

 

Read the owners manual
You will find that GM does not go by the 3000 mile rule anymore
Its based on a few things. But it states it in there.

 

Ditto.. When the light comes on, I change it. I havent changed the monte's oil yet and I got it in.. July? June?

 

i'm sure cain will pipe up saying cheap insurance change it every 3000 miles lol..we've had lots of threads on this topic...i agree with him there, it is cheap insurance to change it every 3000 miles if your running conventional oil (non synthetic) however if your running royal purple (or any other synthetics...i just prefer royal purple myself) it will easily go 5000 miles, you could probably streatch it 7000 - 10000 miles, however that light will come on around 5-6000 miles, but with synthetics you can always go a little longer..and with a wix gold filter you can be sure the filter will last that long too...

 

Oh abseloutly. This is deinitally an opinionated matter. It really boils down to what you feel comfortable with. I use the GM oil life system and I feel it works. Other people may be the good old 3 month/5000km rule. Is either one wrong. No. Abseloutly not. I know once the warranty is up, I think Ill make the switch over to the royal purple, and wix filters. Right now, Ill let the $tealer$hip do it.

 

We've seem to come to a general conclusion here that the oil filter is as or more important than the oil.

A cheap oil filter will negate good oil.

A good oil filter will make "almost" any oil last and work well.

 

At almost 55,000mi, my oil change light has never came on. GM filter (long style from 4.3L) every 6,000mi, and Mobil 1 Extended performance every 12,000mi. My Onstar report says it has never gotten below 39% life. My wife's '99 Silverado Z71 w/5.3L has 175,000mi, same routine. We went 6,500mi last filter change when the light came on. I use GM filters, because that's what the dealer uses. Mobil 1 E.P. because of the 15,000mi warranty. GM tech's to do the change to keep the paperwork in order. Problem is the last qt of oil they sold me was almost $12/qt! So my routime has to change. Can't afford them any more. Changing oil isn't bad, but rotating tires is a pain in the a__ at home, and time consuming.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2319272

 

Even based on what I'm reading here everyone's routines/opinons vary and even negate what others are saying. For example I'm reading a lot of people using realy good synthetic oils and good filters and only going 5K miles between changes. I got my monte in late Aprli and have gone 6,700 miles and there is still no sign of an oil light. I'm also using whatever the dealership put in it when they got it in for the trade in, which I'm guessing is not a top quality, but I could be wrong.

Basically I was just wondering if I shoudl start to worry about my oil life light.

Either way, I'm not trying to start an argument - just looking for a few other thoughts and experiences, which i got!

Thanks as always! I appreciate the time!

 

I go by what the owners manual tells me.
That is what the manuf. will go by if there is any problems or issues with the car. Not by other people. BUT BY WHAT THE MANUF. SAYS......
Remember the most important thing, if you do it yourself, keep all reciepts, with the dates and mileage that you did it.