Oil change at 500 miles

[Viper Granny]

So I put 500 miles on my car in a week so I could get the oil changed. Called local Dodge place and made appt for my "2017 Viper." Went today after scheduling time off work, not an easy task, only to be told the Viper tech is on vacation. Ohhkayyyy (thinking why didn't you tell me that when I called for the appt?). Then the service mgr asked how many miles, I said 500, he said you mean 5000, I said no I'm at the break in of 500 and need first oil change. I said its recommended in the manual. He said he never heard of that and why would Dodge recommend 500. (Me in my head thinking, you work for Dodge, I'm just a schmuck, how should I know?) sooooo, now I have to wait till after Oct 31 when the tech returns which is no biggie, but has anybody ever had this questioned, the 500 mile oil change?

[swexlin]

Just wait until your tech returns, or take it to another dealer. They shouldn't care anyway, if they're charging you. My Viper oil gets changed about every six months, which averages every 750-1000 miles. Never a question.

Take it do a dealer who will do what you ask. Sounds like they don't want to deal with it at all.

[edc]

Take it do a dealer who will do what you ask. Sounds like they don't want to deal with it at all.

Yep.

[Mopar'er no car]

Yes, find another dealer..

[7TH_SIGN]

DIY. Takes 10-20 min. The Viper is very easy. Screw dealerships.

[Viper Granny]

DIY. Takes 10-20 min. The Viper is very easy. Screw dealerships.

Hey thanks for the input. Gonna shop around.

[One Viper Bite]

A dealer should never question your request to change out wearable parts or fluid that YOU are going to pay for. You could as for an oil change ever 5 miles if you wanted to. Their job is to do it. Period.

[texasram]

Just wait until your tech returns, or take it to another dealer. They shouldn't care anyway, if they're charging you. My Viper oil gets changed about every six months, which averages every 750-1000 miles. Never a question.

Take it do a dealer who will do what you ask. Sounds like they don't want to deal with it at all.
Do you stick to a 6 month interval or would you change sooner if you drove more frequently, without going over 5k miles ofcourse

[texasram]

DIY. Takes 10-20 min. The Viper is very easy. Screw dealerships.

Man i was fully prepared to do this but when pdv's engine went and one of the questions fca asked him was did he does his own oil changes i reconsidered, plus im 20 mins from VE

[swexlin]

Do you stick to a 6 month interval or would you change sooner if you drove more frequently, without going over 5k miles ofcourse

I should clarify, that's what it averages out to. I put 1550 miles on the Viper since last October, 1200 of that was since February, when the last oil change was done as part of R28.

If I daily drove it, I would probably just go every 3000, since synthetics are fine, and monitor my level of course.

My Ram, which uses "semi-synthetic" was still at about 30% oil life per the monitor, when I did the first change at 6000 miles (that was 6 months, it's my daily).

The Viper will not get driving much more this year - probably only another few hundred miles through December. It will sit most of Jan and Feb, maybe come out once or twice if the roads are clear and dry, and not too cold.

[7TH_SIGN]

Man i was fully prepared to do this but when pdv's engine went and one of the questions fca asked him was did he does his own oil changes i reconsidered, plus im 20 mins from VE

True. That does suck that a company can dictate how you choose to enjoy a car that you paid for yourself.

[PTP]

Change the differential fluid as well. Mine looked terrible after the first 500 miles.

[EvilWon]

Man i was fully prepared to do this but when pdv's engine went and one of the questions fca asked him was did he does his own oil changes i reconsidered, plus im 20 mins from VE

I'll take my chances to know it's been done correctly. As long as the oil that comes out is the correct weight I see no issue.

[SRT BILL]

Don't forget to save a sample of the oil and send it out for your own independent oil analysis. This will give you a good starting point.

