Lexus have a 5K service interval and I don't see them changing anytime soon. They've got a great reputation for reliability and they want to keep it. However, they have another problem....recommending low viscosity oil to help Toyota with their CAFE averages.

I think that it IS an environmental issue that has driven/forced the German car makers into extended oil change intervals. I remember the first time I saw the new C-Class with chunks of vinyl cut out of the pan that holds the spare tire down. This was the first of many indications that the Germans were into recycling. You also have the wiring harness issue, BMW's with recycled rubber dashes and many other indications.

Trying to find an absolute bullet proof car now is difficult. I want a car that drives like a BMW, is the size and style of an E-Class and has the reliability of an LS-430. If I didn't have an adversity to paying interest, I'd stop paying cash for my new cars and start leasing.

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I've never seen anyone put it so perfectly.

That's exactly what I want.

Perfect car- - -
 

I have had 2 Acura's and frankly they wren't as reliable as my Honda accord, prelude and civic. The Honda's were near flawless.
I think when a company goes for more power , weight , complexity the simple reliability decreases.
My Mercedes has cost more to maintain than any of my previous 10 cars.
So many cars, so little time.

Manny has the answer. The answer is that oil service intervals are the result of a lot of influences. I would place long term life at the bottom of the considerations.

The recycling nature of the automobile is definitely being considered especially in Europe. I saw a presentation years ago that stated that the government had rules in effect that would require the oil companies to recycle a certain amount of what they sold. The concept continued with the end result being oil service technicians being licensed and possesion of oil limited to licensed users. (sort of like freon was supposed to be).

I personally believe that cost is the main consideration. modern buyers consider the monthly cost of transportation and service is part. They have bundled warrantee costs and now bundling service costs to monthly payments. It takes a real good accountant to understand how this costs one more but that is another story.

I have always said that one could just add oil for the life of the warrantee and original owners time, and trade, and never see the results of such abuse. MB knows that.

NO CONSCIENCE lease mentality
 

I am ashamed of one of my best friends.
He leased a mini van from Ford. at 36,000 miles at the end of the lease he changed the oil for the 1st time and traded it in.
The poor working class family that bought it had no idea.
So the next lease he had,, when he visited ..I changed his oil at 15,000 for free for him.
just so the next people had a fighting chance of a lasting engine. Why did I ? I believe in after life.

Re: NO CONSCIENCE lease mentality
 

This is exactly why I'd never buy a leased car. Few people buy the car at the end of a lease so they couldn't care less about maintaining the car during the lease. I think this is why BMW started the free service business (which corresponds to the life of the lease).

For leasing, Volvo, and I assume others, require the scheduled services to be performed as a condition of the lease. You either have it done at the dealer, or show proof you did it otherwise. I know nothing about how rigorously this is enforced.

The oil changes are free, but the scheduling is the same short-sighted mentality: Volvo specifies a dino-oil change every 7500 miles. We do it about twice that.

A suggestion vis'-a-vis' your sludge problem...
 

...would be for you to do a "search" on Auto-RX on this Forum. You may also wish to visit the BOBistheOilGuy Site.

There is a Holiday sale on the Auto-RX product reducing the price from $25 to $17 per 12 oz. application if you buy 4 bottles. You will need 16 oz. for an 8 quart oil capacity and I would recommend the two treatment regimen as you are approaching 100K miles and have a present sludge problem. Acouple of 3 to 5K oil changes won't cost that much and will really get that crap out of your system.

This stuff REALLY works as advertized and will safely clean up your engine. I would recommend using a Dino 15W-40 HD oil such as Pennzoil LongLife, Delvac 1 or one of the AMSOIL 15W-40 products if you feel you must use a synthetic or a blend.

Good Luck!:cool:

p.s. This stuff Really does work!

the irony of all of this conservation mentality is that if you extend the life of a car by 30-50K miles by doing more frequent oil changes, I really have to think that the net positive impact of *not* buying a new car for those 30-50K miles has to outweigh the environmental impact of the incremental oil changes.

Great thread with some very good thoughts and comments.

Everyone that knows me knows that I'm an oil change maniac. As far as the green issue regarding oil changes goes, since I drive my cars to multiple hundreds of thousands of miles which alleviates the environmental impact of producing a few more cars, I feel that my extra oil changes are offset environmentally.

As far as FSS goes, I have used nothing but Mobil One in my 203 car and I have changed oil and filter between the FSS dealer provided oil changes.

Oil is cheap, cars and engines are expensive.

Have a great day,
Change oil hot and change oil often.

Most leasing companies will beat the crap out of you with lease-end charges if the maintenance schedule has not been adhered to. That said, with MB you must follow only the FSS (Canada has no included service) and you're fine. A friend of mine had a Ford Explorer that was a little over on the odo, so he was prepared to pay the mileage charge, which he calculated to $800. The lease end charges were about $5000. The windscreen was pitted (who's is not?), there were rock chips on the hood and front fenders (I saw it, nothing out of the ordinary), etc. They just beat the crap out him. Then the extortion began... They forgave most of the charges when he leased another Explorer. This time he got smart. He found some poor schmuck to take over the lease, he took some cash and bought a used MB. No more leasing for him.