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First oil change

26K views 36 replies 18 participants last post by  yticolev 
#1 ·
Did my first oil change this morning. My Niro hit exactly 7000 miles and I'm off work so it worked out just right.

A few points...

If I had all my tools and stuff lined up, I think I could have done it in 20 minutes. Heck, my garage never even got warmed up with a space heater.

Why did I have to use the 17 mm wrench on the pan bolt the entire way out? I could not turn it by hand. Threading is easy...

Of course the factory filter was installed by a giant with a 1" air impact wrench set to 900 foot pounds, but I've never had a vehicle that hadn't been. My filter wrench actually crushed the end before it finally broke free.

The oil filler opening has some kind of metal guard inside, I assume it is to keep oil from splashing up or from dropping something in there, but all it does is make using a funnel a 2 person job. Silly design.

4 quarts sucks, wish it took 5. Oil comes in 5 quart bottles and guessing is kinda dumb. Maybe next time I'll go back to single quart bottles, but that's a waste of plastic and money. Or 4 oil changes and I'll have 4 quarts left over in 4 bottles.

Other than that, piece of cake.

P. S. Oil was Mobil 1 0W-20 and filter was Mobile 1 also. On sale at Advanced Auto for $29.99.
 
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#25 ·
Caution:
Heads Up, when I asked what type of oil they were going to put in my Niro they said semi-synthetic. They said that is what the Niro comes with from the factory. If I wanted full synthetic it would have been sixty or seventy dollars.
That was at 3500 miles, so I went with the semi thinking I would change it myself with full synthetic at 7000 miles. It might get a better, quicker break-in and not pay extortion prices. BTW, the first one was free.
 
#4 ·
Wait 7,000 miles for first oil change?

Bought my last new car in 2002 when the first oil change was something like 1,000 miles, as I recall. It is troubling to think I should be driving around with the first oil for 7,000 miles. Can that be correct? It will take me close to two years to put that many miles on my Niro. I bought my car in September and now have 2,000 miles on it. Longest trip might be 50 miles. Most are 3 miles.
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#12 ·
Bought my last new car in 2002 when the first oil change was something like 1,000 miles, as I recall. It is troubling to think I should be driving around with the first oil for 7,000 miles. Can that be correct? It will take me close to two years to put that many miles on my Niro. I bought my car in September and now have 2,000 miles on it. Longest trip might be 50 miles. Most are 3 miles.
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Lootas- if I remember correctly, the oil change is 7500 or one year. Check the manual, but there is definitely a time factor change included.
 
#6 ·
Did my first oil change this morning. My Niro hit exactly 7000 miles and I'm off work so it worked out just right.

P. S. Oil was Mobil 1 0W-20 and filter was Mobile 1 also. On sale at Advanced Auto for $29.99.
I'm not quite clear if this is a Kia thing, but I had the idea that the first service, including oil change, was free. I confirmed this when I picked up the car.

Mobil 1 filters have been excellent non-paper filters in the past, but the problem is that they can switch designs and vendors. I discovered years ago that Purolator One filters have the same excellent design as the Mobil 1 filters at less than half the cost ($5 to $8). I use them on my cars and motorcycles. If you are going to change filters at the recommended intervals, cheaper paper filters will work fine. But a low stressed Atkinson cycle engine can go much further between changes. Purolator markets these filters as good for 10,000 miles. In the last forty years, I have changed my oil every 30,000 miles and have never worn an engine out. Anecdotal for sure, and really I should test the old oil after changes. But objective evidence is out there for longer oil change intervals. Used to be safer to do that, but now with Kia's silly long drivetrain warranty, we have to stick to recommended intervals for 100,000 miles to maintain the warranty.
 
#9 ·
I was thinking of doing 5000 mile oil changes (with whatever other maintenance is due by then... e.g something listed for 22,500 miles I'd probably do at the 20K appointment.

Reasons why:
1) 5000 is easier math to do :), but I'm an engineer so I can handle that one...
2) The manual (I believe) says "7500 miles or 6 months". I don't drive 7500 miles in 6 months (typically I do 11-12K per year so that's 5K in just about 5 months). So that would leave me doing every 6 months at whatever random mileage. I'd rather have a mileage target.
3) Slightly more often oil changes is cheap insurance to avoid problems later.

Any reason not to do oil changes at 5000 mile intervals instead?
 
#11 ·
No harm in changing your oil before the recommended interval because at the end of the day you are maintaining an even higher quality of oil. I bet that during the 3750 mark oil really starts to show its age. But if you can, check the oil manually yourself to see the color and thickness, its the greatest indicator
 
#15 ·
I just got my first oil change at the dealer today. I guess I was wrong about using 5w-30. The service advisor didn't know that much about the Niro so I talked to the mechanic and he said that they use 0-20 Full Synthetic with the Niro and was quite insistent that, that is the correct oil to use and nothing else. So that's what I'm using, same as my old Prius. It's nice I get free oil changes every 5k mi. with full synthetic oil as a perk for buying the car there. Even though the service advisor wasn't that up to speed with the Niro it's nice to see the mechanics are and that your able to talk to them. So the first service went great and left with a good impression of the service dept.
 
#16 ·
Hi all, well it's that time, the big 7,500 check-up. I had the work done at the dealer, made an online appointment. Had to, spent 2 days calling, getting shoved on hold & forgotten...... I really hate that treatment.....

