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Needs an Oil Change - 2015 Ford Mustang GT Long-Term Road Test
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Needs an Oil Change - 2015 Ford Mustang GT Long-Term Road Test
Just over the 20,000-mile mark, our long-term 2015 Ford Mustang GT is due for its second oil change.
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It's very common for a new car to use a little oil between the first and second fills and then never use oil again - probably just as common as using no oil between the first and second fills.
And what do German cars have to do with a post on the Mustang, anyway?
It's poor advice like what is found in that article that causes consumers to develop unrealistic expectations.
Engines do use oil, they have to or there would be no lubrication of the valve guides and piston rings. "Excessive" oil consumption results in spark plug deposits and causes misfires. If that isn't occurring, then the consumption of oil is a non-issue, period, so long as someone exercises due diligence and adds it as needed. If someone is too lazy or negligent to check and add oil as required, that should be on them.
Another measuring stick for this debate is; Should a repair be required, who has to pay for it should not be part of the decision. In other words, if the usage of a quart of oil in XXXX miles requires a repair then that should not change based on who has to foot the bill. If that can change based on whether the manufacturer has to pay or the owner has to pay that should tell you something.
BTW, did it go un-noticed that the majority of the cars reporting higher engine oil consumption rates use the thicker products? It shouldn't. Just like many of the reports about some North American engines that end up having higher consumption rates from using oil that didn't meet the vehicle specs, thinner oils are more resistant to developing piston ring deposits.
All automakers clearly state that their engines may use oil during the first several thousand miles of use.
Once engines are broken in, referencing a chart that tracks oil added "between changes." without adjusting for the variation among makes and model in miles between changes, penalizes designs with larger oil capacities and/or that use synthetic oil, that commonly go for longer distances before they call for an oil change, by use of an oil life monitor or a stated interval. Toyota, for example, just started over the last 5 years to transition to synthetic oil, but only on some engines and only with certain weights of oil. Since they still used non-synthetic otherwise, they called for oil changes every 5,000 miles, So they would look great on a chart like that. BMWs, which generally have larger oil capacities and go for much longer before their oil life monitors call for a change, don't do as well, Even with all synthetic, it's not apples to apples - a new Camry 2.5L I4 calls for 5 quarts of synthetic every 10k. A new BMW 2.0T calls for 5.1 quarts every 15k. You tell me which will use more "between changes."
And as always, CR survey stuff is all self-selected - that's not an accurate way to come up with numbers.