First oil change with the new Mazda 0w20 GF-5 with moly - Improved MPG

[yrwei52]

⋯ Just picked up a 2016.5 CX-5 AWD on Monday. Trying to determine this business about oil. Not sure what the CX-5 comes with off the delivery truck. The dealer includes free oil service changes. You only have to buy the Mazda oil filter.

It's very strange that free oil change offered by a Mazda dealer doesn't include Mazda OEM oil filter! Dealers use the cheapest bulk oil they can find and car manufactures normally have no power to assure their dealers using their recommended oil. My Mazda dealer uses "Preferred Choice"(eek2) 0W-20 oil for standard oil change. Only $10 more to use Mazda moly oil.

As my personal experience using Mazda moly oil, I don't see any improvement on gas mileage since first oil change at 5,073 miles. It's actually getting a little worse, from ~26.5 at brand new to ~25.5 mpg and stayed there. After second oil change at 10,878 miles with Mazda moly oil, the gas mileage is still the same, at about ~25.5 mpg with all city driving.

Make sure to turn on your oil life monitor via Maintenance Monitor and use Schedule 1 Flexible oil change schedule.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I've used all along so can't really say if it is better or worse. On average I am still in the 27-28MPG range in 70/30 (hwy/city). Not a flat area here.

I'm more interested in long term engine wear prevention.

 

[SBMongoos]

I'm more interested in long term engine wear prevention.

I'm with you on this. Very important to me as well.

 

[SBMongoos]

It's very strange that free oil change offered by a Mazda dealer doesn't include Mazda OEM oil filter! Dealers use the cheapest bulk oil they can find and car manufactures normally have no power to assure their dealers using their recommended oil. My Mazda dealer uses "Preferred Choice"(eek2) 0W-20 oil for standard oil change. Only $10 more to use Mazda moly oil.

Make sure to turn on your oil life monitor via Maintenance Monitor and use Schedule 1 Flexible oil change schedule.

I imagine since their paying for the service visit for the life of the vehicle this saves them ~$10 each visit. When I called Mazda service dept (where I bought) the guy did say the Moly was no more expensive that the Castrol. We'll see.

I've seen the Maintenance Monitor have it set for tire rotation and oil service. I think I used a flex schedule to set it for 3,000 miles on the oil. Sales manager said they like to see it at 3,000 the first time to have a look and recommend changes at 3k or 5k. They've found driving habits different enough they prefer to make recommendations based on the driver and how the oil looks.

 

[yrwei52]

I imagine since their paying for the service visit for the life of the vehicle this saves them ~$10 each visit. When I called Mazda service dept (where I bought) the guy did say the Moly was no more expensive that the Castrol. We'll see.

I've seen the Maintenance Monitor have it set for tire rotation and oil service. I think I used a flex schedule to set it for 3,000 miles on the oil. Sales manager said they like to see it at 3,000 the first time to have a look and recommend changes at 3k or 5k. They've found driving habits different enough they prefer to make recommendations based on the driver and how the oil looks.

Ha, I'd see it to believe it as a Mazda dealer who is not willing to give you a cheaper OEM oil filter but says the Mazda moly oil is included in the free oil change! (uhm) You should watch the tech pouring 5 bottles of Mazda moly oil into your engine, or if you can't do that, at least demand them to leave 5 empty Mazda moly oil bottles in the trunk. Remember Mazda moly oil doesn't come with bulk in a big drum and I'd imagine that would be the excuse they'll tell you.

Please read your owner's manual. Schedule 1 Flexible Maintenance for Oil Change means you wait for a red wrench icon and "Oil change due" message to change oil. There's no preset mileage to be seen, only the oil life "%" left displayed. And I'd suggest you to leave factory filled oil in there for at least 5,000 miles; 3,000 miles is too early unless your CX-5 is been used for 12 months!

"They've found driving habits different enough they prefer to make recommendations based on the driver and how the oil looks." - this is exactly what the oil life monitor is doing, but with much more sophisticated way to do the calculation by ECM!

 

[sbronemann]

Changed my oil today on my 16.5 CX-5 at about 6000 miles. Put 0W-20 Signature Series Amsoil in with EA Amsoil filter. It is a bit snappier(just my feeling anyway). Will continue to change at 12.5k from now on with Amsoil Signature oil.

 

[SBMongoos]

Ha, I'd see it to believe it as a Mazda dealer who is not willing to give you a cheaper OEM oil filter but says the Mazda moly oil is included in the free oil change! (uhm) You should watch the tech pouring 5 bottles of Mazda moly oil into your engine, or if you can't do that, at least demand them to leave 5 empty Mazda moly oil bottles in the trunk. Remember Mazda moly oil doesn't come with bulk in a big drum and I'd imagine that would be the excuse they'll tell you.

Please read your owner's manual. Schedule 1 Flexible Maintenance for Oil Change means you wait for a red wrench icon and "Oil change due" message to change oil. There's no preset mileage to be seen, only the oil life "%" left displayed. And I'd suggest you to leave factory filled oil in there for at least 5,000 miles; 3,000 miles is too early unless your CX-5 is been used for 12 months!

"They've found driving habits different enough they prefer to make recommendations based on the driver and how the oil looks." - this is exactly what the oil life monitor is doing, but with much more sophisticated way to do the calculation by ECM!

They use a Mazda oil filter. I'm skeptical that the Moly is no extra in cost. I'll be watching.

As for the oil life monitor. I'm not finding that. I'll do some searching again.

 

[yrwei52]

Changed my oil today on my 16.5 CX-5 at about 6000 miles. Put 0W-20 Signature Series Amsoil in with EA Amsoil filter. It is a bit snappier(just my feeling anyway). Will continue to change at 12.5k from now on with Amsoil Signature oil.

