Have just bought a 6 month old ex-demo FL2 SD4 auto from my local main dealer with 6K miles on the clock. The car is lovely but I wonder whether to change the oil and filter myself as a matter of course since I dont know how its been driven from new - probably lots of short journeys I should think, but Ive no idea apart from that I can see its not been off-roaded.

Some say modern oils are so good that it wont matter, but I must admit Im a bit anal about these things. I also have a BMW and Ive always taken the view that oil is relatively cheap and have continued to change oil & filter about every 9000 miles irrespective of what the car's variable servicing is telling me - which often says my oil will be ok for 19K miles !

So should I change the FL2 oil & filter or not ?

I assume the oil filter on the SD4 is the same as the TD4 - LR001247 right ? Jules

wouldn't bother myself lol 6 month old, low mileage, auto, usually with a salesman sitting alongside, I would be more than happy to leave it, or rag it first to get your money's worth

If it was me I would change the oil, it won't harm the engine and it will give peace of mind, that's my thought anyway.

The FL2 has fully synthetic Castrol oil specified at the factory.. This is specified for a reason, ie degradation over time being minimal amongst other factors. As long as the engine is full of what it should be, personally, I would leave well alone. It's not cheap, and that is also for a reason. It's a bit like having a Rolex serviced every year instead of every five, as specified. The oils that they use are good for that period of time, so changing them for the sake of it is pointless and a waste of money.

Did you buy from Guy Salmon by any chance? Foraging near Gaydon....
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MY13 HSE Lux SD4, Baltic Blue - current, 30,000> miles without fault
MY12 HSE 2.2 SD4, Sumatra Black - gone after 10 months/43,000 fault-free miles

nope - from Colliers Jules

I would not bother changing it till closer to it's recommended service interval - No point in filling oil recycle bins with perfectly good oil for no good reason

6 month old, why mess about with something that can void the warranty?
I bought an ex LR management car from Hunters, they serviced it despite it only having been done 2000 miles previously, I thougt it had been done as part of the warranty process that all used cars were sold having been serviced?

JLR recommend various lengths of time for fluid changes, as we all know, and yes the oil will last for that period of time. Would I leave it until the recommended dates, especially the engine oil at 19k? No. My oil gets changed at 10k, whether that is a waste of money or not, I don't think so. Like I said, worth it for peace of mind, but this will be down to the individual.....whatever makes you happy!

I change my oil every 6 months (which equates to around 3-4,000 miles) and the filter every second oil change. Mind you, I get the oil for nothing and work in a motor vehicle training centre. If I had a six month old car and was having to pay, I'd stick to the recommended intervals!

My second service is this week at an early 24,000 miles instead of 32,000. My reasoning is the DPF regeneration under certain circumstances dilutes the engine oil with diesel (up to 7% of engine oil volume is allowed before the dash warning) which can't be a good thing for lubrication, so fresh oil early must be an advantage.
My last car always threw up an 'oil change' dilution warning before the correct service interval was due, this one doesn't.

Just an opinion and based on no real evidence other than anecdotal with cars and motor bikes.................but I would say that if you intend to keep the vehicle a long time, halving the service intervals for all fluids and filters will pay dividends when you get over about 150k miles. You will be amazed at what mileage these cars can achieve

Of course the paradox is that most people who run high mileage older cars did not own them when they were new and so never got the chance!!

The manufacturers are more interested in low servicing costs, so will extend service intervals to "barely good enough" and are probably not that interested in their vehicles lasting beyond 100k to 150k miles

Steve

Its the big Fleet Operators who push manufacturers to move to longer service intervals. The great improvement in engineering tolerances combined with modern synthetic oils is also a factor.
I remember the outcry from Transit owners, not fleet, who argued when fuel and air filters were not part of scheduled service, they were fitted with red/green indicators. Some vehiclec were doing 70-80k on same fuel filter. I did not agree with this as did many private owners.
Retired for 10 years so don't know current situation. All FL2's (3) Gone
2011 Mercedes C180 CGI Gone
FL2 GS Auto SD with heated leather, factory tints, alloy spare and a few other bits.

jenks1950 wrote:

Just an opinion and based on no real evidence other than anecdotal with cars and motor bikes.................but I would say that if you intend to keep the vehicle a long time, halving the service intervals for all fluids and filters will pay dividends when you get over about 150k miles. You will be amazed at what mileage these cars can achieve

Of course the paradox is that most people who run high mileage older cars did not own them when they were new and so never got the chance!!

The manufacturers are more interested in low servicing costs, so will extend service intervals to "barely good enough" and are probably not that interested in their vehicles lasting beyond 100k to 150k miles

Steve

In the good old days, when you bought a new car you had to "run in" the engine and then change the oil - usually after 1,000 - 2,000 miles. I can't understand why this is no longer necessary.

On my car (which has done 65,000 miles) I change my oil and filter every 7,500 miles, and the other filters every 15,000 miles. Mind you, I don't do a huge annual mileage so it's no great burden.

thanks for all your opinions.

Am I correct about the oil filter part number ? Jules