Premature Maintenance Intervals

[aspindle@aol.com]

Why do virtually all Ford and Lincoln Mercury service personnel (probably other brands too) persist in deliberately misadvising their customers that the normal maintenance intervals on their recent model vehicles are every 3,000 miles when it is specified in writing by Ford that it is every 5,000 miles. There appears to be no factual basis or scientific need for the 3,000 mile interval other than, obviously, to sell the customer services he/she does not need. If the customer can't trust the dealership to give him/her (and especially women) straight honest information about simple maintenance issues, how can the dealership expect to be trusted on other more serious repairs or other service issues?

[Gary J. Naples]

Dear aspindle,

Quite the contrary. It is not a case of misleading or misadvising customers at all.

As I pointed out in another thread, customers, that I dealt with personally, who performed oil and filter changes every 3000 miles faired better than those who did not.

The maintenance mileage intervals recommended by the manufacturers can't take all circumstances into consideration. Not all drivers drive the same, and geographical and climatic conditions vary. Hence, the manufacturer recommendations express operating the vehicle under the most favorable circumstances. For the majority of vehicle owners this is not reality. Moreover, from a selling standpoint, stretching the maintenance mileage intervals leverages the vehicles appeal.

This does not mean that the manufacturers are misadvising or misleading customers either. Many customers will choose to follow their recommendations with favorable results. If I'm not mistaken, in one fairly recent Toyota commercial for Corollas they say you could drive the vehicle for 100,000 miles without ever opening the hood. However, having no vested interest in any manufacturer, dealership or independent service center, but, speaking purely from personal and professional experience, I would opt for the 3000 mile interval.

I think what dealerships and independent service centers must do is a better job of explaining to the customer why a more frequent service interval than what the manufacturer recommends is preferable.

Gary J. Naples

[aspindle@aol.com]

My objection to the 3,000 mile oil change recommendation I receive from the dealerships is that it is most often portrayed as the recommended maintenance interval specified by Ford which it is not. At two dealerships, service personnel were very emphatic that Ford required a 3,000 mile oil change interval at the risk of any future engine warranty coverage which obviously was false.

I would have less objection to this practice if it was properly portrayed as the dealership's recommendation or the mechanic's recommendation and not Ford's requirement for warranty eligibility.

I also appreciated the response from the other gentleman with the Mazda that drove his vehicle over 200,000 miles and attributes the long engine life to 2500 mile oil changes. In my lifetime, I have kept 3 vehicles past the 150,000 mile point and had another that I sold at 142,000 miles. In all these vehicles, I used a very good grade of oil (which I believe to be the key), the recommended filter and changed the oil at the manufacturer's recommended interval. The vehicle with 142,000 used a little bit of oil due to several hardened valve stem seals but other than that absolutely no engine lubrication problems were ever experienced.

Regarding the manufacturers extending the maintenance intervals as a selling point, Ford, somewhere around 1990 shortened the intervals from every 7,500 miles to 5,000 miles, not because of a real maintenance need but to make it easier for customer to remember (7,500 mile intervals were found to be quite confusing to many customers). Shorter mileage intervals were found only to be needed for severe duty vehicles such as police, taxis and ambulances where it was not uncommon for the vehicles to sit and idle for entended periods without accumulating any mileage on the vehicle. There are, of course, other severe duty situations such as various off-road service that also require shorter oil change intervals but that is not what I am referring to here.

Thanks for reading and responding!

[Gary J. Naples]

aspindle,

Glad to respond. And believe me, your points are well taken. There must be better communication between businesses and customers.

Just as an additional comment on service in general, I recall a customer who was a retired chemical engineer for an oil company. He insisted that oil need never be changed. It was only necessary to change the filter, and add enough oil to bring the level back to full.

He was a regular customer at the dealership, and this is how he serviced his vehicle. Never had any major problems either. Coincidence? Maybe. It makes you wonder.

Gary J. Naples