When I enquired to the mechanic, he said that 15,000-20,000 is normal in Switzerland and then further said that the oil is higher quality than that used in the US.
Is this accurate?
The car I am currently looking into is a BMW.
Thanks!
I'm looking into getting a used car and noticed that the couple of cars I have seen, the oil was changed every 15,000-20,000 kilometers (per the service record). I was a bit surprised by this because in the States it's done about every 5,000 miles.
Pretty much. A combination between higher grade oils (which are usually specified by the manufacturer) and often more sophisticated engines. Interval varies from engine to engine but 20,000 Km is typical. I think some new cars are now even longer.
I sat in a Volvo a couple of days back with about 400,000 Km on the clock and had only ever had 20,000 interval oil changes. Still runs fine.
The quality of fuel is certainly higher. I don't know if that would make more frequent oil changes necessary.
Not really. It's not really a US-Europe thing relating to , but just that more modern and technically-advanced engines don't 'spoil' the oil as quickly. Many American cars still use much older engine designs, leading to higher fuel usage as well as more frequent need for oil changes. It does mean that fully- or semi-synthetic oils are needed, which are much more expensive than mineral ones, but the overall cost is still much lower.
Modern European cars typically have oil change/service requirements as high as 30000km, and this has been the case for many years now. I recall my wife's BMW 316 compact bought new in 1995 having its first service at 22000mile, for example. But engine sensors will detect if the oil has degraded and require an earlier service if required.
BMWs have variable oil services - depending on the wear rate on your driving style and driving type (urban, motorway).
I will expect my Alpina to close in on 25,000km before it needs an oil change.
What do you mean by "oil change?"
The oil is changed in the USA more often simply to replace the quantity which lies in the middle of the parking spaces in front of supermartkets.
Same for most makers nowadays, I think, certainly for VW group.
I think my R36 must be getting close to needing its 3rd service/oil change. 88,000km so far and nearly five years old. Changed around 30 and 65k, IIRC. But at least one, possibly both, of those was before the service light came on as it was more convenient to get done at the same time as some minor repair.
You mean as in "just buy a new one"?
Just to reiterate what others have said, the service intervals here are much longer than in the US. My car has a service interval of 20k, has 200k km on the clock, and runs like it is brand new.
The service manual specifies (and the garage uses) fully synthetic Mobil 1 oil, which has a much longer lifespan than the cheap oil they tend to use in the US.
The only real impact is that you need to occasionally check and top-up your oil level between services, and you need to be ready for the sticker shock when you get your first bill. I just had a quick look at my last two services, and the price for the oil alone was CHF135 (Switzerland) and EUR65 (France). For the complete 'small' service due every 20K, which is basically an oil change (inc. filter), air filter change, and inspection/top-up of fluids, you don't get much change back from CHF700.
better to change the title to "Oil tanking - Swiss vs US"
YES . The longer service intervals are due to the fact that In Europe we mostly use synthetic oils or at least semi-synthetic oil vs. the mineral oil used in the US.
My car never ever had an oil change sooner than 25K and I drive the hell out of its engine (this is why the ECU brings down my service interval from the original 30K).
More advanced engines also play a role, but it is more due to the synthetic oil.
Now I know why Jesus Christ just ran me over on his bike. Man that's steep! Do they gold plate the engine at the same time?
This kinda' says it all about the tech level of car makers across the lillypond
Swis-sif-fied - to have been here so long that you're completely at a loss when people complain about prices that you consider to be perfectly normal and reasonable.
With the kind of motorbikes I buy I simply don't see the point of changing oil, as long as I refill faster than it leaks out everything is fine.
Ah. The 'total loss' lubrication system used to be quite common, back in the early years when it was the best design they'd come up with, then of course accidentally in the glory days of shite old british bikes.
About " the oil is higher quality than that used in the US."
Strange, most of the synthetic oil sold around the world comes from US companies.
Synthetic oils for auto use were first marketed in the USA in the late 1960's.
I think the 3,000 mile oil change interval for cars is a marketing thing which people in the USA accept.
I have two American cars & the oil change intervals recommended are 2/3 times the US interval using the same oil. One of them has a turbo motor & is recommended to use a synthetic oil worldwide despite which the US recommended interval is still 3,000 miles. I change the oil between 15,000 & 20,000 km & am just coming up tp 220,000KM.
People in Europe will not accept these 3,000 intervals.
Several people people have posted that the longer European change interval is due to better European motor design. So how do you explain the different oil change intervals between Europe & USA for autos from companies like Ford, Opel (owned by General Motors since 1931) who use the same engines worldwide?
Then Daimler/Mercedes was merged with Chrysler for a decade.
There are surprisingly few pure European motor designers left.
Fiat now has Chrysler, Peugeot has a partnership deal with GM, Renault with Nissan that just leaves VW/Porsche - or did I miss a company?
I think it's worked out on liters of fuel consumed, well that's what is says in the Manuel of my 330xi