Tom
10k km for cars, 5k km for bikes is what I do (i.e. 1x/year)
Couple of points - the comparison was of modern engine designs, not Europe vs. US, but pointing out that the US has been slow to adopt these across the board, so that many recent vehicles are using 20+ y-o engine designs. It's not about levels of technology, but cost, and the US has tended to churn out low-cost vehicles by reusing tried and tested technology rather than investing in newer approaches.
This is history, and doesn't really apply to new vehicles, but that hasn't been the case anywhere near as long in the US, and much more importantly in the minds of the US car-owning public. Your other points about marketing and acceptance are valid, but I think what's happened is that in Europe we've now accepted these longer intervals for at least a couple of decades, so will no longer accept 3000mile oil changes, whereas in the US it's a much more recent thing. It may also have been influenced by lowr oil prices in the US, historically. I don't think such short intervals were _ever_ considered the norm in the UK, for example.
As for the design shops of major manufacturers - you might like to look at where engine development work has historically taken place for Ford and GM. It's often been the European affiliates leading the way, with, again, the technology being much more slowly adopted by the US brands. Possibly also driven by the Europeans' greater desire for fuel economy, given the price differential since the 1970s.
Some of the more significant recent developments in recent years have come out of BMW and VW group, things like the direct 'stratified' petrol injection now almost universal on VW, Audi and Porsches, and the semi-auto gearboxes they also developed, which were then copied by BMW and others and have really transformed the market.
I hope you don't think this is US-bashing, I'm just pointing out some of the factors that may support your suggestion that the US market is indeed being duped into more frequent oil changes.
Lastly, yes, you missed BMW.
I suspect the cost of petrol (gas) is much lower in the USA, so expensive engines to use less fuel are not an easy sell.
FMF - The BMW system works off the engine management system - and IIRC - is based on RPM, time and engine/oil temperature.
It does not measure oil usage - as this would suggest that if you add fresh oil it resets - it doesn't. My old Alpina Roadster S would drink oil - 1l per 1000km was not uncommon (Hence a bull order from Reifendirekt).
A 330 sat doing 300km trips (twice a day) will have a very long life between oil changes - one that does 3km trips (twice a day) won't.
However someone doing 3000km a week will need their changes sooner than someone doing 30km a week, although I get what your saying.
Blimey. I actually gasped there. I might have to find a nice mechanic in Italy! If I can actually find an honest one
Oil costs less here than in Italy.
Tom
Most oil used in the US is synthetic.
Ever hear of Mobil 1?
I was using it years before I moved here 27 years ago.
Tom
I generally pay less than CHF 150 (which is why I don't do the cars anymore myself, just the bikes).
Tom
Guys! At the end of the day it is only a frikkin oil change, one small screw and one big one, cough up a godzillion frikkin Franks for summat you can so easily do yourself?
Heck it was a rite of passage to be able to change the oil on dad's car as a kid.
It's one of the things that a man must be capable of, change the oil, change the brake pads, change air filter, tranny fluid, axle grease, anti-freeze, lube a diesel, change a tire even fill up the wiper fluid bottle.
I did an oil change on engine, gearbox and diff this afternoon. Spark plugs should arrive in post the next days
Oh oil tip - french supermarkets. Shell helix fully synth 5w-30 5 litres €44
My 2009 VW Polo 1.4 16v (current model) has just has its second service, including oil change at 60,000 km. In between I checked the oil as I was wary of going 30,000 km between services. It didn't use any.
Sadly not all the VW range as as good. The 1.2 TSI engine fitted in the Polo uses about 1 litre every 1000km according the the pages complaining about this on UK forums...
That's shocking amount of oil usage.
No his statements are not accurate. Oil being better quality in Switzerland is laughable. Probably he meant to say that this particular BMW likes synthetic and that synthetic oil costs more and lasts longer. In fact it would use the same synthetic in America that the engineers at BMW decided it needed.
I personally believe the rule of thumb in America for oil changes is more marketing or at least a rule of thumb left over from older days. It is probably not a bad idea for your engine but it is probably a bad idea for your wallet. Best thing you can do is open the owners manual and follow the recommendations there.
I usually do my own oil changes anyway. I use a Pela pump, example here .
You just stick a plastic pipe down where the dip stick lives & suck out the oil; nice & clean. Only possible messy part is changing the filter.
It's all down to marketing and local pricing. The sensors that determine oil quality, thus service intervals are programmed locally to maximise local profit taking based upon consumer tolerance.
That said, there is nothing wrong with excessive oil changing, and those that pay over the odds for BMW's and Merc's are considered fair game for consumer fear/frequent oil changes.
You don't just buy the badge, you buy into the minimise failure ethos.
How dare you pay so much and question....
Here in the US I just had my V8 engine oil done. Cost 39 dollars. In Europe MY V8 s4 it was 250 chf just for the oil (without the labour). but it be ok for 30k km( depending on driving)
It is ALL the same oil (difference is only synthetic,semi, and dino) The rest of the oils almost all come from the same company with different branding. Some additives may vary and off course the visc of the oil.
Reason for not doing it myself is the disposal of the oil . Thats all
And here they still try to make you go back every 3000 miles with the little sticker on the window. It is slowly starting to get to 5 k miles. and they swear from left to righ that that is the way to do it. I change oil every 5 to 7.5 k miles and the oil is always sludge free and app in good condition.
And a little informative video for those interested
Supply and demand. You pay the highest price that people are prepared to pay.
Attitudes differ from country to country.
The Swiss love to feed the economy, and it works....
...for Switzerland.
In the end, it's down to whether your local dude is reasonable or not.
Mine usually comes under my estimates (and I used to fix cars for a living), perhaps because he gives difficult stuff to his apprentices and bills according to how long it would have taken him, and not how long it took them (today I paid CHF 90, including parts, for work done to my daughter's scooter that I know for fact took more than half a day).
Tom
Fixed price servicing caters for a reasonable profit. The better your staff, the better your profit. I worry about corner cutting though...do you really get that Synth oil, and genuine parts filter ? Times are tough....