I have a new vehicle. It's a 2015 Impala LT with the LT2 option...the 305 hp, 3.6 liter V6.Eventually I plan to use it for light towing...my Old Town freighter canoe....which along with the light boat trailer, weighs less than 500 lbs, much less then the maximum towing capacity of 1000 lbs. Bit I'm not looking at towing for a number of months, yet.Right now I've got about 500 + miles on it and I've followed the GM break in recommendations. No hard starts, keep the engine revs moderate, vary the engine rpm.However when it comes to oil, I've always made sure my first oil change was at 500 miles. The idea was to clean out any swarf that may develop as a result of the break in process. But I know engine routines are different now, so is oil. In fact my Impala has a synthetic blend oil. I can't find anything in the owner's manual about changing oil within the first 500 miles or so. What it does say is that the car has a computer system that tells when to change the engine oil. This could be quite a number of miles ....possibly 7500 miles or more.This bothers me as I've driven vehicles since 1965 and I've always changed my initial oil in a new vehicle at 500 miles or so. What do you think and what would you're recommendation be and why ?

Times have changed and you can trust the oil life meters.

If it bothers you why not change it? Just spend the 50 bucks and then you will be happy.I'll tell you right now you would be dumping out good oil. If you think I'm wrong get a Blackstone kit and have the oil you dump annalyzed.As far as swarf goes, that's what the filter is for.

I have to agree with you. I've always put in fresh oil after the 1000 miles. I'm sure with the engineering resources that GM has, they'd recommend you change it if there was a good reason though. Like Turtle says, pop the $50 bucks and change it. It won't hurt anything. My own personal choice has always been full synthetic Mobile 1 for gas engines the life of the vehicle. I usually keep a vehicle for 200-250k miles. I've never had an engine problem during that time.

Les,Congrats on the new car.I've researched this topic online, discussed this with my cousin (diesel tech) and most say the factory installs regular API spec oil with no special break in additives on most vehicles.Having said that, we recently purchased a Ford Edge Sport for my wife late last year and the OLM showed a 10k OCI even with the factory oil. I decided to change the factory oil at 3k miles and the logic there is to allow enough miles to complete the majority of the break in and then to dump the factory fill. Her car now has 6k miles and I'm going to perform another 3k mile oil change and then go by the OLM thereafter. Ultimately you should do what makes you sleep good and I believe most people who care about their vehicle's longevity performs an early drain.More importantly is to use a Dexos rated oil.Good luck with the Chevy...Those are nice looking cars.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:If it bothers you why not change it? Just spend the 50 bucks and then you will be happy.I'll tell you right now you would be dumping out good oil. If you think I'm wrong get a Blackstone kit and have the oil you dump annalyzed.As far as swarf goes, that's what the filter is for.A Blackstone analysis will tell you on the factory oil is your aluminum and iron will all be high and above universal averages, hence the reason to dump the oil and replenish with a new load.

New vehicle engine oil- first oil change recommendations

DougE
Explorer
Mar 12, 2015
There's no science for changing the oil early, however.....
I do the 500 mile oil and filter change for two unsubstantiated reasons. 1) To eliminate any contamination from the manufacturing process that may have been inadvertently left in the engine. 2) To remove any small particles the initial operation of the engine may produce that are too small for the oil filter to remove, expecting their presence will decrease to normal levels rapidly.
boogie_4wheel
Explorer
Mar 12, 2015
Build tolerances are much much tighter than before. Because of this there is less 'wear in' on all components. Of course there is going to be excessive levels of metals during an oil analysis because it still is a break in, but no where near the quantity or time frame as 20 years ago.

I would run the oil to half of the recommended service interval. The do normal service intervals after that.

Read closely in your owner's manual. I'm thinking that your 3.6L is the same/similar to what I have in my Enclave, and requires a DEXOS compliant oil.
kaydeejay
Explorer
Mar 12, 2015
GM designed it and GM warrantees it. So why not follow their directions?
The Oil life monitor is your guide!
Do you not have the first 2 years maintenance included in the purchase?
I think you will find your dealer will not do an oil change until you have less than 10% oil life remaining.
As for "swarf" - doesn't happen!
FishOnOne
Nomad
Mar 12, 2015
kaydeejay wrote:
GM designed it and GM warrantees it. So why not follow their directions?
The Oil life monitor is your guide!
Do you not have the first 2 years maintenance included in the purchase?
I think you will find your dealer will not do an oil change until you have less than 10% oil life remaining.
As for "swarf" - doesn't happen!

GM also changed the algorithm on their cars a couple of years back and essentially reduced the OCI because of fuel dilution on their DI engines.
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Mar 12, 2015
By all means......follow the OLM! I'm sure you'll be just fine! Just like this person!

Only 100k miles! Always going by what the computer was programmed to tell you.

So go on! Keep using that pre-programmed computer that doesn't care how much money you have to spend down the road.

The OLM were designed to make you feel good about driving a $30-100k vehicle and not needing any basic maint. It is a feel good gimmick. Manuf do not have a stake in the long term for your car. They are hoping you will just trade in when something like this happens!
APT
Explorer
Mar 12, 2015
Dodge_Guy, what did the control group's engine look like in that experiment? What about the engine that got oil changes at 50% of OLM, or 25%, or every xxxx miles?
mosseater
Explorer II
Mar 13, 2015
I change my first one at 500 miles. Always will just to be rid of any swarf or contaminates. Seems like cheap insurance to me. I've had several high mileage units so far without any major damage and always clean inside the valve covers.
wnjj
Explorer II
Mar 13, 2015
.
RJCorazza
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
I have always done an early first oil change on any engine. Probably not necessary in modern engines, but I just can't change my habits. As far as oil monitors, I wildly exceed manufacturer recommendations so the monitor doesn't mean anything to me. I use extremely fine bypass filtration and used oil analysis for most of the vehicles in my mini-fleet.
mountainsam
Explorer
Mar 18, 2015
I am having my first oil change in the 2014 CTD tomorrow at 5500 miles. It still shows 72% life on the oil. We are headed out for a 7000 mile trip early next month and figure we should start the trip on new oil. We have free life time oil changes and I am sure they aren't going to go for early changes. I have never gone over 6000 miles between oil changes and this meter is going to be an issue with me. But I would recommend, as others, make yourself comfortable with an early change.

BTW. This is my 55th year of driving and I have never experienced an engine failure. :)

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