I have always changed my conventional oil at 3,000 miles. At $25 for oil and a filter it seems to be a reasonable price and well under mfg recommendations. I also thought that the advantage of synthetic over conventional oil was its resistance to thermal breakdown, and for the average driver thermal breakdown is not an issue. I had also heard that it can harm seals but some refute this claim. Now there is Castrol Edge guaranteed for 15,000 miles. I'm sure that the Hyundai warranty would not agree with this. They say it lasts 8 times longer than Mobile 1. My concerns with any syntethic is the mileage and also the breakdown of the filter that I'm sure are not rated for 10,000-15,000 miles.
Anyone have a comments or history with synthetics?

 

Personally, I wouldn't go past 10,000 miles but the only way to know for sure is to try it and have the oil tested every 5,000 miles. Also, I'd suggest changing the filter every 5,000 miles.

 

Changing any motor oil at 3K miles or 3 months is a waste of money
and a waste of oil, unless you happen to have a drum of oil from
30 years ago. There are so many more additives and detergents in
motor oil today which prolongs the life of the oil that weren't in oil
years ago, hence the 3 months/3,000 mile recommendation.

The only true way to know when to change your oil is to do as was
mentioned and have an analysis done. I use Blackstone Labs, but
there are others out there. Basically the next time you change your
oil you get a sample in a container that they provide for you. Send
it in along with the mileage on the oil and they'll tell you whether
you should change it more or less often.

I know of people on another forum who have the testing done
quite often and due to the low miles they drive have actually been
told they could go 18 months between oil changes and if they
felt comfortable they could probably go 24 months.

I used dino oil up until last year when I switched to synthetic, with
close to 100K miles on my truck, and have had no problems. There
are a lot of myths out there about oil, mainly ones that were true
years ago but aren't anymore. Last time I changed my dino oil I had
it tested and was told I could probably go up to 6K on it.

Another great site for all your oil questions is titled Bob is The Oil Guy.

John

 

Just did an oil change yesterday using Castrol 'Syntec' (5W-20) and a Wix filter in our 2008 Santa Fe. Intend to do annual oil changes. Can the Wix filter go 10,000 miles?

 

I used synthetics for years with different cars. Usually went 7K, filter and oil (Mobil 1). Put up to 75K on those cars, nare a problem. My Santa Fe came with free oil changes. The "free" cost me 16.95 for taxes and disposal fees, but worth it not crawling under the car in 10 degree weather. Now I go 5K with what oil the dealer puts in. The book actually shows 7500 for oil changes. Dealers just love saying 3K as that is 3$$ to them. If you go by the manual, NOT what the dealer has posted, you can be guaranteed a warranty.
P.S. our dealer said you can go to 5K if you add their BG oil treatment (I kept their flyer). So I bought a bunch of cans on E-bay for dirt cheap. The dealer charged some $24 per can ! I got them for $9 a can.
I put that in my 07 Santa Fe and 08 Vericruze.
I already had a "talking to" with the former service manager. He's no longer there. They still "suggest" trans, transfer case and axle refills at 35K.
I've owned too many 4WD cars to be fooled by dealer tricks like that. After the "talk" he agreed that these were NOT required for warranty, not in the warranty book and were "suggested" due to NJ being in a "severe use area". Too bad if you read Hyundia's "severe use", I don't do any of the mentioned items.
I wrote to Hyundai about this dealers "tactics", and stated if I'm going to be hit for $1600 every 30K, I'll put that towards an Audi or BMW payment and their free 50K maintenance programs.

 

If you are doing your own oil changes... the best is spend $26 for a Fumoto valve. An F106N has and it has an extension where you can put a hose and drain into a container. No more oil all over the place. I would get the little clip to lock the valve. I used that for 5 years in a few different cars.

 

i pretty much used to beat the snot out of my car, and changed the synthetic oil every 5k miles. i try to stick to valvoline or castrol syntec and castrol edge, which happens to be on sale.

i've submitted a sample of each at 5k miles to blackstone labs (http://www.blackstone-labs.com), and they've all come back good. the testing is well worth the $25 for peace of mind alone.

 

The dealers recommend a lot which isn't in the owner's manual. Transmission flushes are one of them, whereas the manufacturer's
geneally recommend you DON'T flush the transmission.

As for adding anything to engine oil, my personal opinion is it's all
snake oil and a waste of money. Anything you need is in there
already.

John

 

http://www.hyundai-forums.com/index.php?showtopic=48882

One of the better documented uses and management of synthetic oil in an automobile engine.

 

While I agree that some dealers do recommend unnecessary things, a trans flush every 30K miles is NOT one of them. You are totally wrong. A drain and refill changes less than half the fluid in the transmission. Many times less than 1/4 of the fluid. A flush is the only way to replace all the fluid.