I took my car into Infiniti of Columbus (Ohio) for an oil change yesterday. It had been about 4300 miles since my last change. After reading about several people mysteriously losing oil on this board, I asked if they coud tell me how much oil I had in my G. The service mgr. told me they can not measure this as it goes directly into a large drum. Is there not any way to measure this?

Also, they told me they are using a Castrol synthetic now-it cost me $41 for the oil change-that is starting to get expensive.

What are your experiences with oil changes?
What are they using?
How much do the cost?
How much oil loss between changes?

Thanks,

g4ain



369197-G35 MINI.jpg

 

I checked my oil level just before my last oil change (because of some posts about oil loss), and in about 3400 miles, it was about 1/3 of the way down the stick from full to add/quart.

So possibly 1/2 - 1/3 guart low.

Went longer than my normal 3000 miles, but I wanted to use my normal place than to go to an oil change shop. At least I was still below the Infiniti recommended interval.

2004 Sedan/DVD Navigation/Desert Platinum/Willow

 

im going in on monday for my oil change at infiniti of dublin as well, let you know what i think then...

 

I go to wal*mart and buy the Mobil 1 synthetic 5 quart bottle for around $20 and have the dealer change my oil with it. The dealer charges me around $25
You are being robbed........................

 

$41 to change the oil/filter on the G35 sounds reasonable to me considering the additional labor involved removing the lower splash guard. Granted it's only 10-15 minutes additional labor, but time is money. You're paying $45 to have your oil changed and that's not adding in your time to drive to Walmart and buy the oil. Again, time is money. I spent $30 to change my own oil/filter. I like to do my own work though.


1) It's easy if you do it yourself.
2) Castrol oils seem to be standard issue for Infiniti/Nissan
3) For a dealership, they get their fluids at highly discounted prices because of quanity therefore it's far cheaper for them than us. BUT, they also have to spend money properly disposing of the waste (which is expensive, I know this because my job deals with this waste), and they have to pay people to do the work, shop expenses, etc. In the end, you're probably paying 60% more per quart than you could get it at the store.
4) On the VQs, there shouldn't be much consumption. Maybe 1/2 quart on a new engine. After 10K miles, there really shouldn't be any consumption. If you're concerned about consumption, measure the oil level with the dipstick. Take three readings and take the average. Make sure to give the car about 20 minutes of off time before taking the level so that all the oil is in the pan. Make sure to be on a level surface too. If the level is near the "L" mark, it means you're about 3/4 quart low.

 

$41 isn't much more expensive than what you would pay at a jiffy lube type place. Oil changes are about $24.95-$29.95 plus they usually charge you extra to take down the under body diffuser.

If you really want to say money, time and hassle, do the oil change yourself.

 

For the dealer to measure how much they drain out, they'd have to catch what's drianed in a measured container. They won't want to take the time to do it. ONly answer is to do it yourself.

For what's involved, $41 isn't far out of line. IMHO.
C.

 

I went to a Nissan dealership for my first oil change today. I'll never do THAT again!

I was watching the guy pour oil in from what looked like a gallon-sized carton. He finished the first one. Checked the dipstick. Grabbed another carton of oil. Put in some. Checked the dipstick. Put in some more. Checked the dipstick. Done.

On top of that, when he took the funnel out, he just yanked it out and it spilled all over the engine compartment and my front grill. He did a half-*** job of trying to clean it up too.

$37 for that.

The icing on the cake...whoever drove my car in and out of the garage had the worst F'n B.O.. My car smells like $hit.

 

went yesterday for my first oil change( 3500), and found that the $40 is worth it for various reasons.

1. as stated before, time is money. i went in and was out under a half hour(faster than i could do it).
2. includes a free car wash!
3. Didnt have to drive to get oil and drive back there to dispose of it.
4. they check the other fluids as well, and top them off. i check mine once a week, along with a lights check, but i dont always have the right fluids on hand or have purchased them.
5. had a free bottle water and some free fruits(banana and apple) while waiting.
6. Read a good article in autoweek( supplied by the dealer)
7. had time to speak to the manager, and catch up on some military stories( hes a vet and so am i)
8. not to mention, if something was found wrong, i wouldnt have to waste my time driving back to the dealer( 22 miles away), and have it fixed.

so IMO, i felt is was worth it. oh, and it is a infiniti dealer, and no, i wouldnt take it to a nissan dealer unless i could watch like dirrty bear did. but to each their own...

 

Dealer here charges 35 for oil change and like 65 for premium one which is what I have been doing (did on the 04 anyway). Having them sign your booklet as PREMIUM every change makes your car more valuable... I suppose its not equally worth it as 20$ saves you A LOT on the long run...

 

For synthetic oil, at 4.5K is way too soon to change. You can easily drive to 10K before changing it. I have been doing it for years! All Bimmers and MB cars are usually changed at 12K or longer using Mobil 0-40W by the dealers.

 

Did my first oil change yesterday, bought 5 oil filters from everythingg35, only 5 dollars each + oil prices which will probably vary. Very simple to do yourself. Wont take more than 15 to 30 minutes. Just a pain to take the oil filter off the first time because they put it on so damn tight. Hand tighting is good enough. Other than that, no problems.

 

I think I paid $44 for a Castrol Syntec oil change at a local dealership.

After my engine was replaced I was checking my oil every 500 miles because I was so paranoid. After the first 500 miles I was a quart low.

I got that "here we go again" feeling in my stomach. After I added that first quart though I haven't had any oil consumption issues. I'm on 7k miles on the new engine now.

 

offcourse your gonna lose oil if u go more than 3000 miles without an oil change...They say this everywhere for a reason- Change your oil at 3000 miles or 3 months(whichever comes first) Stick to that and you want have any problems and your engine will last longer = )

 

How about losing 3 quarts in 1000 miles? That's what happened to me.

That's what the original poster is talking about. Several G owners (seven that I know of) have experienced excessive oil consumption that has led to engine failure. He's just trying to keep an eye on his oil level.