[Justapickup]

My truck's oil life is showing 15%. Already scheduled appt with the dealer on Aug 11 for the oil change. I prefer to do it at a dealer, so they have all the records of maintenance. We have a road trip starting in 2 days, that will add approximately 600 miles. Questions: will those miles bring the oil life % to, or past, zero? I highly doubt it, for sure it'll be in single digits, but not zero. IMO, as long as I bring the truck to the dealer with the oil life meter above zero, that should still be OK. Has any of you had the oil changed at the dealer and the oil life meter showed zero and did they give you any grief about warranty?
Thanks,

 

[2019RedZR2]

First, remember this always : Dealers will look for any reason whatsoever to void your warranty if your Dealership is anything like the ones around me.

I expect that in the near future, dealerships may require you to have all servicing done by them, to insure future business but do so under the guise of "you can't trust the customers" to do it themselves or do it right.

It's the classic blame game. And today's society is very litigious.

Oil is cheap in the grand scheme of things. It literally takes 15 minutes or less to do your own oil change. And honestly, having the dealer do all the service does not mean that you are in the clear and everything will be covered under warranty.

I worked with a guy who did exactly that, for the exact same reason. But his truck was burning 2 quarts of oil every 3k miles and at less than 25k the engine seized up. Engine had to be replaced but after GM got the old engine in for analysis, they said "NOPE, NO WARRANTY FOR YOU ! They tested the engine oil and found that it was not Dexos approved oil. Dealer had been using the wrong oil and GM Corporate advised owner to seek an attorney because if dealer did all the service then they were responsible. And that was that, they washed their hands of the entire situation.

Many may not remember but when Dexos oil first came out, the only people who had it was the dealership and it was $21 per quart. Heck, when we got our 2019 ZR2 Colorado diesel, Dexos oil had been being required since 2016 but I couldn't find the oil in any of our 6 auto parts stores and no filters either.

So sometimes you are forced to use the dealer but there is no guarantee they will do things right.

Good luck.

 

[Hazdaz]

Nothing is going to happen to your engine. It's fine. Don't over think things. The 3000 or 5000 mile oil interval that many people use is just an estimate. Driving it to 5002 instead of 5000 miles means nothing.

Now on many GM products, the oil life is calculated based on a complex formula of when they think the oil life will be used up, but even then it is just a formula. There isn't a sensor in the oil actually checking things. So ultimately it is still just an estimate. If you went over the oil life by even a couple of hundred miles, it should be no big deal.

 

[RJL1983]

With 15 percent, you might not hit zero on your trip. When's last time you pulled the dip stick??

 

[Justapickup]

Nothing is going to happen to your engine. It's fine. Don't over think things. The 3000 or 5000 mile oil interval that many people use is just an estimate. Driving it to 5002 instead of 5000 miles means nothing.

Now on many GM products, the oil life is calculated based on a complex formula of when they think the oil life will be used up, but even then it is just a formula. There isn't a sensor in the oil actually checking things. So ultimately it is still just an estimate. If you went over the oil life by even a couple of hundred miles, it should be no big deal.

Yeah I understand all that. I just don't want the dealer to make up an excuse/bs reason that will down the line negatively affect the warranty. Like, "uh, you brought the vehicle in showing 0% oil life, that is not good for the engine". I do all oil changes for my other vehicles, and wait until the oil life indicator shows between 0-5%, regardless of how many miles were driven since the previous oil change. I never go by the number of miles driven. I have an older vehicle (2006) that has no oil life monitor, so I change the oil once a year.

 

[Justapickup]

With 15 percent, you might not hit zero on your trip. When's last time you pulled the dip stick??

When the oil was changed last time, at 14,793 miles in April 2025.
Odometer now showing 21,265.

 

[DieselDrax]

When the oil was changed last time, at 14,793 miles in April 2025.
Odometer now showing 21,265.

So 85% = 6472 miles or roughly 76 miles per percent. The remaining 15% should be good for just over 1,100 miles. You should have no problem going on your trip an I highly doubt the dealer will check or even care what the oil life % is other than to go to that screen and reset it back to 100%.

Enjoy your trip and don't give it a second thought.

 

[Hazdaz]

When the oil was changed last time, at 14,793 miles in April 2025.
Odometer now showing 21,265.

Based on the way you are currently using your truck, the oil life won't hit 0% until you go approximately 7600 miles. That is approximately 1100 miles from now, based on the type of driving you do now. If you have a 600 mile trip that is mostly highway, then you probably will be around 5-10% oil life left when you get back. If your trip involves a lot more stop-and-go than you normally do, then you'll be on the low end of that number, but should still be perfectly fine.

 

[Hunter62]

Your'e good, just schedule the oil change for when you get back..

 

[DetroitColy]

When the oil was changed last time, at 14,793 miles in April 2025.
Odometer now showing 21,265.

I'd be concerned about possibly driving around with low oil for a while now with how these engines use oil. Might want to check it once in a while. If you're worried about warranty issues then I think they might have a case for denying you on a claim if you ever ran low and they noticed during an oil change or other, since the manual states that proper operation includes checking the oil level at least every 400 miles.