[BlueAdder]

So I put 500 miles on my car in a week so I could get the oil changed. Called local Dodge place and made appt for my "2017 Viper." Went today after scheduling time off work, not an easy task, only to be told the Viper tech is on vacation. Ohhkayyyy (thinking why didn't you tell me that when I called for the appt?). Then the service mgr asked how many miles, I said 500, he said you mean 5000, I said no I'm at the break in of 500 and need first oil change. I said its recommended in the manual. He said he never heard of that and why would Dodge recommend 500. (Me in my head thinking, you work for Dodge, I'm just a schmuck, how should I know?) sooooo, now I have to wait till after Oct 31 when the tech returns which is no biggie, but has anybody ever had this questioned, the 500 mile oil change?

Did the oil change yesterday. When I took the appointment on Monday, the Viper mgr dude just said: "Ah, doing it early". Then we did some paperwork, brought the car yesterday morning and picked it up later in the afternoon. I would rather do the oil change myself but right now I can't due to lack of space in my garage and secondly, if FCA frowns on owners doing the oil change themselves, I'll just fork up the $250... ugh.

[Vette2Viper]

I'll take my chances to know it's been done correctly. As long as the oil that comes out is the correct weight I see no issue.

Agree completely. Looking through corvette forum and there are just too many horror stories of dealership screwing crap up. Granted completely different oiling system. The only person who will care for your car like you is you.

[ViperJon]

Since they are replacing engines under warranty on cars where the oil was 4 quarts low which is clearly operator error I wouldn't be worried about changing your own oil.

[swexlin]

Did the oil change yesterday. When I took the appointment on Monday, the Viper mgr dude just said: "Ah, doing it early". Then we did some paperwork, brought the car yesterday morning and picked it up later in the afternoon. I would rather do the oil change myself but right now I can't due to lack of space in my garage and secondly, if FCA frowns on owners doing the oil change themselves, I'll just fork up the $250... ugh.
$250???

I get charged half that! And I sit in a waiting room, and know it's done right.

[BlueAdder]

$250???

I get charged half that! And I sit in a waiting room, and know it's done right.

That's the State of California for you, and more specifically Silicon Valley... The Ford dealership in San Jose wanted to charge me $170/hr for a flippin' Focus ST!
My local dealer charged $140/hr.

[Viper Granny]

There's another alternative but I hesitate. There's a local garage that has been caring for my '04 F150 for years. I trust them implicitly, however when I told them about getting the oil changed on my Viper, the guy said they've never done one. Plus I'm pretty protective of that beautiful sepia interior. It's a typical grungy garage. Bill P sent an oil filter and a qt of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum with my car so at least they would have that to show what the car takes. I dunno. I trust them but that sepia... Any thoughts on that?

[BlueAdder]

If you kept the wrapping on the seat and the steering wheel, you can always put those back on before the guy gets into the car.
The only reason the tech would need to get in is to turn on the engine so that the oil circulates for a few seconds, otherwise, everything is done outside the car.

[Viper Granny]

If you kept the wrapping on the seat and the steering wheel, you can always put those back on before the guy gets into the car.
The only reason the tech would need to get in is to turn on the engine so that the oil circulates for a few seconds, otherwise, everything is done outside the car.

I did not keep any of that. I pitched it like Christmas wrapping paper. I'm going to call another dealership and pick their brains to see whether or not they are clueless. Surely SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE believes in following the manual.

[allans]

When I had my first ACR oil change (600 miles) the dealer I used told me that my first 4 oil services were free, paid by FCA, and there Viper Tech did a great job. Allan

[ViperGeorge]

Heck I take my Vipers to Grease Monkey. I take my own filter and sometimes often my own oil. They charge me like $30 to do the change. I back it into the bay to make sure I don't scrape the front. The guys take good care of the car and let me watch everything they do.

[Viper Granny]

Heck I take my Vipers to Grease Monkey. I take my own filter and sometimes often my own oil. They charge me like $30 to do the change. I back it into the bay to make sure I don't scrape the front. The guys take good care of the car and let me watch everything they do.

