[KylieR]

There has been an interesting development regarding my problem with the oil needing changing in my car. Few weeks ago they changed the oil, saying it was dirty because I only do short trips, which I dispute.

Anyway, I read the CarsGuide in the HeraldSun each week and figured I'd send an email to that Smithy guy, see what he reckoned. Tonight I got an email from one of the editors of his column - they are going to send my question directly to Hyundai and try and get an answer for me. That tells me that even they are unsure.

So if the answer works in my favor, I will let you know, because I can then take that answer to my dealer and tell them. See what they say then!

I'll keep you posted. Hopefully I get a response within a week!

[Just Rick]

Oil breaks down faster with excessive use, not lack of use,yes it still breaks down over time with the lack of use,I'm expecting this is just another one of the famous Hyundai tricks to get money out of you,I bet my bottom dollar you didn't get much change out of $150,Hyundai as car are very good and reliable,but their service teams and many of their dealerships leave much to be desired.

[Dazzler]

Good one Kylie

[The Gonz]

Smooth move, Kyles. Maybe they can grease the wheels for you. Let's see how this pans out.

[KylieR]

Just had a call from someone who works for Hyundai. He says that if I drove the car for 50ks in one hit, it would heat the oil up, but because I drive it a total of 50ks in a day, broken into 15-20km trips, the oil doesn't get the chance to thin, and stays thick.

That is apparently what Symes mean about short trips. He used his own car as an example - driving 8ks to work took him 5 minutes and the oil never heated up, now that he drives 50ks to work each morning, it does. He also says that a ten minute trip that takes 20 minutes (if you are stuck in traffic) would be enough to heat the oil through.

He also recommends a service every 7,500ks if I did the kind of trips I am doing. So I guess if I take it out every week or so and give it a blast, it should be okay...

So there you go. Agree or disagree, but I think it was pretty cool of them to phone me - and at 9am on the dot, too! Great customer service!

[Phil №❶]

Not convinced about the advice you've been given, for the following reasons.

- A 15 km trip should be adequate to warm your oil up correctly in Australia, at cold it is already 3 Deg or higher, unlike Europe where it may be -30. 

- At local speeds 50 / 60 kmh the thermostat in the engine will restrict coolant to allow the engine to reach operating temperature. Besides the oil, all other engine components are meant to work and expand to the correct temperature.

- Are you saying that besides the trips you have described that the car never goes visiting friends, or any other joyful pursuits in your spare time. If not, go for a country drive occasionally.

My advice is, use a good quality Full Synthetic oil, buy it yourself and always observe the correct intervals as stated in the service manual for oil replacement. Changing at 7500 km intervals is not necessary if your oil is a good quality one and the correct grade 5/30 or 5/40. I use 5/40 because we do a fair bit of freeway driving and in summer it offers more protection at high speed. You can go 0/30 or 0/40, but it is usually quite expensive. If you choose to change at 7500 kms, (there are members who regularly do), I would always change the oil filter too, (use a  Hy part), otherwise it's like having a shower and putting dirty knickers back on.

Try to find a service garage that can do your oil changes rather than Hyundai. They are just simply too expensive. If you ensure the mechanic is correctly qualified, your warranty will not be voided.

[asathorny]

  

[Surferdude]

My own observation - beffore changing the engine oil I always take the car for a run. Over the last few years I have been doing the oil changes on my wife's and my daughter's cars and I would run them down the road behind our place - maybe 3 or 4 klms in total.
When I got home the oil was too hot to keep your hand in and the drain plug would burn your hand if you  held it for more than a couple of seconds.

Surely that's hot enough.

[Dazzler]

I agree Trev... In our climate engines warm up in a couple of kilometres!

I think that Kylie's dealership are full of it! 

[KylieR]

This advice came straight from Hyundai themselves, and after reading your comments, I don't know what to make of it! I can get the oil changed elsewhere, we have a mechanic that we've used for about 20 years, great guy. Will compare prices but I'd say he'd be cheaper.

Car never goes anywhere but work, karate class, and the occasional trip into town. I live 15 ks outside of Bendigo so you don't want to go into town too often.

[Phil №❶]

Naturally Hyundai will opt for increased servicing, that's what they're in business for. i think the best guide would be an inspection at 7.5 k's to see how the oil is performing. All I can say is ouirs does the 15k between changes and apart from being black, which is normal for Diesel's it remains the sdame consistency as it was when new.