If you plan to change oil longer than 5,000 miles, make sure to turn on your oil life monitor for Flexible Oil Change Schedule which can go up to 10,000 miles or 12 months and reset it whenever you change your oil. This's mainly for warranty purpose just in case.

 

[yrwei52]

They use a Mazda oil filter. I'm skeptical that the Moly is no extra in cost. I'll be watching.

As for the oil life monitor. I'm not finding that. I'll do some searching again.

It's easy to reset Maintenance Monitor on CX-5. From you home screen of Infotainment screen and select Applications and then Maintenance to access Maintenance Monitor to reset Maintenance、Tire Rotation、or Oil Change. See Maintenance Monitor Type B on page 6-20 of you Owner'a Manual for more details.

 

[SBMongoos]

I have Maintenance setup on that screen. However, I'm not seeing anything that tells me about % of oil life remaining. Need to check if I have it set to fixed vs flexible. I have it set to remind me at 3k as that's what the sales manager through out to do a follow up.

The manuals does say "Mazda Genuine 0W-20 oil and Castrol 0W-20 oil are required to achieve optimum calculation performance."

Curious (perhaps I should drop this in a new thread but since MPG has come up a lot), what octane are people using to achieve their MPG? I have no idea what the dealership filled this up with. I'm guessing 87. We have 85 (which I'm told is fine), 87 and 91. I did a lot of driving in the mountains to get a feel for this thing (auto and manual mode..haven't tried sport, up and down in the mountains, switchbacks..etc) this past weekend. 99% pavement. So... I needed to fill up and went with 91 to see what would happen on the next tank. I'm hoping to get great mileage on 85 octane to save some $$ and Costco only carries 85 and 91 only. I've had good luck with their gas for years and they're about 40 cents less per gallon. The CX-5 itself showed an average of 27.5 MPG on the tank I got from the dealership. When I get gas I always let the pump auto shut off and don't top it off (same process to do mileage always) myself. Having said that the first tank went 412.1 miles/12.915 gallons = 31.9MPG on this first tank. Car only had 7.4 miles on it which is not part of the 412.1 miles I used. 418/12.915 = 32.3MPG (I'm sure there was gas in the car before they filled it).

 

[yrwei52]

I have Maintenance setup on that screen. However, I'm not seeing anything that tells me about % of oil life remaining. Need to check if I have it set to fixed vs flexible. I have it set to remind me at 3k as that's what the sales manager through out to do a follow up.

The manuals does say "Mazda Genuine 0W-20 oil and Castrol 0W-20 oil are required to achieve optimum calculation performance."

Once you select Oil Change tab, you can have choice of fixed and flexible. Once you choose flexible, you'll see the oil life % displayed.

I'd set 5,000/7,500 miles and 6 months for Maintenance/Scheduled, and 5,000 miles for Tire Rotation according to Schedule 1.

 

[yrwei52]

⋯ Curious (perhaps I should drop this in a new thread but since MPG has come up a lot), what octane are people using to achieve their MPG? I have no idea what the dealership filled this up with. I'm guessing 87. We have 85 (which I'm told is fine), 87 and 91. I did a lot of driving in the mountains to get a feel for this thing (auto and manual mode..haven't tried sport, up and down in the mountains, switchbacks..etc) this past weekend. 99% pavement. So... I needed to fill up and went with 91 to see what would happen on the next tank. I'm hoping to get great mileage on 85 octane to save some $$ and Costco only carries 85 and 91 only. I've had good luck with their gas for years and they're about 40 cents less per gallon. The CX-5 itself showed an average of 27.5 MPG on the tank I got from the dealership. When I get gas I always let the pump auto shut off and don't top it off (same process to do mileage always) myself. Having said that the first tank went 412.1 miles/12.915 gallons = 31.9MPG on this first tank. Car only had 7.4 miles on it which is not part of the 412.1 miles I used. 418/12.915 = 32.3MPG (I'm sure there was gas in the car before they filled it).

Costco is the Top-Tier gas and it has been having good quality and reputation for many years. Due to the altitude in Colorado the regular gas there has 85 octane instead of 87. Yes you'll be fine by using 85 octane, and you won't get any better gas mileage by using 87 or 91 octane gas under most circumstance as our high-compression SkyActiv-G engine is tuned only for regular gas, but not for mid-grade or premium gas. 31.5 mpg is excellent as our CX-5 AWD could only get 25~26 mpg with all city driving.

 

[SBMongoos]

Got it. Not sure it clicked first time around. Once on flex you'll see the oil life %. That make sense.

 

[SBMongoos]

Well, first tank was 32Mpg and my next was 29. Not a huge difference but not sure why the drop (I realize I'm very early on in miles being new). I did have a lot of down hill on this past Sunday in the mountains but I wouldn't think it would influence much. The 29Mpg came off a tank of 91 octane. I filled up with 85 today to see what will happen.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

I'm attempting to switch the OCI in my CX-5 from fixed to flexible. Flexible is grayed out and not selectable. What's up with that?

 

[yrwei52]

I'm attempting to switch the OCI in my CX-5 from fixed to flexible. Flexible is grayed out and not selectable. What's up with that?

You have to turn the power on with all the indicators, but before engine getting started. Then get into Maintenance Monitor from infotainment system and Oil Change tab. Now you should be able to change it to Flexible.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Our first road trip a couple of weeks ago in our new to us 2014 Touring yielded 31.4 MPG on the best tank of 100% highway driving, at around 75 MPH. Not bad! That was on a more flat terrain area of the country, between Georgia and Florida. In the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, 100% highway driving 75 MPH, we got more like 28-29 MPG.