That sounds good except that me being an "older" female might be an issue as some places may think I don't know anything (which may or may not be true) and try to take advantage of that.

[Viper Granny]

When I had my first ACR oil change (600 miles) the dealer I used told me that my first 4 oil services were free, paid by FCA, and there Viper Tech did a great job. Allan

I will definitely check that out. Thanks!

[CarolinaViper]

There's another alternative but I hesitate. There's a local garage that has been caring for my '04 F150 for years. I trust them implicitly, however when I told them about getting the oil changed on my Viper, the guy said they've never done one. Plus I'm pretty protective of that beautiful sepia interior. It's a typical grungy garage. Bill P sent an oil filter and a qt of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum with my car so at least they would have that to show what the car takes. I dunno. I trust them but that sepia... Any thoughts on that?


VG,

Oil changes are the simplest fluid to change in any vehicle, bring a big beach towel to protect your seats, along with 11 qts oil and the proper oil filter and have your local shop that you have been using for years do your oil change, Make a folder at home for all your maintenance records that are not done at a Dodge dealership and you will be fine. Only word of caution is driving onto the ramp, my local Dodge dealer ramps were not low enough, so I made some ramps out of wood for them...until my fourth free oil change, then they go back home with me.

[mjorgensen]

I did not keep any of that. I pitched it like Christmas wrapping paper. I'm going to call another dealership and pick their brains to see whether or not they are clueless. Surely SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE believes in following the manual.

All dealerships should have plastic for the seats in the service drive, we do in all our locations, just sensible IMHO.

[Viper Granny]

Duly noted CV, thank you. I didn't realize that about the ramps.

[Terminator02]

When I got my 15 GT I received a free oil change which I used at 500 miles. They couldn't believe I would do it that early. They did the change but kinda gave me the eye roll. Whatever it was a free change. Some of these dealerships just make the brain cringe considering they are authorized Viper dealers.

[Viper Granny]

When I got my 15 GT I received a free oil change which I used at 500 miles. They couldn't believe I would do it that early. They did the change but kinda gave me the eye roll. Whatever it was a free change. Some of these dealerships just make the brain cringe considering they are authorized Viper dealers.

Yeah i sort of thought that was true anytime you buy a new vehicle. I'll check with Bill P and find out. Why the heck do they question what the customer wants anyway? Especially since I'm not asking them to perform some complex task.

[Psychman]

When I had my first ACR oil change (600 miles) the dealer I used told me that my first 4 oil services were free, paid by FCA, and there Viper Tech did a great job. Allan

Is this true? I'm looking at getting my first oil change in my GT.

[CarolinaViper]

Is this true? I'm looking at getting my first oil change in my GT.

2016 yes 2017 no

[ACR]

Voids warranty to diy change oil

[Vette2Viper]

Voids warranty to diy change oil

Where is this info coming from?

[ACR]

Where is this info coming from?

The heavens.

OK joking, however, I wouldn't be surprised if FCA tries to pull this on someone claiming intervals weren't right, oil didn't meet specifications, or some other nonsense. Shitty thing is Roanoke is 60+ miles from me and the local dealer is not going to touch the car

[Snorman]

With the ongoing concerns about the Gen V engine, I had Viper Exchange change the oil in my car at 7 (yes, seven) miles. I'm taking it to MoparBoyy at Fields tomorrow to have the alignment done, and I've asked him to change it while it's there (~250 miles) as I believe that Vipers get four free changes. I'll also likely change it again before packing it up for Sebring next week. So by ~1k miles it'll be changed 3 times. And I always change after a track weekend.
S.

[Vette2Viper]

The heavens.

OK joking, however, I wouldn't be surprised if FCA tries to pull this on someone claiming intervals weren't right, oil didn't meet specifications, or some other nonsense. Shitty thing is Roanoke is 60+ miles from me and the local dealer is not going to touch the car

Nor would it me, that's why when I read your posts I thought someone may had had it happen to them.