Hello all.

After a bit of advice. Have recently bought a 1.2 lounge and as I understand it the service interval is 12 months/18k miles.

I will be covering about that mileage in any one year so will obviously be having a service every 12 months. My query is that seems a rather long time to go without changing the oil.

Will my warranty be affected if I have my oil changed at 6 months by a local garage or is it advisable to do this through fiat? Or should I just wait the year out and have it done at the 18k service?

Harbuzi said:

Hello all.

After a bit of advice. Have recently bought a 1.2 lounge and as I understand it the service interval is 12 months/18k miles.

I will be covering about that mileage in any one year so will obviously be having a service every 12 months. My query is that seems a rather long time to go without changing the oil.

Will my warranty be affected if I have my oil changed at 6 months by a local garage or is it advisable to do this through fiat? Or should I just wait the year out and have it done at the 18k service?

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As long as you use the right grade of oil it's fine Check the ACEA grade of the oil against the manual's grade. You'd also need to use a genuine oil filter.

Harbuzi said:

Hello all.

After a bit of advice. Have recently bought a 1.2 lounge and as I understand it the service interval is 12 months/18k miles.

I will be covering about that mileage in any one year so will obviously be having a service every 12 months. My query is that seems a rather long time to go without changing the oil.

Will my warranty be affected if I have my oil changed at 6 months by a local garage or is it advisable to do this through fiat? Or should I just wait the year out and have it done at the 18k service?

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Hello,

I do about the same amount of mileage that you do and change my oil once a year as the service book tells me. To be honest, maybe when new it is advisable to change the oil, but once the engine is run in i see no reason to change the oil any more often than fiat tells you to. I have done one oil change after 18k miles and she sings like she's been well looked after (1.4 engine). The only thing i recommend you do when changing oil once every 18k miles is to check the oil at least every 1500 miles, as the fiat handbook tells you to do. I think many people have a misconception about changing the oil far too often.

If i were you i would change after every 18k miles like i did. Should something go wrong (0.000000001% change of your engine blowing from lack of oil while under warranty unless you only ever drive at the redline) Fiat's book says what it says! Just check the oil level now and then see that it is max and refill with the same grade thats in the engine = )

I will second or third that... do not change the oil too much as the oils sold today is much better grade and quality then about 5-10 years ago. Just keep a bit of good quality oil at home and top up if needed. Just do some checks every 1500miles and you should be good.

Its weird that your dealer did not tell you all this, as when I picked up the car I was told about this. I also did read the manual on the first day it just makes it easier down the line.

Good luck

RaR

rockaroller said:

I will second or third that... do not change the oil too much as the oils sold today is much better grade and quality then about 5-10 years ago. Just keep a bit of good quality oil at home and top up if needed. Just do some checks every 1500miles and you should be good.

Its weird that your dealer did not tell you all this, as when I picked up the car I was told about this. I also did read the manual on the first day it just makes it easier down the line.

Good luck

RaR

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Why would you trust a salesman to tell you how to maintain your car? Most of them can barely explain the service schedule.

the OP wants to replace the oil for obvious reasons, it cuts down on engine wear for one and will generally mean better fuel economy.

If the OP wants to do it then I say do it. Far better than to change the oil before it needs to be changed than to be running around with oil that is past its best.

That's a good tip from ahmett & R&R on checking the oil on a regular basis. I would have been a little guilty of not checking mine but it was caught in time. IMHO 18K is too long to go without an oil change and would be of the belief that it should be changed sooner particularly on a new car. Some individuals have changed the oil at 2K-3K on a freshly run in engine.
Fiat revised the oil change interval for the Abarth models from 18K to 12K and in the case of the esseesse from 9K to 6K (all in miles). If a car has been driven in harsher condition (stop / start driving, etc.) it needs more regular oil changes. Any car that gets a ''hard time' needs more regular changes and oil level checks.
I believe that the reason it's 18K is to make the service costs for the car look good. IMHO I would buy the proper Fiat oil & filter and 'file' the receipt with your service history. Having it done by a VAT registered garage means that it 'counts'. You could ask you local Fiat garage for a fixed price before you give it to them. They would be keen on getting your business on the 18K service.
The right type and quality of oil is very important (& critical on the newer breed of engines e.g. the multi-air & the diesel) but it just as important / benefical to change it on a more regular basis.

Completely agree Michael. My 500 is only doing short journeys now so I may well take it in for an early oil change or do it myself early. I'll leave the air filter and plugs till the normal service though.

Thanks for the replies guys. The salesman did talk me through the service schedule and I am aware it is 18k.

