Thread: Oil change

Originally Posted by Zippydog

so basically their is no consensus on the question of what mileage, what oil... guess I won't start another thread about it... I was told by the dealer to do 3500 miles
I live in Florida and drive mostly blend of city-highway. guess that works...

Just as we all see different fuel economy results because of our driving environment/styles, there is no "one size fits all" solution for oil changes. Kia's 3,750 mileage requirement is a worst case scenario and will keep you covered if there are any questions. If you feel comfortable exceeding that figure in your driving environment and are using appropriate synthetic oil and a good filter, then that's OK too, but it's your call/responsibility.

Personally, after break-in at 5K miles, I'm now running Mobil1 0W-20 and either a Kia OEM filter or the Mobil1 Extended Performance filter. But, my typical driving is cake for the car. It's usually cruising at 50-55 mph on a long two lane commute, virtually no city driving, and little high speed interstate driving. I also don't live in a particularly hot or dusty environment, don't tow anything, etc. In my conditions, and using top tier synthetic oil, 7,500 is easy mileage on an oil change. However, this interval would not work for some owners.

I've also used Blackstone testing on my smart fortwo in the same driving environment using Mobil1 oil. 10,000 miles is obtainable (and recommended by the manufacturer) with life left in the oil (confirmed with actual testing), but I still change it around 7,500 to be on the conservative side. A previous Honda Civic with its own oil maintenance minder always went to 7,500 in my conditions as well. As always, YMMV.

Originally Posted by jfischer

Because you're just lining the dealers pocketbook by changing it twice as often as Kia recommends? If the dealer told you to change it every 1,000 miles, would you do that too? Most dealership service departments are nothing more than a brood of vipers out to extract every last dollar from your wallet.

Amen to that! I agree 100%.

Originally Posted by TechnoMage

Yes, it's 3750 miles for an oil and filter change, not 3500.

Or 7,500 miles.

Originally Posted by TechnoMage

I'm not lining anyone's pockets. My oil changes for the first year are FREE.
What don't you understand about....FREE?

Kia recommends 7,500 mile oil change intervals, which is what I'm going to do. If you get them for free, then by all means do it whenever you like. I have to pay for mine so I don't see any point in doing it any earlier than Kia recommends. I also throw synthetic in mine so I'm pretty comfortable with the 7,500 mile change interval.

My previous Chevy Cruze (with a small turbo even) would recommend close to 10,000 miles based on its oil life monitor so I think 7,500 is perfectly fine for the Soul.

I'm planning on changing myself. Dealerships always struck me as shady on changes.

Originally Posted by jfischer

Kia recommends 7,500 mile oil change intervals, which is what I'm going to do. If you get them for free, then by all means do it whenever you like. I have to pay for mine so I don't see any point in doing it any earlier than Kia recommends. I also throw synthetic in mine so I'm pretty comfortable with the 7,500 mile change interval.

My previous Chevy Cruze (with a small turbo even) would recommend close to 10,000 miles based on its oil life monitor so I think 7,500 is perfectly fine for the Soul.

Obviously you CAN read, since you're on this forum, so I suggest that you READ page 7-21 of your owners manual.....all of it, even that part at the bottom, where it describes what constitutes "Severe Usage". And, if you can honestly 100% guarantee that your driving style NEVER, EVER gets into that Severe Usage area, then I guess you'll be OK at leaving that old oil in your car for 7500 miles or more.

But I pride myself on being honest, with both myself and with Kia. Every day when I drive out of my driveway, I will at some time fall into the Severe Usage category.

My dealer wants to change my oil (for FREE) every 3k miles and when they are done changing it, sometime next summer, I'll be changing it myself, in my backyard, every 3k miles just like I've been doing for the past 50 years. It hurts absolutely Nothing, and it gives me a very good opportunity to do my Bumper to Bumper maintenance. It's all a win - win proposition. Believe it or not, there is absolutely NO downside to good automotive maintenance.

Kia warned us about people like you....

Kia TSB 058 - Most Kias in the US are normal, not severe

does anyone think royal purple is really worth the money

I want to add my two cents here...

First, we get free oil changes for life (as long as we get recommended interval maintenance done by the dealer). The maintenance manual (under normal usage) says change the oil every 7500 miles. We had the first change done at 3500 then the next at 7400, then 14500, and the next will come at 21000. They use 5W-20 castrol GTX non-synthetic oil and a Kia filter.

Techno, lets be honest, what does the word "severe" really mean? Just like that TSB says, most people don't use their Kia soul in the severe way. Now honestly for 98% of the people driving a soul, they don't use it in severe conditions. Now out of those people some might only drive in short trips which doesn't allow moisture out of the oil causing it to sludge.

The definitive test is sending the oil to black stone after a 7500 mile change as well as after a 3500 mile change. See what they say.

Oil lasting isnt always about the change interval. It's the type, the filter used, etc. I would expect the Kia filter to last 7500 miles (unless you drive on dirt roads a lot). So using that filter is perfectly fine. Oil wise I would use the manufacturers recommended oil. So they reccomend castrol gtx 5w-20 or castrol syntec. So I would use one of the two. A properly working PCV system also helps oil last longer. It lets the water out and keeps sludge from forming.

Now I don't follow this rule on all but two of my cars. My daily driver (2000 merc sable) I put Mobil 1 high milage 5w-30 in every 4-5k miles with a OEM motorcraft filter. My dad's 99' Toyota minivan I put whatever's cheapest 5w-30. Usually Walmart brand supertech. Along with a puralator classic filter. I change that every 3k miles on the dot. My moms 2010 Nissan sentra I put Mobil 1 extended 5w-30 with a Bosch distance plus filter. I go 1 year or 10k miles between changes (usually 10k miles comes first). On the CTS-V (which obviously doesn't get out much), I put normal Mobil 1 5w-30 just like it came from the dealer. Paired to a Bosch oil filter. Changed every 3k miles or 6 months.

The reason I follow the rule for the Kia is that its new engine technology and its under warranty. My mom's Sentra I had dealer oil changes until the warranty ran out (yes she is past 60k miles already). Now she drives less and I just get away with doing changes spread very far apart. I would feel comfortable going 15k on that oil but its not worth it because I would want to replace the filter after 10k.


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My wife and I both have KIA Souls and our deals included free oil changes for the lifetime of the car. However, I think this dealership is telling us to go 5,000 between oil changes. Do you think I should actually pay for one to be done in between his "free" ones?? I would feel much more comfortable at 3,000 . . unless of course that simply isn't necessary.