[Djnardu]

My kia dealer is a good hour away from me and Ive always changed my own oil but with warranty and such and the quality of petro nowadays Im thinking about just sticking with the dealer.

My dealer says my first oil change is around 7500 miles. Now even when I used to use normal petro i ussualy changed around 5k miles. With systhentics that they say can go 15k, 7.5k sounds about right.

Is it worth sticking with the dealer and changing my oil around 7.5k? If I do I know Im ease of mind that my warranty is still 100% valid and also any other things they can fix under warranty they will when im there.

Or should I change my own oil and a save some cash.

One positive thing is with a 7.5k mile change I may only have to see the dealer 2-3 times a year.

 

[arinesmith]

I suggest a first oil change at 3000. Then I'm following the dealer (and KIA) 7500 plan.

 

[AZMX5]

I have read before that most new cars come with "break in" oil that is formulated for new engines. It's important to leave the oil in for the recommended time period as outlined in the manual. Not sure if this applies to Kia, but it's worth checking out. It all depends what kind of oil is in there now.

If you live in a harsh climate, you should change it earlier than recommended.

 

[AutoItKing]

I drive my car a little rough at times, and I live in the desert part of Texas, so I changed mine at 5400 miles just to be on the safer side.
Replaced it with Pennzoil 5w-30, seems to be running just fine, even though I might have put in a little too much
I also checked everything that would be checked at the first maintenance and wrote it down, just to keep the dealer happy!

When you change your own oil you know what's going in, and you know (or should know) that it's being done right.

 

[Djnardu]

I live in northeast PA other then winter "dirty and salty roads" the rest of the year the roads are clean "the exceptional pothole and such"

70% of my driving is on flat hilly roads but the other times I am climbing hills.

Im thinking of getting my first oil changed with the dealership since its free but after that doing it myself Im thinking around 5-6k miles what do you think?

Im going to buy a pack of official kia filters and use a good motor oil does 6k sound ok or is 7.5k still safe?

second questions other then simple maintenance, air filters and such is their certain important intervals that i should see the dealer? Say for tranni fluid and such?

 

[Iam Broke]

Every new car I've owned I dump the oil and filter after 1k miles to get the metal out of it from the break in. Next change at 5k and every 5k after that. If you DIY save the reciepts for the oil & filter. Write the mileage and date of the change on the receipt. If an engine warranty issue arises, you have records of what you have done.

If you really want to know how far to push your oil, Blackstone labs (www.blackstone-labs.com) will send you a free sample kit, it's around $35 to get a full test including oil life remaining. $1.60 postage to send it in.

I've used them in the past on some performance & turbo cars to see how they were holding up.

 

[wbw]

Im going to buy a pack of official kia filters and use a good motor oil does 6k sound ok or is 7.5k still safe?

second questions other then simple maintenance, air filters and such is their certain important intervals that i should see the dealer? Say for tranni fluid and such?

If you're going to use non-synthetic oil, then I'd stay closer to 5000 miles for oil change intervals. If using synthetic oil I'd go further. But even with synthetic I'd have a hard time getting myself to go past 7500. That's just me.

Answer to second question: Consult the maintenance schedule in your owners manual.