Having thought about it for a few days, I just feel that is too long and was wondering what other people did. I know some people who are very fastiduous about their cars change oil every 5k miles (gooogle "honda accord million miles") and whilst I think this is a bit extreme, I thought maybe 10k would be about right.

I think when I get to 6 months I will assess the mileage and think about doing it then.

My 500 is my first ever new car so trying to look after it!

Harbuzi said:

Thanks for the replies guys. The salesman did talk me through the service schedule and I am aware it is 18k.

Having thought about it for a few days, I just feel that is too long and was wondering what other people did. I know some people who are very fastiduous about their cars change oil every 5k miles (gooogle "honda accord million miles") and whilst I think this is a bit extreme, I thought maybe 10k would be about right.

I think when I get to 6 months I will assess the mileage and think about doing it then.

My 500 is my first ever new car so trying to look after it!

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Don't be put off by what people have said. Some people don't plan on keeping their cars for long enough for engine wear to be an issue and some people simply think that because oil is better these days that this means that the oil is fine for 18k miles and won't cause any extra wear.

The fact is that if you were to change your oil every three months that would be better than the 500's schedule which is actually 2 years or 18k miles (year if you qualify as "low mileage"), but if you had to take the car in every three months then no one would buy a Fiat, so in an effort to make the car look cheaper to run Fiat have specified a long service interval. This make people think that the car is cheap to run.

Personally I try to have my car serviced early as I want to keep it in as good running order as possible.

Personally, I've never let any petrol engine I've ever owned go more than 9000 miles without an oil change. That means on some occasions, I've had to change it twice a year, usually once myself and the other by main service dealer. I don't personally think it is a waste of money looking after the engine in your motor or as Maxi has put it, 'over-servicing'. My old 16 year old Primera, which a cousin of mine bought, has nearly 250,000 miles on the clock and is still running well, is testament to oil changes every 9000 miles.

Modern engine oils aside, imho 18k is far too long a period to go without sticking fresh stuff in half way through. I also always use an original dealer oil filter, they are designed to do the job properly. You cannot guarantee that an aftermarket filter will be designed to the original manufacturers exact specifications. Not only that, there is generally only a couple of quid difference in the price of an original dealer supplied oil filter and a cheap knock off.

Now looking forward to buying 5 litres of Selenia oil at 50 quid - not! Unless of course anyone knows where you can buy that stuff any cheaper (including postage and packing).

frupi said:

Personally, I've never let any petrol engine I've ever owned go more than 9000 miles without an oil change. That means on some occasions, I've had to change it twice a year, usually once myself and the other by main service dealer. I don't personally think it is a waste of money looking after the engine in your motor or as Maxi has put it, 'over-servicing'. My old 16 year old Primera, which a cousin of mine bought, has nearly 250,000 miles on the clock and is still running well, is testament to oil changes every 9000 miles.

Modern engine oils aside, imho 18k is far too long a period to go without sticking fresh stuff in half way through. I also always use an original dealer oil filter, they are designed to do the job properly. You cannot guarantee that an aftermarket filter will be designed to the original manufacturers exact specifications. Not only that, there is generally only a couple of quid difference in the price of an original dealer supplied oil filter and a cheap knock off.

Now looking forward to buying 5 litres of Selenia oil at 50 quid - not! Unless of course anyone knows where you can buy that stuff any cheaper (including postage and packing).

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Whilst under warranty I would DEFINITELY keep to Fiat genuine oil filters. After that I'm happy enough to go using a reputable brand like Bosch.

In terms of oil you could stick with Selenia or you could buy some Castrol Edge 5W40 which meets Fiat's specifications. It's ACEA C3 so absolutely fine for use with the 500 under warranty and there's no way they can disallow a warranty claim. I'm sure there are other oils which are fine too, but of course Castrol is a reputable brand.

306maxi said:

Whilst under warranty I would DEFINITELY keep to Fiat genuine oil filters. After that I'm happy enough to go using a reputable brand like Bosch.

In terms of oil you could stick with Selenia or you could buy some Castrol Edge 5W40 which meets Fiat's specifications. It's ACEA C3 so absolutely fine for use with the 500 under warranty and there's no way they can disallow a warranty claim. I'm sure there are other oils which are fine too, but of course Castrol is a reputable brand.

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In Greece I saw the Fiat dealer using Agip oil and from petrol stations i just use Shell's oil, of course at 5w40.

frupi said:

Personally, I've never let any petrol engine I've ever owned go more than 9000 miles without an oil change. That means on some occasions, I've had to change it twice a year, usually once myself and the other by main service dealer. I don't personally think it is a waste of money looking after the engine in your motor or as Maxi has put it, 'over-servicing'. My old 16 year old Primera, which a cousin of mine bought, has nearly 250,000 miles on the clock and is still running well, is testament to oil changes every 9000 miles.

