2016 CX-5 Oil Change Frequency

[KCSam]

Into my second week of owning the 2016 CX-5 GT. I have a few questions regarding the oil change frequency based off miles and duration. When I purchased the car the salesman said he'd recommend changing the oil every 5k or 4 months. When I talked to the sales manager he said to do 7.5k or 6 months, so not entirely sure what the consensus is on frequency.

I took a look at the manual and it says to follow schedule 1 if the car is mainly operated where none of the conditions they list apply. Well, some of these do apply, but not the majority:

*Driving in salt (winter months on occasion)
*Driving in cold or hot temps and extremely humid climates (it does get cold, humid and hot, but not sure that's considered extreme ?)
*Repeated short-distances (work from home 4 days a week, so on the days I do drive it's usually just around town and not a lot of freeway)

So would this warrant a Schedule 1 or Schedule 2? I'm thinking 1 since most of the severe driving conditions do not apply.

And also, if I go 4 or 6 months (depending on which Schedule I am tied to) and have only accumulated, let's say 2k miles, is it still necessary to change out the oil? On my RX8 I had for 11 years, I'd often go 8 months before I'd hit the 3k mile mark to change out oil. Not sure if the months matter that much and if it's just something for the dealership and/or Mazda to collect a few more bucks.

 

[MidwestCX5]

I change mine every 7,500 miles and I've never had any problems with the oil. I drive mostly highway miles but also a lot of driving in snow, salt, dirt, cold, etc. My 2002 VW used synthetic oil and only needed oil changes every 7,500 miles.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I am going with schedule 1 myself. I plan to change oil this weekend or next as 6 month schedule would be 4/30. I'm at around 5300 miles since I changed oil in October.

 

[KCSam]

I'm thinking I'm going to stick with Schedule 1 as well. How important is it that you change every 6 months if you're nowhere near the 7.5k miles? Like I said, I work from home 4 days a week and the days I do go in it's only 34 miles round trip. I'll be lucky to be at 2k-3k miles in 6 months.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

As much as it hurts getting it changed before the 6 month interval with lacking mileage you leave one less option for the dealer to deny a warranty claim.

I am using the Mazda Moly oil.... but I am getting too old to fight it out with the dealer for such a detail. I was going to use Amsoil in the Mazda as I do in everything else but their OEM oil is highly rated. Many Amsoil formulas give you one year changes but not going to hassle with it even though Magnuson Moss Act would probably support an annual oil change.

 

[KCSam]

As much as it hurts getting it changed before the 6 month interval with lacking mileage you leave one less option for the dealer to deny a warranty claim.

I am using the Mazda Moly oil.... but I am getting too old to fight it out with the dealer for such a detail. I was going to use Amsoil in the Mazda as I do in everything else but their OEM oil is highly rated. Many Amsoil formulas give you one year changes but not going to hassle with it even though Magnuson Moss Act would probably support an annual oil change.

Good point. I totally forgot about the warranty perspective. I'll be sure to get it changed out every 6 months now regardless of mileage. Especially since I went ahead and purchased the 10yr/100k extended warranty.

Thanks for everyone's input on this. I appreciate the comments and help.

 

[alinasp25]

Ideally oil should be changed 3k to 4k miles. Months doesn't matter because you can go different amount of miles in certain time. Oil change is matter because running your engine on old burned oil is not good for engine and will leave layers of old oil on pistons. Therefore no matter what make or model your car is it's always better to change oil sooner than later before you start having problems. It'll make engine last longer and will run better. Also nobody ever tells change transmission oil but if you do it at least every 90k you'll feel difference as well

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

IMO... synthetic is a whole differentl animal... 3-4K on dino is a given but synthetics can got the long haul of twice as much or more. One can always do a Blackstone test to determine how much life is left in oil.

You will certainly not hurt things to change more often but IMO not necessary to go shorter with synthetics. I'm more in the 30K range on transmissions intervals as that has been the item that has hit me the hardest in the wallet over the years. A fluid swap and not a flush is cheap insurance.

 

[alinasp25]

Thanks for information I didn't know that synthetic last longer which I use so I guess I don't have stress out that much about getting it changed so often

 

[mlbrockies]

I just picked my CX-5 up yesterday!!! Can anyone speak about the type of oil that the dealer says to use??? $50 for an oil change is pricey to me! Do any of you take it somewhere other than the dealer? I'm not going to change it myself. Thanks!

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I just picked my CX-5 up yesterday!!! Can anyone speak about the type of oil that the dealer says to use??? $50 for an oil change is pricey to me! Do any of you take it somewhere other than the dealer? I'm not going to change it myself. Thanks!

How long to do you plan to keep vehicle?

 

[cybercruiser]

I start thinking about it at 5,000 miles, and make sure I get it done before 7,500 miles, since it takes Full-Syn, that long should be fine.

 

[mazdadude]

I just picked my CX-5 up yesterday!!! Can anyone speak about the type of oil that the dealer says to use??? $50 for an oil change is pricey to me! Do any of you take it somewhere other than the dealer? I'm not going to change it myself. Thanks!

$50 is a great price!

The Mazda Skyactiv Syn Moly Oil is about $8 a quart, plus another $8 for a filter and gasket. So around $40 for parts, and I think it is worth the $10 for labor and disposal.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

It could be the Castrol synthetic they are using for that price as well.

 

[erhayes]

I run a 6,000 mile oil/filter change. Did the FF at 3K, then 6K, 12K etc. Running PP oil & OEM filter. Ed

 

[mraub1]

If you go to the App screen on the infotainment system you can activate a function that will recommend when to change your oil based on how the car is driven and give you a reminder on the screen when that time comes. This function was not activated by default but I turned it on the first day I got the vehicle. I plan to change the oil when the car tells me to. Some years ago Consumer Reports did a study on engine wear in New York City taxis, which get brutal use, and found the common recommendation to change oil every 5,000 miles was much too soon which just wasted oil and the money it costed to change it. The recommendation for frequent oil changes usually comes from someone who is going to make money from those oil changes, and not engineers who have studied the effects of oil changes on engine wear. Gillette wants you to change those razor blades every week--guess who sells razor blades.

 

[GP 2004]

I got 'free' oil changes from my dealer for one year as part of the purchase. They want to change oil every 4 months. Since it doesn't cost me any extra I will do every 4 months, but after that I will change it myself every 7500 mi.

 

[KCSam]

I don't drive mine a ton since I work from home 4 days a week and most of the driving around I do is within 20 miles. I'll be nowhere near 7500 or even 5000 miles for quite sometime, so I'm just going to stick to the 6 months change frequency to keep in accordance with the warranty.

 

[Jester7677]

4k interval is what I'd do and full synth. 7,500 is ok if you don't mind a little wear.


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[cybercruiser]

4k interval is what I'd do and full synth. 7,500 is ok if you don't mind a little wear.


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Since I start thinking about it at 5,000 miles, and makes sure it's done before the required 7,500 miles, in reality it's almost always less than 6,000 miles.