After 3 weeks and 1669 miles of owning our HHR, I did the first oil change. Switched over to Mobil-1 in hopes of some better gas mileage. (mine sucks!)

Anyway, with 1669 miles on the clock, the DIC said the oil life was at 86%. Calclutlating this out means I could have gone almost 12k miles before it was due for an oil change, assuming my driving conditions remained the same.

This sound like an extremely high amount of miles between oil changes to me. I don't even think I'd let Mobil-1 go that long.

Does anyone here actually wait til it tells you to change it?

 

I have run Mobil 1 since 2000 in all our vehicles. I do a full change, then at 6k do a filter and one quart. Since the formula at Mobil has changed, then I go to 7500 miles in between. Amsoil also does this type of recommendation, but of course, they all say to follow the manufacture`s oil change intervals. Now if you drive highway All the time, change less frequently, if it it stop and go with short trips, then change more frequently. These are simple guidelines. So to each his/her own. As long as you have a set interval and do the maintenance, then you should not have any problems. It`s the people that dont, that have issues.

 

We've been following the DIC for oil changes on our Northstar Cadillac since it was new in 1999. That is what they suggest. Never any problems. I'll do the same in the HHR. When we bought the HHR, they told us not to follow the old 3000 mile oil change idiom because advances in both oil and engines made it go much further these days. They also suggested just following the DIC.

'm not getting quite the same results as you though. I'm at about 1300 miles and showing 80%.

 

I think the DIC intervals would average out about 10K miles. I use my "H" on the highway and change the Mobil 1 about every 5500 miles. The gauge reads about 50%. One of the syn oil mfr's say their oil can go 15K between changes, but I have a problem with that. My conscience won't let me go that long. It's so easy to change the oil that I whip it out in about 10 minutes. Check out the air filter change intervals. That's crazy. I'm going to put a K&N in mine as I have about 42K on it now. I'm curious what the original filter will look like.

 

Agreed the old 3 mos/3000 miles deal is old and outdated. With the new technology in engines and oil you can easily go 5-6k miles before you need to change your oil. I have a cousin that is a mechanic for a certain fleet of delivery trucks, and they change the oil in them every 10-12k miles. And they are putting a LOT of miles on these big brown trucks.

The people keeping the 3 mos/3000 miles thing alive are the people that do oil changes for a living (jiffy lube, etc). Of course they are going to tell you to bring your car in more often. It means more money for them

 

Here is a great FAQ from GM about the oil life monitor, and answers some of the 3000 miles stuff.

link...

 

That's a nice link, and it's nice to see GM step up to the plate and agree that oil has come a long ways in the past 35 years.

One thing I do not like about this is that it doesn't take time into consideration. That's not so much a problem with me and the HHR, but I'm sure it is or could be for some of you who do not put many miles on.

My truck only had 12k miles in the first 2 years I had it, and they were all highway miles.

 

I am at 5200 miles, and have about "36% Oil Life" left on the DIC.

 

I don't consider time that much of a consideration unless your engine is just nasty inside. You know they say that oil doesn't wear out, it just gets dirty. That is why Mercedes and others are using recycled oil in their cars from the factory.

 

I'm talking about several months to a years time with minimal use. Condensation is one of oils worst enemies.