30K service
I am closing in on 30k and I made a appointment at the former Suzuki dealer for said service. As my days of wrenching are virtually over (I'll manage the cabin filter replacement) I called them and discussed what would be done. Well, they want to do a engine oil flush. Now I wonder if that is really needed on a car with a little less than 30K miles? Besides it is NOT mentioned in the service manual. Any thoughts? They also want to replace the cabin filter, but as mentioned I will do that. The total they quoted, including the engine flush and cabin filter, was appx. $300. I don't mind paying for what I NEED not necessarily what they WANT.
I don't know about overseas, but dealers in Australia are notorious for "over servicing" new vehicles (with products like injector cleaners in particular.) Often they get "kick backs" for the sales of such products.
It's a near new vehicle, if you use a decent quality oil and change it regularly there is no need for the flush. (IMHO it also can't be a good thing to have diluted oil in a running engine.)
It's a near new vehicle, if you use a decent quality oil and change it regularly there is no need for the flush. (IMHO it also can't be a good thing to have diluted oil in a running engine.)
David
Dealer engine flushes are a scam. They are not necessary treatments used to take customer money. In fact, many engine manufacturers clearly state that nothing other than motor oil should ever go in the engine.
If you run synthetic oil and change it at regular intervals, you definitely don't need a flush, probably ever. At 30,000 miles, there is not enough sludge build up to require a flush even running conventional oil unless you did not change your oil for a while and nearly seized the engine.
Honestly, don't get this bullshit service.
I don't even do the injector cleaning nonsense. You can buy a bottle yourself for under $10 and use at every oil change by adding it to the gas tank and topping off with gas. There are plenty of products out there, but I like Seafoam.
I've avoided these stealership services in my previous cars and had no problem getting them into high mileage like 225,000 miles with my Subaru Impreza.
If you ever feel the need to flush your engine, there are DIY products like Auto-RX. It's a product I've used and was raved about over at BITOG (an insanely obsessive oil related forum). Quite frankly, I don't think a flush is ever needed if you run synthetic and change your oil at proper intervals.
If you run synthetic oil and change it at regular intervals, you definitely don't need a flush, probably ever. At 30,000 miles, there is not enough sludge build up to require a flush even running conventional oil unless you did not change your oil for a while and nearly seized the engine.
Honestly, don't get this bullshit service.
I don't even do the injector cleaning nonsense. You can buy a bottle yourself for under $10 and use at every oil change by adding it to the gas tank and topping off with gas. There are plenty of products out there, but I like Seafoam.
I've avoided these stealership services in my previous cars and had no problem getting them into high mileage like 225,000 miles with my Subaru Impreza.
If you ever feel the need to flush your engine, there are DIY products like Auto-RX. It's a product I've used and was raved about over at BITOG (an insanely obsessive oil related forum). Quite frankly, I don't think a flush is ever needed if you run synthetic and change your oil at proper intervals.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
Transmission and coolant needs to be flushed according to the schedule in the book.
Which also brings up the point that they want to flush the radiator. But it appears that I have the blue coolant and according to the book that isn't till 90K. I think I will whittle that $300 down quite a bit when I go in there...
That is...unless I decide to go synthetic... So I put on maybe 9K a year, if I do go synthetic how often to change the oil? Currently I change it twice a year.
Which also brings up the point that they want to flush the radiator. But it appears that I have the blue coolant and according to the book that isn't till 90K. I think I will whittle that $300 down quite a bit when I go in there...
That is...unless I decide to go synthetic... So I put on maybe 9K a year, if I do go synthetic how often to change the oil? Currently I change it twice a year.
Transmission fluid needs to be flushed if you drive an automatic. If you drive a manual, you merely change the fluid.ragmopp01 wrote:Transmission and coolant needs to be flushed according to the schedule in the book.
Which also brings up the point that they want to flush the radiator. But it appears that I have the blue coolant and according to the book that isn't till 90K. I think I will whittle that $300 down quite a bit when I go in there...
That is...unless I decide to go synthetic... So I put on maybe 9K a year, if I do go synthetic how often to change the oil? Currently I change it twice a year.
You are correct about the 90K interval for the blue coolant.
If you drive only 9000 miles a year, then you are looking at oil changes once a year. Synthetics like Mobil 1 can support oil change intervals close to every 10k miles. I use synthetic oil and change it every 7500 miles. There are also top tier synthetics like Amsoil that offer extended oil change intervals. They even advertise that their product is a once a year oil change synthetic.
However, make sure to use a high quality filter if are going to do this. I recommend a top tier filter like Mobil 1, Purolater PureOne, K&N, and others of that caliber. I'm not sure if you were going to have the dealer do the oil change for you or not, but you can bring your own oil and filter for them to use in many places. The OEM filter should be fine, but it won't be as good as the ones I named above.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)