2021 Subaru Crosstrek 2.5L; oil change interval 5K or 6K ?

[SubieRubyRoo]

Many companies including Toyota use 10K as the bench mark for warranty purposes. What is the benefit of changing oil sooner except being Old School.

Because when the warranty runs out, you’re now on the hook for all cumulative damage that did not result in repair/replacement while the vehicle had been under warranty. This leaves you to either foot the bill for repairs, or foot the bill to offload the vehicle and obtain a new one if something happens due to the vehicle manufacturer chasing the “lowest maintenance cost” which may be what got you to buy that vehicle in the first place.

 

[Malo83]

5K and sleep well.

 

[Cherrybomb]

If you plan on keeping your car forever,you learn every maintenance technique you can.Better oil,filter,shortening up the change interval.O.A to see fuel dilution according to your habits.I believe in the 5,000.What you do early sets up,less problems and brings possibly better resale if you sell privately. Your oil is the life blood of the engine,keep the 5-6,just not 10 without an O.A and never look back

 

[Tundragod]

every 5k is easier to remember on an odometer?

I think 4k is easier to remember as in 4k TV.

 

[dubber09]

I run 4k miles (6k km) OCIs on both cars. One has GDI engine, the other - many short trips with lower annual mileage.
Sportage gets 3 oil changes a year, Forte gets 2 changes.
I do other maintenance by multiples, say air filter every so many OCIs. More involved maint like ATF, coolant, brakes - go by certain mileage number and I do it during warm season when I get longer day light and it's easier and more pleasant to do the work. Also, plastic parts don't seem to be as brittle in warm weather and things are easier to clean.

 

[Donald]

Imho it depends on the engine, my Sportage starts developing sludge after 4k miles so I keep OCIs at 4k miles. I know as I tried extending to 5k miles and drained oil was a bit chunky.

Chunky? Like the lumps in homemade gravy?

 

[Donald]

If it's between 5K and 6K and you are considering doing a UOA to see if it's safe to go to 6K then do 5K and forget the UOA. The cost of the UOA does not make money sense if all you are doing is deciding between 5K and 6K.

 

[Eddie]

+1 as Donald stated

 

[Triple_Se7en]

(my opinion if you plan on being first & last owner)...
Every 4k, using 5w30 instead of 0w20

Otherwise, should you sell prematurely (under 125k), stick with 6k.
Really thou, 5w30 is more important than the 4-6k OCI number. Protect that 2.5 engine better.

 

[Speedy3861]

4-5K with DI, No engine was ever harmed by changing oil early, many are by changing it too late. Preventative maintenance is proactive, down the road with more frequent changes you'll have less wear and possibly sludge, dealing with delayed maintenance is reactive. If you are keeping the car long term, worth some extra care.

 

[GMBoy]

The only factual answer and way to tell what OCI is best for you is a UOA - forget opinions and that is all you got on here so far is opinions. I am not saying bad opinions - just that they are opinions not based on hard data as you would get from a UOA on your personal engine. With that - my opinion is run 5k miles on quality synthetic. You are only going over that by 1k miles now so really even if you stick to your 6k mile OCI it probably won't matter to be honest. My personal GM 3.6DI (Cadillac CTS) I run 5-6k miles on Mobil 1 HM and at over 202k miles runs great. I did a UOA many years ago and based my OCI intervals on that data.

 

[dubber09]

Chunky? Like the lumps in homemade gravy?

Of cause not... Lol... But I did see old oil in drain pan had thicker 'floaters', a little denser than rest of the oil. To me it looked like beginning of sludge formation, maybe another 1-2k miles and I'd likely sludge up the engine.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

Highway miles I don't see any difference between 5 or 6k that's your preference there

 

[Nuclear_42]

There’s several Subaru DI UOA threads. I’d recommend 3k mile runs with 0W-20. I personally would stick with 0w30 for and 5w-30 for summer 5k mile OCI. 0w-40 euro would be great in warm weather. If you really want to get 6k mile OCI. Try out 30 -40 weight Euro ACEA C3 rates oils.

 

[RichR]

I have a pair of 2.5 Subies in the family. '16 Legacy gets 5k
'18 Rav4 non hybrid gets 5k .
'24 Forester got #1 @1k.
Might go with 3k since wife drives 5 miles to work and back .
Got a cheap stash thanks to BITOG.
Under no circumstances would I go over 5k on any engine.
Look up the CarCareNut on YouTube. Gives direct evidence against oci over 5k.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Do it somewhere between 5k and 6k. Change it at 5xxx

How many miles do you drive in a year? 6k in 6 months is about average, which turns out to be 12k in a year. With mostly highway miles, this isn't a problem at all.

Imho it depends on the engine, my Sportage starts developing sludge after 4k miles so I keep OCIs at 4k miles. I know as I tried extending to 5k miles and drained oil was a bit chunky.

What are your driving conditions? How many miles do you put on the car in a year?

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Look up the CarCareNut on YouTube. Gives direct evidence against oci over 5k.

You trust a shock jock on YT who has a vested ifinancial nterest in getting you to click his links?

I put more trust in the two board sponsors who make oils for a living. There’s no financial conflict of interest when the oil company tells us to use less of their product by running it longer than 3k or 5k miles, and has a few billion test miles of data from the most severe service possible to back up their claims. Both of those sponsors make great products that can not only go farther than 5k; they also provide benefits over shelf oils even at 5k intervals, but the financial case becomes more difficult to make.

You can certainly change your oil how often you want, using whatever oil tickles your fancy. That’s not the point I’m making. You wouldn’t take financial advice from your plumber who’s driving a clapped-out ‘78 Silverado, would you?