As for the engine oil life, I guess it comes down to how much do you trust that oil life monitor calculation to protect the engine. Yes it sounds like you'll probably make the trip before you hit 0%. Personally I wouldn't venture off on a road trip with oil that old in this hot running turbo engine, but technically if the oil monitor says you're good then it's probably good enough as far as warranty is concerned. For longevity though, personally I'm going with a change interval of 3,500-4,000 miles or less from some of the things I've read and the "severe driving conditions" I'm in, that are really just normal driving for most people on the road, plus how hot this engine runs even on short trips. An oil change is cheap insurance.

 

[DieselDrax]

I'd be concerned about possibly driving around with low oil for a while now with how these engines use oil. Might want to check it once in a while. If you're worried about warranty issues then I think they might have a case for denying you on a claim if you ever ran low and they noticed during an oil change or other, since the manual states that proper operation includes checking the oil level at least every 400 miles.

As for the engine oil life, I guess it comes down to how much do you trust that oil life monitor calculation to protect the engine. Yes it sounds like you'll probably make the trip before you hit 0%. Personally I wouldn't venture off on a road trip with oil that old in this hot running turbo engine, but technically if the oil monitor says you're good then it's probably good enough as far as warranty is concerned. For longevity though, personally I'm going with a change interval of 3,500-4,000 miles or less from some of the things I've read and the "severe driving conditions" I'm in, that are really just normal driving for most people on the road, plus how hot this engine runs even on short trips. An oil change is cheap insurance.

Following the OLM is actually conservative and has been proven time and again with UOA. It's also been proven that changing oil too often increases wear due to the way the detergents work in fresh oil. 3,500-4,000 miles is an absolute waste unless you're only driving 5 miles at a time and the oil can never get up to temperature in which case you want to change more often (and the OLM will also reflect this as it's not based on simply miles or time but actual driving conditions, drive cycle length, driving habits, etc) to prevent the oil from becoming acidic or contaminated from excessive condensation build-up.

The turbos are cooled by coolant and lubricated by oil, they don't result in the oil running much hotter than N/A engines.

 

[Hazdaz]

OP, do us a favor a post what the oil life monitor says when you get back. I'm curious if my math and estimation is reasonably accurate.

And have fun in your trip.

 

[Justapickup]

Will do.
Thanks,

 

[Dreanimal]

When the oil was changed last time, at 14,793 miles in April 2025.
Odometer now showing 21,265.

Strongly recommend checking your oil more frequently, even on a new engine.

 

[bobojay5]

Check the oil level before you leave for sure....

 

[38racing]

I do kilometers. My mechanic said if I wanted to avoid issues with my 2.4 verano I should change every 5000 kms. I think that's about 3100 miles. At 5k my computer says I have 40-50% left so I'm ignoring it. Same on my colorado 3.6. At 5k computer says 40%. Remember all the crap now that functions by the oil. Not just lubrication and heat dissipation anymore. They extended oil change as a marketing feature. But oil cost is really a small in the big picture.

 

[Lvdukerider]

I do kilometers. My mechanic said if I wanted to avoid issues with my 2.4 verano I should change every 5000 kms. I think that's about 3100 miles. At 5k my computer says I have 40-50% left so I'm ignoring it. Same on my colorado 3.6. At 5k computer says 40%. Remember all the crap now that functions by the oil. Not just lubrication and heat dissipation anymore. They extended oil change as a marketing feature. But oil cost is really a small in the big picture.

Im old school, I do all my oil/filter changes between 3000-4000 miles but it has been shown this really isn't necessary. If your really curious you can get a kit from Blackstone Labs to send in a oil sample and have it analyzed, others have done this and discovered the oil is still doing its job just fine with more miles than this. Also that there's no difference between brand name oils and oils manufactured by Warren petroleum, the manufacturer responsible for many private label oils such as Wal Mart Super Tech full synthetic.

 

[Justapickup]

OP, do us a favor a post what the oil life monitor says when you get back. I'm curious if my math and estimation is reasonably accurate.

And have fun in your trip.

Just got back, drove the truck for 773 miles, MPG was 20.12 (calculated using the empirical method, numbers not taken from the dash).
Oil life is at 2%
Travel was probably 70% highway, the rest was at city pace and conditions.

 

[Hazdaz]

Just got back, drove the truck for 773 miles, MPG was 20.12 (calculated using the empirical method, numbers not taken from the dash).
Oil life is at 2%
Travel was probably 70% highway, the rest was at city pace and conditions.

Original calculations were based on a 600 mile trip, so I think it makes a lot of sense that the oil is down to 2% if the trip was 25% longer than expected.

Thanks for sharing - gives us better insight into the oil life calculations the computer is doing.

I'm guessing you are about 150 miles until it hits 0%.

 

[Justapickup]

Had the oil/filter change done, also tire rotation. Truck is happy as a clam.
Some photos to share from the trip to the Monterey Bay area in CA. Truck photo taken at Pebble Beach golf course, other photos from Point Lobos National Park, beautiful place to hike or picnic.