Which Service Interval to Follow? - 2015 Kia K900 Long-Term Road Test

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Which Service Interval to Follow? - 2015 Kia K900 Long-Term Road Test

Our 2015 Kia K900 is ready for an oil change. Or is it?

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chol92594

This is not surprising at all. It just sounds like another dealer trying to screw over owners who don't bother to educate themselves about the cars that they buy. If you bought a car like this (or a BMW) with a complimentary maintenance program, you'd presumably go by what the manufacturer calls for, not the dealer. It's the same thing with my Honda and its service intervals. It lists various maintenance items through an alphanumeric code (which is explained in the owner's manual) that corresponds to which items should be done as the system deems necessary. I do most of my own maintenance, but I've heard plenty of stories about Honda/Acura dealers blatantly disregarding the Maintenance Minder and suggesting their own service intervals and packages. Even the best dealer won't be as knowledgable about a car's maintenance needs as the company that actually built it.

zimtheinvader

Do manufactures consider slogging along in mostly stopped freeway traffic for hours each day to be under the extreme driving conditions? If so then the shorter interval would be correct, right?

I know most, if not all dealers move up the intervals and add services that the manufacture doesn't recommend but what is KIA's definition of normal driving?

bankerdanny

@Zim: yes, I believe they do. And at least they are defaulting to 5,000 miles vs 3,000

kirkhilles1

Wow, I'm not sure I'd trust a dealer that put a sticker on the window when the vehicle will let you know when its time for service. I would never bring in a vehicle to service before the MM tells me to do so unless there is a needed repair.

zimtheinvader

kirkhilles1 said:

Wow, I'm not sure I'd trust a dealer that put a sticker on the window when the vehicle will let you know when its time for service. I would never bring in a vehicle to service before the MM tells me to do so unless there is a needed repair.

Does this car have a system that tells you based off your driving or is it just set mileage?
"while Kia's manufacturer recommendation is 7,500 miles under normal use." makes me think it is a fixed interval.
which, again if their driving isn't considered 'normal' then the shorter duration would fit.

thecardoc3

There is a lot more to this subject than can be addressed in a short article like this. One of the biggest problems is that the oil life monitors don't work if the vehicle has been serviced with a product that doesn't meet the vehicle's specs as well as it's needs. The API and ILSAC specs are a minimal standard and do not meet many manufacturers current model specifications which is why GM came out with the dexos requirements a few years back. The sludging issues experienced by Toyota and Chrysler in the mid 2000's would easily have been prevented by using a product superior to the API SM and ILSAC GF4 that they called for, but very few people knew how to choose what was really superior let alone the one. Claims like "Meets the engine protection requirements of GM6094M" were very misleading in many cases and really state that the oil while it was a decent product failed to meet the entire specification.

Now of course some will say that the dealer should know the right product to use in a given car and yes they should, but when it comes to quick lube practices and needing to hit certain profit numbers and the reimbursement that the dealer gets for the service there is a lot of room for someone to try to cut corners. This KIA likely requires at least API SN and ILSAC GF5 which is a great standard as compared to the SM/GF4 of just a few years ago. But SN and GF5 alone does not certify that it as a long life oil, in fact nothing in the API designates anything as long life. Only by choosing a product BEING APPROVED FOR additional requirements such as ACEA A5/B5, dexos, (and others) can do that.

Right now the OP should open the owners manual and record the specification that the engine requires, especially if there happens to be an additional requirement above the API and ILSAC ratings. If nothing is shown beyond the API SN and ILSAC GF5 then the OP has a choice. Go ahead and use a product that only meets that standard and hope that it doesn't fall short of the vehicle needs like what has happened in the past or go ahead and choose a product that is dexos approved. (The green label must be on the front of the bottle) Then go ahead and do the once a year oil change, or when ever the maintenance reminder triggers, which ever comes first.

BTW, in the event that the maintenance reminder is accidentally reset you must follow the heavy duty schedule as per the manufacturers guidelines and that window sticker is correct in its calculation to ensure a failsafe level of service. FWIW An alternative routine to the oil change sticker issuance would have the current date and mileage that the oil change was done listed on the sticker to avoid the scenario that this article is based on. Remember too that the oil change interval is also dependent on the filter that the engine requires, some systems are simply not designed to go as far as others.

schen72

Sounds lilke Kia doesn't use an oil life monitor, like GM, Honda, BMW, etc.

thecardoc3

There are still a number of vehicles out there that do not use an oil life monitor system, and even with the ones that do they are not all created equal. Until the aftermarket information systems catch up with the 2015 data the only way an independent shop would know what a given vehicle needs done during a service interval is to either use the vehicle owners manual or pay for a short term subscription to the O.E's service information website.

texases

Dealers are well known for pushing unneeded services and too-frequent fluid changes. This is just another example. Follow the manual.