"Car never goes anywhere but work, karate class, and the occasional trip into town."

How do you deal with all the excitement. 

[Asterix]

Just had a call from someone who works for Hyundai. He says that if I drove the car for 50ks in one hit, it would heat the oil up, but because I drive it a total of 50ks in a day, broken into 15-20km trips, the oil doesn't get the chance to thin, and stays thick.

That is apparently what Symes mean about short trips. He used his own car as an example - driving 8ks to work took him 5 minutes and the oil never heated up, now that he drives 50ks to work each morning, it does. He also says that a ten minute trip that takes 20 minutes (if you are stuck in traffic) would be enough to heat the oil through.

He also recommends a service every 7,500ks if I did the kind of trips I am doing. So I guess if I take it out every week or so and give it a blast, it should be okay...

So there you go. Agree or disagree, but I think it was pretty cool of them to phone me - and at 9am on the dot, too! Great customer service!

I'm afraid what Hyundai is telling you is a load of BS.

My Father in law have an old Opel Corsa. He rarely do trips longer than 15 km, often just 1 or 2 km.

I change the oil once a year on he's car, there's no trouble at all with the oil, and we don't buy the expensive oil.

My wife have an old Corolla. The last year it only did 5000 km. Only problem with the oil is a Little Water condensation because of all those short trips, but now that one of the kids have got he's drivers licence that problem is solved..

None of the 2 cars suffer from "thick oil" and I've never in my 9 years as a service manager experienced that even though we did have costumers who did very low milage.

It would be fun to find a way to get the temperature of the oil after a 15 km trip.

[beerman]

It would be interested to see what they would say if you sought a refund stating the vehicle was not fit for purpose, as they had advertised the service schedule to be 15,000k and had not sought to see how you used the car before selling it to you. Given your usage is in the main is what would be regarded as normal, should they not advertise their service schedule to reflect this.

I suspect Hyundai is supporting the dealer because they do not want another 'woman overcharged story like the one where the lady was quoted to flush an electric power steering' (why a low k car would need this anyway, I don't know).

You could always have the oil tested at 7500k for your peace of mind, and send Hyundai the results if they are good. It might also go to show any unusual wear if that is a worry to you too.

e-Monitor oil analysis - A blood test for your vehicle - Australian Laboratory.

On the oil issue, we did have two cars at work blow their engines due to oil sludge, one a Crewman at around 100,000k and one a Mercedes Vito at around 140,000k. Both spent their time on small journeys and in my opinion should have had a intermediate service.





 

[Phil №❶]

If the oil is synthetic, and it should be, manufacturers specify their oil good for 15k MILES or 24k Kms. so to change oil at 15K is well within the safety margin of the oil. Simply don't agree with 7.5k changes. For mineral oil, possibly yes, but not synthetic, IMO.

[beerman]

I agree Phill, I have never done anything but the prescribed service intervals, but its not my car, so not my risk.

I know I do the Wife's car at 15k and she does a lot more short trips than I do. Though I do make sure I do at least a couple of trips to work in it each month. A 65k highway trip each way gets it up to operating temperature for an extended time to burn off anything that shouldn't be there.

As an aside, my work fleet uses a Hyundai's extensively and fits the recommended 7,500k service interval. They don't do it, and I have never seen a fleet manager do anything other than honour the warranty. I doubt if push came to shove that small claims court would either.

[KylieR]

I don't think I would dare to test the temp of the oil even after a 10k trip, too bloody hot lol. All the oil needs to do is heat up, right? So if I had an idea of the temperature it needs to reach, I should be able to check it, test it, and tell whether its reached the right temp. Then I'd probably get told it has to be at a certain temp for a certain amount of time. At which point I'd likely karate chop someone.

Frustrating. I wonder what the answer would have been if I was a male?

[beerman]

I don't think I would dare to test the temp of the oil even after a 10k trip, too bloody hot lol. All the oil needs to do is heat up, right? So if I had an idea of the temperature it needs to reach, I should be able to check it, test it, and tell whether its reached the right temp. Then I'd probably get told it has to be at a certain temp for a certain amount of time. At which point I'd likely karate chop someone.

Frustrating. I wonder what the answer would have been if I was a male?

These days I think they will try that bullship on on anyone.....Its not like too many men are spending their weekends tinkering under their cars....

The oil test checks the actual oil for its condition rather than the temperature on a particular run. The test will show the condition of the oil, and if it needs to be changed.