Stinger Maintenance “Severe Conditions”

[SKStinger]

This is the first vehicle I’ve owned that has more frequent maintenance intervals when operating the vehicle in “severe conditions”. I know the owners manual describes what constitutes “severe” but upon reading the list of conditions, it appears as though few vehicles would fall within the “normal” realm. I’m used to 10 to 15,000 Kms between maintenance for vehicles on synthetic engine oil so every 6,000 kms seems overkill.

So I’m curious, for those who have had maintenance completed by the dealer, where are you located and is the Dealer following the “severe” schedule or the “normal” one?

 

[Clearly Canadian]

This is the first vehicle I’ve owned that has more frequent maintenance intervals when operating the vehicle in “severe conditions”. I know the owners manual describes what constitutes “severe” but upon reading the list of conditions, it appears as though few vehicles would fall within the “normal” realm. I’m used to 10 to 15,000 Kms between maintenance for vehicles on synthetic engine oil so every 6,000 kms seems overkill.

So I’m curious, for those who have had maintenance completed by the dealer, where are you located and is the Dealer following the “severe” schedule or the “normal” one?

The dealer recommended a one size fits all kia vehicles schedule that I pretty much ignore. While their approach has less frequent visits, every visit seems to have expensive items on it.

I decided to follow the manual (ie the engineers) and go every 5,000 km. But I skip all the unnecessary and expensive checks that seem to be free cash for the dealership. I do all of the simple stuff myself, like changing air filters.

 

[MerlintheMad]

This is the first vehicle I’ve owned that has more frequent maintenance intervals when operating the vehicle in “severe conditions”. I know the owners manual describes what constitutes “severe” but upon reading the list of conditions, it appears as though few vehicles would fall within the “normal” realm. I’m used to 10 to 15,000 Kms between maintenance for vehicles on synthetic engine oil so every 6,000 kms seems overkill.

So I’m curious, for those who have had maintenance completed by the dealer, where are you located and is the Dealer following the “severe” schedule or the “normal” one?

I noticed that my first oil change came at 4K miles instead of 6K. I asked why and was told that Utah is a "severe" climate due to saline solution on the roads during the winter. Well, what is that, three, four months? The rest of the time, not severe. So I left it set at 4K miles. Then after my second oil change, I noticed that they changed the interval to 3K miles (trying to burn through those nine free oil/filter changes they gave me with the car). So I changed it back to 4K and there it stays. I won't go with the full 6K between oil changes. But I won't apply the full "severe" frequency of every 3K miles either.

 

[SKStinger]

I noticed that my first oil change came at 4K miles instead of 6K. I asked why and was told that Utah is a "severe" climate due to saline solution on the roads during the winter. Well, what is that, three, four months? The rest of the time, not severe. So I left it set at 4K miles. Then after my second oil change, I noticed that they changed the interval to 3K miles (trying to burn through those nine free oil/filter changes they gave me with the car). So I changed it back to 4K and there it stays. I won't go with the full 6K between oil changes. But I won't apply the full "severe" frequency of every 3K miles either.

Thanks. This is what I’m after here as I’m not sure Kia’s intent of “severe conditions” would include saline on the roads... I’m wondering if dealers are pushing the severe conditions angle as a way of revenue generation to shrink the service intervals. I can see most places in Canada being severe due to our winters but the Toyota and the Audi I own do not stipulate a shorter service interval due to weather conditions. Both of these are 15,000 km intervals with full synthetic motor oil.

The Dealer where I purchase my car from in Sherwood Park, Alberta had my interval set to 10,000 kms or the normal interval as per the owners manual. Yet most other Canadians I’m hearing are being told they must follow the severe 6,000 km intervals.

 

[Silvermanor]

Just following up on this. Anyone know if there are any warranty implications of not following the interval for severe conditions? It just mentions Canada as an area with severe conditions due to the cold and stating that the interval needs to be 5,000km. Thats insane to me and such a waste of synthetic oil. Even if you were to follow that then couldnt you theoretically stretch it out to 10,000km during the summer? Anyone have any more info on this? Have any Canadians been just doing the 10,000km interval without issues on warranty claims?

 

[Wan El Guapo]

Its absolute bogus and a money grab by dealers. This article reported on it and there is a class action in Canada against Kia for the same thing.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/car-maintenance-kia-hyundai-oil-change-1.5309293

 

[SKStinger]

Just following up on this. Anyone know if there are any warranty implications of not following the interval for severe conditions? It just mentions Canada as an area with severe conditions due to the cold and stating that the interval needs to be 5,000km. Thats insane to me and such a waste of synthetic oil. Even if you were to follow that then couldnt you theoretically stretch it out to 10,000km during the summer? Anyone have any more info on this? Have any Canadians been just doing the 10,000km interval without issues on warranty claims?