However, I showed up on time, 9am, checked in, was told 2.5 hours worth of work including 3 TSB's, Wiring Harness re-securing, Battery Management, & Brake Feel Improvement.
At 11:50am I received a call, your car is ready.


It went way better than I expected......


This was at Glendale Car Pros / Kia!
 
#17 ·
On my PHEV, the owners manual says first oil change is at 7500 miles. This week I turned over 1000 miles, and the UVO system popped up a warning that I'm due for my first oil change, and asked if I wanted the system to assist with scheduling. (I pressed "no.") Does every one get this 1,000 mile reminder?
 
#19 ·
At least a few of us have seen that message pop up around 1k. Sometime when your car is in park but in the "On" position, use the buttons on your steering wheel to scroll through the configuration options and you'll find one that allows you to schedule the maintenance reminder. You should probably plan to have it changed at 6 months or 7500, whichever comes first.



On a related note: I'd love to hear from anyone who clicked "yes" when prompted to let the car schedule the appointment. I'm skeptical that this could work well for most people, but it would be interesting to hear how it does work.
 
#24 ·
Best deal for the buck is to have free 0w20 synthetic oil change for life from your dealer.! for me, it's 2 times a year.!
 
#30 ·
Well. unless you sit in the service bay and watch them open a bottle that says 0-20, you have zero knowledge that they put in the correct oil or not. Your only hope is that if you are taking it to a dealership if they do put in the wrong oil and mess something up, then it's on them to fix it. But likely putting in a heavier oil will make no difference immediately and might have a small difference down the road when the car is well outside of warranty.
 
#32 ·
Again, my point stands true that unless you see them use your oil and put your filter on, you really don't know what they did other than trust. Every dealership that I have ever been too might have glass walls to see into the service area, but unless your car is being worked on in Bay #1 right beside where you can see, your stuck to really observe anything with any detail.

Now I am not saying that all dealers are liars and thieves. On the contrary. But you are still living in an area of trust. Like on air filters I put a date code in sharpie on the side and as part of my service, I ask for the old air filter parts back and check. So far my Kia dearer has been totally honest. I have had on my old ford where the service place wasn't so.
 
#33 ·
Unless they are dumping my oil into another car and give me back my container with the correct amount of oil left over, then the amount of paranoia needed to believe this would be amazing (why would any mechanic do this?). I also get my used filter back (I'll be cutting it open to see how the media survived) and can see if the new one is installed. I don't need to be there watching. Also getting a used oil sample to send to Blackstone. Those numbers will tell me they changed my oil. I would do this all myself (not because I'm paranoid, but to save money and for fun) if I had a lift.
 
#34 ·
When I first read your retort to my comment I thought to myself, of course, 0w-20 would have to be full synthetic, how thoughtless of me.
But, yes they do make 0w-20 oil in a synthetic blend, as they call them. As far as Kia is concerned it's a service grade SN or ACEA c2 that's required in the Niro. Nowhere, anywhere does it say in the owners manual, full synthetic, and yes, those grades are achievable in at the very least a semi-synthetic.

All you'd need to do is look it up.

I know dealers are liars and stealers and that should tell you something about what some of them are capable of doing in those repair bays. If you don't think some people would stoop to that level, to steal your oil and filter and give it to their best buddy or keep it for themselves, you have a lot to learn about human nature.
 
#37 ·
I know dealers are liars and stealers and that should tell you something about what some of them are capable of doing in those repair bays. If you don't think some people would stoop to that level, to steal your oil and filter and give it to their best buddy or keep it for themselves, you have a lot to learn about human nature.
I understand human nature, but I'm not a raving paranoid. A dealership is never going to sanction such behavior. Sure, an individual might, but it is hard to imagine a well paid mechanic augmenting his pay by stealing customer oil and filters (how many customers bring their own oil?) and jeopardizing his job. Crazy discussion!

As I already said, I get the parts back and I'm not blind - and the mechanic knows in advance I'm getting parts back. Anyway, oil change is done. Cut apart OEM filter, surprising to me was that it is the equal of many of the best filters in construction quality and materials. No signs of issues after 25,000 miles. More about that when I get the oil test back.
 
#36 ·
I do all my work myself because I enjoy doing it and I am a cheapskate.

However I do have a pleasant story about a dealership. I had a Toyota brake actuator assembly begin to fail on my 2008 Prius. I took it to the Dealer in hopes the extended warranty for this part would still be in force but I had missed the deadline by 2 months. The part cost $1,500 and $650 to install. At this Toyota Dealership the Service Adviser and Mechanic assigned to the car come out and tell you what they found on your car. I told them that was a lot of money and I work on cars myself but didn't know if I could get this job done. The Dealership Mechanic talked to me about what I had done on cars before and told me he thought I could handle the job and told me some items to look out for when doing this job. He said if I did run into trouble bring it in to the Dealership and ask for him and he would take care of completing the job.

Using the Toyota service manual I was able to change the brake actuator-a 6 hour job then calibrate the system using the Techstream Toyota Diagnostic Software I had and then bleed the brake system. Everything went great and all codes reset and fault lights went out.

That kind Dealership Mechanics' hints came in very handy and he gave me the confidence to do the job and get it right.

I agree there are some honest and just downright good people who work at Dealerships. I won't ever forget that Mechanic who took time out of his day to talk to me.
 
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