Quote:
Originally Posted by hayden55
Thats why the european manufacturers have always quoted extremely long oil change intervals. The maintenance cost over time wins in advertising, its marketed as green, and it props up sales of their new cars as the cars won't last as long after the warranty period is up.
Thats why they say anything can be made to last forever if you take care of it, because its more or less true on vehicles. Swap a bmw that is known for rod bearing failures before 100k to 1997 Toyota maintenance scheduling and it'll do 200k+.
This is also why other manufacturers have started to increase their maintenance intervals as well including Toyota.
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European auto manufacturers quote long service intervals because they expect customers will use the correct specialized fluids required to achieve those long service intervals.
Synthetic fluids are also a key part of hitting fuel economy targets. A new engine oil can boost fuel economy by 1% or so. Transmission and axle oils can give similar results. Add it together and you can get a couple of percentage points improvement on fuel economy and GHG credits and it is generally one of the cheaper ways to improve fuel economy.
Add it together and you get longer service intervals and better fuel economy but the fluids cost more. In Europe that isn't a problem - most people actually follow the maintenance schedule. In the USA - a BMW is just as likely to get bulk Jiffy Lube oil as the euro spec oil.