I decided to do my own oil changes/service annually. I only drive my Stinger in the spring/summer/fall and put on about 6,000 to 7,000 kms on full synthetic. I have all the paperwork to back up my schedule and my car does not meet any ok Kia’s “severe” conditions so if they try to deny a warranty claim I’m prepared to fight.

 

[SPORTS]

Just following up on this. Anyone know if there are any warranty implications of not following the interval for severe conditions? It just mentions Canada as an area with severe conditions due to the cold and stating that the interval needs to be 5,000km. Thats insane to me and such a waste of synthetic oil. Even if you were to follow that then couldnt you theoretically stretch it out to 10,000km during the summer? Anyone have any more info on this? Have any Canadians been just doing the 10,000km interval without issues on warranty claims?

Just for reference, my dealer set my service interval at 10,000 km's

 

[Wan El Guapo]

Just for reference, my dealer set my service interval at 10,000 km's

Which dealer is that? I might switch.

 

[Kimberly Lazarski]

FWIW, I maintain my vehicles in accordance with the "severe" maintenance schedule. "Normal" maintenance schedule assumes the vehicle is operated on the highway, is brought up to full operating temperature every drive, and very little city, hilly, or dusty condition driving. If you make more than a few short trips where the engine, exhaust, tranny, and diffs do not fully reach normal operating temperature, if you drive through city or traffic jams more than a few times, [edit: or drive in winter cold or hot summer conditions], your driving falls into what the engineers who wrote the specs would deem to be "severe" duty because acids will have formed in the lubricants.

 

[SPORTS]

Which dealer is that? I might switch.

Kitchener Kia
300 Homer Watson Blvd in Kitchener

 

[Blamo]

Same dealer and same interval as well

 

[SPORTS]

Same dealer and same interval as well

What colour is your car? Do you have any mods done?

 

[NIU_Huskies]

With today's engine technology and utilizing synthetic oils I can't see why you would need to change the oil every 3,000 miles. That is pretty extreme. Many cars today are on 7,500 or 10k mile oil change intervals.

 

[Blamo]

What colour is your car? Do you have any mods done?

Got the 2018 Blue GT. Only "Mod" is the Stinger script badge replacement. Looking at doing intakes in the summer.

 

[SPORTS]

Got the 2018 Blue GT. Only "Mod" is the Stinger script badge replacement. Looking at doing intakes in the summer.

Nice, are you in the Kitchener area? I picked my car up on October 31st and still have yet to see another one on the road. I will be installing my Injen intakes in the next couple of weeks. Had my debadging done and some wrap. Waiting for the warm weather for my sways and springs to be installed.

 

[Blamo]

Nice, are you in the Kitchener area? I picked my car up on October 31st and still have yet to see another one on the road. I will be installing my Injen intakes in the next couple of weeks. Had my debadging done and some wrap. Waiting for the warm weather for my sways and springs to be installed.

Congrats! I work in Waterloo but live in London (lots of KM's this Winter). I have had mine since March and have seen around 5 in the wild. How was the install for the Injen/sound? I am torn between them and the K/N's

 

[Andy B]

Just for reference, my dealer set my service interval at 10,000 km's

Same with my dealer, 10,000KM. I thought they had made a mistake but they assured me it wasn't. I won't be using that interval personally because I only put 5-6K a year, no winter driving.

 

[Sybaritic]

6,000km is added value, but probably not needed because I ran Valvoline Synpower to 8,400km, and then had an oil analysis done, and the oil was still "suitable for continued use." Also, I think 8-12K on synthetic is more than reasonable since since our 3.3L takes 7L per oil change, so that's a lot of dirt-suspending capacity. I think as long as we meet the minimum factory requirements from the Normal Schedule, the warranty won't be void.

I plan to run my current Mobil 1 engine oil to 12-15,000km depending on how comfortable I feel going up to 15K, and then will pay for another oil analysis. I'll report back to this thread in a few months.

 

[Silvermanor]

6,000km is added value, but probably not needed because I ran Valvoline Synpower to 8,400km, and then had an oil analysis done, and the oil was still "suitable for continued use." Also, I think 8-12K on synthetic is more than reasonable since since our 3.3L takes 7L per oil change, so that's a lot of dirt-suspending capacity. I think as long as we meet the minimum factory requirements from the Normal Schedule, the warranty won't be void.

I plan to run my current Mobil 1 engine oil to 12-15,000km depending on how comfortable I feel going up to 15K, and then will pay for another oil analysis. I'll report back to this thread in a few months.

Thats the thing, the minimum requirements as set out in the manual are oil every 5,000km for people who live in Canadistan.

Also, the weak link there is probably the lifespan of the filter.