I have never found a dealer that considers typical driving anything but "severe". $$$$

 

The owners manual description of conditions under which maintenance schedule 2 applies is ridiculously vague. It is full of undefined terms such as: "short-distance driving" and "cold temperatures". Also what possible reason could there be for claiming that driving in "areas where salt or other corrosive materials are being used" means that a shorter oil change interval is necessary?

When I bought my car I was told schedule 2 applies. They did not really say why and did not ask me how I drive first, so I assume this is because it is "cold" in Wisconsin or maybe because they use salt.

Has anyone, anywhere, been told that schedule 1 applies to them?

It's funny that the same engines, when installed in a Ford would almost always fall under their "normal" schedule, which is 5000 miles (or 6 mo., I believe) between oil changes. The only things that put you in severe according to Ford are if you frequently do any of the following:

Towing a trailer or using a camper or car-top carrier
Extensive idling and/or low-speed driving for long distances as in heavy commercial use such as delivery, taxi, patrol car or livery
Operating in dusty conditions such as unpaved or dusty roads
Off-road operation
Use of E85 50% of the time or greater (flex fuel vehicles only)
For me the time interval is the deciding factor as I do not drive many miles. Since I only drive 6000 to 8000 miles per year, I'd like to change oil every 6 months, rather than every 4. The dealer gave me 3 free oil changes during the first year. After that I am going to try to get them to agree that changing oil every 6 mo. will be adequate (or at least get them to agree that I do not need to change more often than every 3000 miles) and not lead to any potential questions regarding warranty claims.[/b]

The owner's manual service schedule is horrendous in our cars. I would not, however, go 6 months between oil changes. With how much your car is sitting and not being used, its probably a good idea to change it every 3 months, especially if you use regular oil and not synthetic. I'm not going to give you a scientific explanation of why to do that but personally, I think oil changes are dirt cheap and the best preventive maintenance you can do for your car. Pay that $20 4 times a year and get your oil changed.

 

It is not "sitting and not being used" as you have assumed. At a minimum, it is driven about 20 miles round trip to work 5 days per week.

While it is true that dealers and others will alway push you to shorter oil change intervals, not all manufacturers are as ridiculously vague as Mazda. As I have indicated, my driving would and most people's driving would clearly fit under the normal schedule that Ford gives for this very same engine, when installed in a Fusion. So how is it that changing the oil every 6 months is just fine if this engine is in a Ford, but somehow a problem if it is in Mazda?

 

I just get my oil changed every 4-5000 miles in the car. I don't trust going 7500 miles on the same oil at all.

 

I would not go 7500 miles either, unless I were to use synthetic. Were it not for possible warranty issues, I'd go with 6 mo., which would be only 3000-4000 miles for me. I'd essentially follow the Ford normal schedule, that is actually applicable to most, by their criteria (not that this stops the dealers from telling you to use a 3 mo./3000 mi schedule).

I went over the rest of the maintenance schedule and other than the oil change interval, there is not much else that is different between schedule 1 and 2. So at least following schedule 2 does only mean one extra oil change per year.

One odd thing I noticed in looking through the various schedules is that they require brake fluid changes every two years in Mexico but not elsewhere...why would that be?

 

Almost everyone qualifies for the "severe" schedule. Traffic, frequent idling, frequent short trips, dirty environment... hell I qualify for almost everything. Remember that schedule is for Mazda OE oil, which is semi-synthetic. This implies that dino should be changed more frequently.

I run the best oil I can get (currently either Mobile 1R or Mobile 15k, 1 year oil) with an oversized filter and lube control, and I change my oil just 2-3 times a year. I change it in the late fall and early Spring, then once in the summer if I'm been racing or driving a lot. My wife's car, which is driven less and less aggressively, always gets two oil changes a year. Summers aren't nearly as brutal as the cold starts of winter, so I try never to go more than November-March without a change. April to October is the next typical interval.

 

Going on 7500 miles with the same oil is definitely not safe. It will cause serious damage to your engine.

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