bfurth Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I just bought a 2015 SE and I'm looking for information on the first oil change. I intend to keep the vehicle until the engine falls out, so I want to baby it as much as possible. The owner's manual doesn't say anything past "change the oil when the oil change message shows up," but with the first change, I want to make sure I'm not keeping suspended metal particles around any longer than is necessary. What seems to be a good range for that first change? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecrazyfoo4u Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 For my 2012 V6, it's every 8k miles, just like the manual says. The oil change reminder will come on at 8000 +/- 500 miles or so as a good reminder. My very first oil change indicator came on at 4k miles though; I'm guessing to remove the break in oil. So I changed mine at 4k, 8k, 16k, 24k, etc. With OEM filters and Mobile1 5w-30 since day one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramfrank Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 If you plan to hang onto it, you might want to consider one of Mopar's extended warranty programs from Chrysler . . . . there's lots of expensive electronics in this thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfurth Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 If you plan to hang onto it, you might want to consider one of Mopar's extended warranty programs from Chrysler . . . . there's lots of expensive electronics in this thing. I've got a year to figure that out. I'm leaning towards it, maybe. But the hit of buying this and taking out a 6 year loan, while simultaneously paying off the last 3 yerars of my student loans (interest rate on a car loan was lower, and we had the cash on hand to pay the studen loans, but not enough to buy a new vehicle outright) is hurting the bank a little right now. $2,000 might not feel quite so bad in a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey_SeXT Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I just bought a 2015 SE and I'm looking for information on the first oil change. I intend to keep the vehicle until the engine falls out, so I want to baby it as much as possible. The owner's manual doesn't say anything past "change the oil when the oil change message shows up," but with the first change, I want to make sure I'm not keeping suspended metal particles around any longer than is necessary. What seems to be a good range for that first change? The manual doesn't make any mention of an early first oil change but it is your vehicle and you can change the oil whenever you'd like. Just do not pass whatever the maximum limit is stated in your owners manual and you'll be fine. Personally, I am not a big fan of extended oil changes and replace it at every 4 - 5,000 miles with my first one was done at 3,000 miles. Congrats on the new Journey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolly Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 If you plan to hang onto it, you might want to consider one of Mopar's extended warranty programs from Chrysler . . . . there's lots of expensive electronics in this thing. That's why we bought the extended warranty as well. I'm not so concerned over the powertrain, but all the electronics scare me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobitz68 Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Modern vehicles do not require the "break in" changes of the past. Change it when the light comes on and don't think twice about it. I'm not sure what others are talking about, but my light comes on at a different interval every time. There is definitely some algorithm or something that the vehicle uses to determine changes... I bought the lifetime bumper to bumper warranty on mine at purchase. Spreading the payment out only equated to a few extra bucks per month and with all of the electronics in a modern vehicle it seemed like a no-brainer. Enjoy your new vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfurth Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I actually prefer the electronics - as an IT professional, I work with computers all day long. The elctrical components generally don't fail. It's the mechanical stuff that tends to break down. As far as repair goes, diagnosis is easier. Does it work? If not, replace that component. Reboot, runs like new. There's a reason the technicians don't have the diagnosis skills they used to. If only they'd keep a diagnostic part around so they could add "test with known good component" to their troubleshooting list. It would save the consumer an enourmous amount of time and money, and give dealers a better reputation (they've got the resources to keep every component from each vehicle they sell around for a while.) Independent shops can't do that. dhh3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhh3 Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I bought an extended warranty that pays for oil changes and tire rotations, as well as covers the whole car for 10 years or 100k miles. I thought that the oil change was every 4,250, bit it is 3,850 or 3 months. I brought it in for an oil change at a little over 4,000 miles. I bought it at the end of June, so that makes approximately 8 months on the original oil. I was just waiting for the 4,250 mark. I didn't recall "or every 3 months"! I'll get it changed every 3 months, because I'm not putting a lot of miles on it. The oil change indicator never came on, so I guess that I didn't do any damage: but I guess that they reset it so it would not come on too soon before the next oil change. Tire rotation is every 7,000 miles. I posted on another thread that I always add a bottle of STP at every oil change. No more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhh3 Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I actually prefer the electronics - as an IT professional, I work with computers all day long. The elctrical components generally don't fail. It's the mechanical stuff that tends to break down. As far as repair goes, diagnosis is easier. Does it work? If not, replace that component. Reboot, runs like new. There's a reason the technicians don't have the diagnosis skills they used to. If only they'd keep a diagnostic part around so they could add "test with known good component" to their troubleshooting list. It would save the consumer an enourmous amount of time and money, and give dealers a better reputation (they've got the resources to keep every component from each vehicle they sell around for a while.) Independent shops can't do that. The only other thing to remember is corrosion, especially around the TIPM. Diagnostics will tell you what part has failed and needs to be replaced, as you said. Good posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfurth Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 The only other thing to remember is corrosion, especially around the TIPM. Diagnostics will tell you what part has failed and needs to be replaced, as you said. Good posting. I bring the IT troubleshooting method to everything - I don't care if something happens once. When it happens again, then I start to believe there is a problem. You fix the cheapest indicated component first, and work your way up. Dealers work the other way around. If it happens in their presence, fix the most expensive assembly first, and then warranty the cheap stuff under "good will." I hope I never need the factory warranty, but that's about the only reason my Journey will see a dealer. I've now encountered enough brake problems in my time to be able to diagnose most of the hydraulic portions of the styem on the Journey - and I'm VERY happy to see that it has the HD brakes from the Grand Caravan/T&C. The salesman at my dealer was shocked that I've never worked in a garage. He told me that I knew more about the Journey than most of the guys selling it (and I only did a day of research!), and clearly had enough knowledge (from his point of view) to be running a shop myself. Half of that is smoke, to be sure. Still, it was a nice little ego stroke. Not that I need such a thing... :blush: dhh3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobitz68 Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I actually prefer the electronics - as an IT professional, I work with computers all day long. The elctrical components generally don't fail. It's the mechanical stuff that tends to break down. As far as repair goes, diagnosis is easier. Does it work? If not, replace that component. Reboot, runs like new. There's a reason the technicians don't have the diagnosis skills they used to. If only they'd keep a diagnostic part around so they could add "test with known good component" to their troubleshooting list. It would save the consumer an enourmous amount of time and money, and give dealers a better reputation (they've got the resources to keep every component from each vehicle they sell around for a while.) Independent shops can't do that. Correct, it is the mechanical stuff within the vehicle electronics that usually are the culprit, usually... But, they will replace the whole component when something does fail (as you stated) and it will be very expensive. That is why I buy the warranty... dhh3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k.tron Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 I have a 2015 journey. Dealer told me 10 k first oil change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 I have a 2015 journey. Dealer told me 10 k first oil change. Change it when you want to or wait for the indicator or listen to the dealer. You can't go wrong any way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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