Hi Lou,
Earlier this year, I bought a 2021 Mazda MX-5 as a second car. I mainly use it for weekend road trips outside of the city (including occasional brief spells of “spirited” driving on empty roads in the middle nowhere). It will sit largely unused between early December and late March. The service manual calls for semi-annual oil changes (synthetic 0W-20), irrespective of the mileage since the previous service. I expect to drive between 6,000 and 10,000 kilometres a year. Changing the oil twice in that period seems excessive and wasteful to me, especially given how relatively little city driving I do. Should I follow the service intervals to the letter, or is it okay given these circumstances to change the oil just once per year? Would doing the latter invalidate the warranty?
Thank you,
Chris
I get varying versions of this question repeatedly throughout the year. Sometimes it’s from readers who use their vehicle year-round but drive few kilometres and then there are those who have a seasonally operated vehicle.
You are absolutely right to question why you should be forced to have a redundant service completed. The answer in your case is simple. While your vehicle is covered by its factory warranty, you need to comply with the maintenance guidelines. Your MX-5 follows the Canadian fixed schedule, which states every six months or 8,000 kilometres. Should your annual mileage fall to less than the 8,000-kilometre threshold and should you choose to change you oil once per year, I doubt that you will ever have a problem. However, when you follow that route and although it is extremely rare, if you did have an engine related problem while within the vehicle’s warranty period, you would be leaving yourself open to potential warranty difficulty. Therefore, I would suggest that during your warranty period, follow maintenance guidelines exactly. If it was my MX-5, once I was past that warranty period, I wouldn’t waste my money on an extra oil change when driving less than 8,000 kilometres per year. Alternatively, if you do pass that threshold, you will need to perform the additional oil service as prescribed.
Generally speaking, it has always appeared to me that the wording in most manufacturer’s maintenance literature is often vague when specifically looking at the Canadian market. There should be some sort of option available like those in the United States that have a flexible maintenance schedule. Because the Canadian climate is often labelled as extreme or harsh, the whole country has to live by a different set of rules than those south of the border. All of us know that a fair number of Canadians live in a climate similar to that of the northern states.
For the low-mileage year-round driven vehicle there are many differing opinions. Some say twice a year because of moisture from the winter months resides in the oil pan. Others say modern oils and sophisticated crankcase ventilation systems make this redundant. I am of the thought process that once per year using high quality filters and synthetic oils is sufficient for those who don’t live in a coastal climate region.
Also, multiple European brands state that their engines only require an oil change once per year or 15-20,000 kilometres. Forgetting about the mileage for a moment and focusing on the once per year statement, I have a hard time understanding why they are okay with once per year, but other manufacturers are not. Additionally, I have received many phone calls from customers who had recently bought or leased a newer European car that included a servicing plan where the customer was in a no-charge situation for the first two or three years of ownership. They were concerned because their dealer was adamant that the oil and filter would only be changed when the vehicle’s maintenance minder system indicated it was due, and not a moment before. In some cases that was two years’ worth of driving. I understand that when the manufacture is paying for the service that it would be set to the bare minimum, but that’s a hefty time interval, even using the European spec’d oil products.
By no means is this anything more than my personal opinion and not scientific in the slightest, but it does make me think. If a similarly lower yearly mileage European vehicle, within the Canadian market can go two years on a single oil change, why can’t other non-European vehicle’s go for one year? But that’s just me thinking out loud.
Lou Trottier is owner-operator of All About Imports in Mississauga. Have a question about maintenance and repair? E-mail globedrive@globeandmail.com, placing “Lou’s Garage” in the subject line.
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