Question for the group. My 2022 P300 is now 13 months old and has low miles (3,000 miles). The manual seems to indicate I don't need to change oil till 24 months or 15k miles, whichever comes first. Do you all agree that this is correct? I'd call the dealer, but can never reach service department live to ask so thought i'd post here and see what the forum knows as well. Thanks!

 

Pretty sure the dealer will agree with that number. I’m planning on changing the oil every 5,000-7,500 miles though (probably 6-9 months). That doesn’t mean that most cars that follow the recommended maintenance won’t be fine, 2 years just sounds way too long for me. The most I would do would be 1 year/10,000 miles personally.

 

If it's a P300, the owner's manual says oil change and first mx service at 21k miles or 2 years. This is indeed correct. They are BMW sourced engines and have long oil change intervals. I had mine for 16k miles and never did an oil change on it. Still can't believe some people change oil within 3-5k miles if the owner's manual says it's not necessary for that vehicle. Oil analysis tests show it's really not necessary as well. There's no harm to changing oil early, specifically to remove the first break-in metals, but it's just not required anymore, can be a waste of oil and money. Modern cars in general usually have oil changes every 7,500-15k miles, full synthetics are pretty good. When in doubt, read the owner's manual.

 

The Ingenium family of engines in our Defenders are not sourced from BMW. Modern engines have extended oil change intervals due mainly to emissions regulations. The quality of synthetic oil is a lot more advanced now, so manufacturers are pushing longer and longer to get emissions incentives. Do some research on the term "fully synthetic". Surprisingly, it does not mean no Dino oil. In this case, th incentive is creating less waste oil. The less you change the oil, the less waste oil is created and risk of spillage during oil changes. Manufacturers are given emissions points for things like long interval oil changes. These engines are tested to survive at these intervals, so you can follow the manufacturers recommend intervals and it should be ok. A similar situation would be the transmission oil and filter. Jlr says that the the fluid is a lifetime fill. But if you check with the manufacturer of the transmission, there is a service interval. Again, jlr kits incentivized to not change fluids. I agree with you, it will never hurt to change fluids more often. However, I definitely do not believe it's a waste of money. If you want to minimize mechanical issues in the long term well beyond manufacturers warranty and/ or what they consider lifetime of the vehicle, I would suggest to get some unbiased advice and create your own service schedule versus just listening to the manufacturer. They typically want you to buy a new Land Rover to replace the one you have, not keep the one you have for the long term.

 

I agree 5K is pretty conservative. Sometimes I let it go to 7.5K.

The motor oil in a modern, high compression vehicle is used for more tasks than just lubricating engine bearings and piston rings -- turbos come to mind. Following a 5K miles change interval on my two LR4s has saved my bacon in yet avoiding a very expensive repair resulting from a poorly designed hydraulic timing belt tensioner (which is activated by the oil in the motor where it is critical the viscosity fully meet spec at cold weather start up).

Used motor oil is dirty and modern people to do not like it, or so it seems to me. Still, nothing else performs so well as a brush-fire starter, which is how I most often dispose of mine.

Enjoy !!

 

My wife has a short commute to work which can create even more wear as the oil gets up to normal operating temperature for about 10 minutes. So I change the oil once a year on her vehicle regardless of mileage just to be safe. (So hopefully her old LR4 now owned by TrioLRowner never has timing chain guide issues) The expense of one oil change per year is well worth the benefit of less repairs later.

 

I've done around 5000 miles in my first year - but I'm going to follow a 12 month schedule for oil changes rather than mileage. As others have said the dealers want you to buy new vehicles not keep the old one and I think a 12 month / 5-10k miles schedule is what works for me. Obviously you need to make your own decision based on whether you plan to keep the Defender beyond the warranty period.

 

No OEM is going to make a maintenance schedule recommendation that is going to tank their motors during OR AFTER warranty period. Their reputation is worth much more than any perceived "convenience" of low maintenance.

No dealer wants motors to blow up on their new or used vehicles or lease turn ins. Unhappy customers and a bad reputation can effect them almost as much as the OEM.

And if you look at the Defender mechanically I mean the damn crankcase is NINE FRIGGIN Liters on the P400. That's a lot of oil and a lot of additives to deal with byproducts of combustion. I'm sure that played a roll in their maintenance decisions. Maybe it's a chicken and egg thing - "make sure it has a 2 year oil change schedule" - "ok,,then we're doubling the amount of oil in the crankcase" or something like that. <shrugs>

Circumstances vary, and even I (who has been working in the industry for decades and was an early adopter of a 1 year/10k mile oil change on synthetics as far back as the 90s) have a tough time with a 20K+/2 year oil change. I had every intention of doing it that way though.... till 12 months came and we had ~10k miles on it...and I though OH WHAT THE HELL.

So I guess I'm going to stick with 1 year changes, it's easy and doesn't hurt me, and we do about 10k miles a year on it so WTH... But I do go longer on some of our vehicles when they are no where near the mileage.

If our mileage was 3k or 5k per year, unless it was really severe service (super short runs in freezing temps and/or nothing but desert heat) then I would probably go 2 years and not worry about it.

 

if you were doing super short runs in freezing temps (moving car in NYC winter for alternate side parking) what do you think your interval would be?

 

I'm also accustomed to a 1-year interval on our vehicles, because none of them seem to accumulate 10,000 miles in a year. Till the Defender, anyway. I'm putting about 16,000 a year on it, so I've done two changes, the second one at 21,000 miles.