I bought a 2005 ford five hundred last fall. I have
been notified from the dealer that I now need an oil change. The oil used is Motorcraft 5W-20 synthetic blend. Do I have to take the car back to the dealer or can I have a local mechanic change the oil. I’m sure that he will not use Synthetic oil but uses Tampeco oil. Someone told me that if you start off using synthetic oil that you must stick with it. Right or wrong?
You can change the oil yourself if you want.
It doesn’t really matter if you mix synthetic with regular oil at this point, although if the engine’s been designed for synthetic it probably will see a little better performance with it.
Hmmm…I would suggest for warranty purposes that you use the type and grade of oil that is listed in your user manual.
If the manual says synthetic blend, I would not use straight dinosaur oil.
And get a receipt/service record. Since you are not doing it at a Ford dealer, it will not be recorded.
A Jiffy Lube type place will give you synthetic oil fairly quickly and efficiently if you want to go that route. Just be prepared to say NO! to a long list of upsells and phantom problem fixes to get out of there at close to the advertised rate.
Not to mention that there have been undercover investigations done by TV stations and the like that found out that occasionally Jiffy Lube won’t do anything at all and still charge you.
You really should replace the oil with synthetic. The oil change schedules are based on synthetic, and if the owners manual says to use synthetic and you don’t, you could possibly void your warranty.
The cost of the synthetic is partially offset by the longer interval between oil changes anyway.
I’d also pony up and have Ford do it. An oil change really isn’t that expensive. IF you can afford a new Ford 500, you should be able to afford an oil change. Don’t skimp on pennies when you’re paying thousands to drive a new vehicle.
Also, if you need an oil change you should also need other work done. If you’re on the Ford care program (and you should be, with a new car), they have a set list of things that are done at each inspection. You should regularly maintain your vehicle using Ford’s recommended procedures, at least until the warranty expires. Keep all your bills, and store them in a safe place. Later on when you sell the car, having all the paperwork showing regular maintenance and the results of periodic inspections by Ford will be worth money - probably more money than you’ll save by trying to cheap out on maintenance.
I’ve had Fords for years, and they all go in on schedule for maintenance. It’s not that expensive. The typical service is under $100, and the biggest one that I’ve had was around $300. That’s not much to spend every 5000 miles.
Thanks, guys, for the info. I will be going to a Ford dealer now for the oil change even though I will have to drive 35 miles to do so. One of my sons is a new car manager at the dealership and when I asked him which route to take, he also gave me the same info that you guys gave me. The service manual says to change every 5000 miles but I will be changing oil every 3,000 miles which is about every 6 months of driving for me.
I just want to add, make sure where ever you take the car for an oil change that they put in the correct weight and correct grade. Check your owner’s manual. If it calls for 0W-20 SM grade oil, use that.
By the criterion that the Ford Motorcraft 5W20 reccomended for your car uses to qualify for “synthetic blend*”, most API SM oils are synthetic blends, and 99% of API SM 5W20 oils are “synthetic blend”.
To best preserve warranty coverage, keep receipts including date of oil change and grade of oil used. Some automakers do not accept facsimile receipts gladly; keep originals available.
Incidentally, the Motorcraft 5W20 produces very low metal wear particle counts in elemental analysis of samples of used motor oil from the Duratec engine you use. Excellent oil choice for your vehicle should you so choose.
The official Ford answer to your question, as handed down by the Core and Advanced Powertrain Engineering and Fuels and Lubricants Engineering departments at Ford Motors can be found at the following [PDF WARNING] URL:
- “Synthetic blend” is in quotes because the meaning of the phrase is very, very, very subjective. About all it consistently means is that your oil isn’t completely unrefined crude; the barriers between synthetic basestocks and highly refined petroleum basestocks have become all but imaginary in the last 2 years. Mobil1 in many grades no longer has a base oil that would qualify as synthetic.
There’s nothing in Mr. Slant’s link or in your owner’s manual that specifies “synthetic” anywhere – just the SAE-5W20 requirement “for gasoline engines” that meets the API standards. Even that cheap $1.09 stuff at the gas station will likely meet this standard (although personally I tend to stick to the brand names and have a partiality towards Motorcraft).
You only drive 3000 miles in 6 months? Hopefully the 35 miles to the dealership is on the freeway so that you can open it up every once in a while, or at least ensure that the engine gets warmed up every once in a blue moon. 