Never used synthetic.... Should I. Lots of rumors if you have to or not. Will I really break the warranty?

 

If you had a hundred hours to check every thread on Maxima.org, you would find 10,000 folks who swear by dino, 10,000 folks who swear by synthetic, and 30,000 folks who will tell you either one will work fine. You can't go wrong with either, and neither will void your warranty.

Although the Maxima has always arrived at the dealer with dino oil (yes, this new ester oil Nissan is pushing is a glorified dino oil), many folks switch to synthetic fairly quickly. But folks who understand engines a little better, and understand oil a little better, usually wait a few changes to switch to synthetic, as dino allows the engine parts to completely mesh (giving a more efficient engine) quicker than synthetic, which is so slick the engine parts are hardly touching each other, so little meshing can take place.

Of course there are those who point to some brands of vehicles (particularly European) that come with synthetic, and announce the engines of today have already meshed. That is somewhat true, but not totally. There will be thousands of proponents on either side, and neither is totally right or wrong. You should read the oils and lubricants section here on the org and decide for yourdelf.

 

Great response.... thanks !

 

Learn something new everyday!!!

 

correct lighthill, i switched to synthetic right after 10k

 

Thanks lightonthehill!

 

See Mobil 1 website:

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/...ics/Myths.aspx

Note that the very first myth is that engines need to broken in with dino oil. Also note the following cars that have Mobil 1 as factory fill:

Acura RDX

Aston Martin

All Bentley Vehicles

All Cadillac Vehicles

Chevrolet Corvette C6 and Z06

Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS

Chrysler 300C SRT-8

Cobalt SS S/C Coupe

Dodge Caliber SRT-4, Charger SRT-8, and Magnum SRT-8

Jeep Cherokee SRT-8

Mercedes-Benz AMG Vehicles

Mercedes SLR

Mitsubishi Evolution

Pontiac Solstice GXP

All Porsche Vehicles

Saturn Ion Red Line and Saturn Sky Red Line

Viper SRT-10

And this is just for Mobil 1, which I started with about 30 years ago, but now rarely use. I have used GC 0W-30, PP, QS, Amsoil and others successfully.

I just bought a '10 Maxima, and this is my plan:

FF out at 1,500 miles, 2500 miles on a quality dino, 3 - 4K on a synthetic blend(I have some MaxLife blend leftover), then a switch to whatever synthetic I get on sale.

By buying on sale and applying rebates, I usually pay $2-3/quart for synthetic.

 

But just remain aware a Mobil1 web site is not going to tell you to use dino oil under any circumstances. And be aware far more new cars come with dino than with synthetic.

You can't go wrong either way, but I remain convinced my cars have run more efficiently, lasted longer and been more trouble-free because I waited a few oil changes before switching to synthetic. Some folks will, of course, feel otherwise.