Modern engine oils aside, imho 18k is far too long a period to go without sticking fresh stuff in half way through. I also always use an original dealer oil filter, they are designed to do the job properly. You cannot guarantee that an aftermarket filter will be designed to the original manufacturers exact specifications. Not only that, there is generally only a couple of quid difference in the price of an original dealer supplied oil filter and a cheap knock off.

Now looking forward to buying 5 litres of Selenia oil at 50 quid - not! Unless of course anyone knows where you can buy that stuff any cheaper (including postage and packing).

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I would agree with 'over servicing' rather than 'under servicing'. Someone pays £10+ for a new car and they wouldn't give it some TLC. If you don't want to pay say the £100 for 'interim' oil & filter then I would suggest that you 'do it yourself'. JR did an excellent guide / thread - an 'idiots guide' on changing the oil yourself.

It has been mentioned before on the FF but IF your car has done less than 6K in one year then it has to have the oil & filter change as per the manual...
(***) if the vehicle is mainly used for town driving or has an annual mileage of less than 10K km, the engine oil and filter should be changed every 12 months.

P.S. You only need 3 litres of oil for an oil & filter change. 2.8L for a 1.2 & MJ and 2.9L for a 1.4. Buit it will probably work out cheaper buying a 4L container for a 'top up'.

306maxi said:

Why would you trust a salesman to tell you how to maintain your car? Most of them can barely explain the service schedule.

the OP wants to replace the oil for obvious reasons, it cuts down on engine wear for one and will generally mean better fuel economy.

If the OP wants to do it then I say do it. Far better than to change the oil before it needs to be changed than to be running around with oil that is past its best.

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Fair statement, I was not saying you must keep on topping up and not take it for a service... I think if you use the service manual as a baseline you should be good. Its with over servicing that I dont agree. But then again its all up to you and how you want to look after your car. Our Sales guy was quite clued up so no problem on that side. Sorry you had some bad experiences with Sales guys.

RaR

ahmett said:

In Greece I saw the Fiat dealer using Agip oil and from petrol stations i just use Shell's oil, of course at 5w40.

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Does Shell's 5w40 oil meet the spec of ACEA C3 ? Probably not that important for your 1.4 engine but for a Twin Air - I wouldn't chance it.

I don't know anything about Agip except what came back on a google search - but I personally wouldn't be happy with a garage (even a Fiat one) using generic oil particularily on one of the newer engines.

After looking at their web site and seeing the brands recommended for the 1.2 POP, I had a good chat with the technical support team at Opie Oils this afternoon. Very informative. The guy I spoke to took the time to explain the differences between the branded oils and left it up to me to decide which to go for. Needless to say, the brands recommended meet Fiat spec. I've decided to buy from them as the postage is reasonable too.

loveshandbags said:

Does Shell's 5w40 oil meet the spec of ACEA C3 ? Probably not that important for your 1.4 engine but for a Twin Air - I wouldn't chance it.

I don't know anything about Agip except what came back on a google search - but I personally wouldn't be happy with a garage (even a Fiat one) using generic oil particularily on one of the newer engines.

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If an oil meets the standards though......

I'm sure some are better than others, but if a Twinair needed something better than a C3 oil then I'm sure Fiat would have specced it.

306maxi said:

If an oil meets the standards though......

I'm sure some are better than others, but if a Twinair needed something better than a C3 oil then I'm sure Fiat would have specced it.

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The generic oil that I was referring to was what a 'local' garage uses - one synthetic 'fits all' in a hugh container. On Tony's 'shortlived' TA - it was suspected that the wrong oil was used.
When I checked Shell's oil I couldn't find a 5W-40 that meet the spec of ACEA C3.

loveshandbags said:

The generic oil that I was referring to was what a 'local' garage uses - one synthetic 'fits all' in a hugh container. On Tony's 'shortlived' TA - it was suspected that the wrong oil was used.
When I checked Shell's oil I couldn't find a 5W-40 that meet the spec of ACEA C3.

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Who's this Hugh Container guy that's got oil inside him?

I get you now Michael and I completely agree. Hence why the only oil that goes into my 500 is Selenia KPE or Castrol Edge 5W40, both of which meet Fiat's standards.

loveshandbags said:

The generic oil that I was referring to was what a 'local' garage uses - one synthetic 'fits all' in a hugh container. On Tony's 'shortlived' TA - it was suspected that the wrong oil was used.
When I checked Shell's oil I couldn't find a 5W-40 that meet the spec of ACEA C3.

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After lots of research on 'tinternet' this avo, there don't appear to be many brands that meet ACEA C3 spec in 5w40. I'm making sure I buy one that does.