These newfangled cars and their newfangled computers

"smobgirl" (smobgirl)
05/24/2016 at 23:43 • Filed to: None

This car definitely doesn’t request oil changes.

So the Abarth owner’s manual suggests an oil change every 8,000 miles. I usually go around 5K, give or take, but I noticed the dealer stickers in the window are always at 3K mile intervals - and now the car asks for an oil change when the sticker mileage hits on the odometer. Can they program the car to do that somehow?

DISCUSSION (31)

EL_ULY > smobgirl
05/24/2016 at 23:54

Software update

smobgirl > EL_ULY
05/24/2016 at 23:57

I mean, I'm coming from a car where the only warning light that worked was the seatbelt light...makes perfect sense. I just turn off the request anyway!

Birddog > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 00:01

There’s probably a severe duty program that’s triggered by driving style.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 00:12

How is the abarth overall?

Funktheduck > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 00:19

In my Mazda 3 you can set the service interval warning light.

Steve in Manhattan > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 00:20

Maybe switch to synthetic and change every 8K?

smobgirl > Birddog
05/25/2016 at 00:26

Considering that most of this interval was me recovering from a broken foot, that ain’t it. Not this time anyway!

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 00:26

do you do mostly city or highway/country driving? i noticed a large change when i change commutes.

smobgirl > Steve in Manhattan
05/25/2016 at 00:28

It’s already synthetic. I guess these guys are desperate for that extra $60/year, or something.

smobgirl > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)
05/25/2016 at 00:31

LOVE IT. Seriously. It's just enough fun, no reliability issues yet at 43K miles (knock on wood) and it's just quirky enough without attracting the wrong attention (cops don't look at me twice).

smobgirl > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
05/25/2016 at 00:35

One interval included a 3400 mile road trip and two were mostly city driving. Got nothin’

Birddog > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 00:48

Right on!

I wasn’t trying to be a dick. I was just going from past experience with other cars.

Steve in Manhattan > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 00:52

I think you can go 8K between changes, although I’ve always been inclined to do them sooner. I think I did the ‘97 SHO (synthetic) at 5K, and I certainly did not need to do that.

smobgirl > Steve in Manhattan
05/25/2016 at 01:06

Yeah, I was doing 5 out of habit and also because first model year/unknown reliability. 8 would probably be fine. This dealer is Maserati/Infiniti (Fiat is their newest addition) so I figured the 3K sticker was unrelated to anything until the car also started requesting them sooner. I guess I'll ask when I bring it in next.

Steve in Manhattan > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 01:13

Does it at least have the oil filter on top, where you can get to it? My ‘87 300D had a canister filter up top that was easy to change.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 01:26

Maybe it’s being triggered by time rather than mileage?

Sam > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 01:35

My E34 has an ENGINE SERVICE REQUIRED light that comes on every 10,000 miles. It can be reset with a paperclip. They do it to get you in to the dealer for an oil change (though it is a good reminder that you should probably change the air filter, oil, etc. soon)

190octane > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 02:23

Is it a light on the dash or an led display? You can set this on my car but it's all done on the infotainment system.

Ferrero1911 > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 02:52

The interval is not reset unless the light is on, so the last time you got an oil change the car didn’t know that it should reset. This resulted it in notifying you early this time (but at way more than 3k from the last time the light came on). Ultimately the light comes on as a reminder at intervals based on your driving style, but it doesn’t know anything about the condition of your oil. If you’re worried about it I’d send the oil out for analysis, but you definitely don’t need an oil change every 3k or probably even 5k. I do mine every six months regardless of mileage.

Also, 2012 was the only model year to recommend 8,000 miles/6 months. Starting from 2013 it’s 8,000 or once a year. My 2012 goes out of warranty next week and I plan to switch from every 6 months to every year-ish for my oil changes.

Ferrero1911 > Steve in Manhattan
05/25/2016 at 02:56

Kinja'd!!!

It’s deep. Like you have to remove things.

Kinja'd!!!

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > Funktheduck
05/25/2016 at 08:06

^^This. Dealer changed the oil, apparently set the interval to 3000 miles on my wife’s Mazda3, and I had to stop by another dealer to figure out where the setting was when the service light came on. Turned that off completely - I can remember when to change the oil. I imagine this can be done in the Abarth infotainment somewhere hard to find.

Funktheduck > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
05/25/2016 at 09:55

Mine has 2 suggested intervals in the owner’s manual: 5k and 7k miles. I aim for 5k because of how much and the type of driving I do. My last change was around 7k just because I was too busy to get it changed before. It may have been in my head but it felt sluggish compared to after a fresh change.

After the last software update the service part got a little bit more fancy. It used to be just a couple lines of text for choices but now it has a background image of a 3 with its hood up and a countdown timer for miles and months left.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 11:29

Severe driving schedules aren’t necessarily from driving the car hard. Idling a lot, dusty conditions, extreme temperature conditions, towing and hauling heavy loads and other things like that are what you should use to determine whether standard schedule or the severe duty schedule for maintenance intervals. Most of the oil change monitors that I’ve seen calculate how often the oil should be changed based on the items monitored by the ECU. It is strange to me that it would be based on a simple countdown, though that is possible.

Someone in another comment mentioned that it may not have been reset after the last oil change. That is very likely if you get the oil changed before the oil change light comes on. If the change oil light/message isn’t turned on, it is much more likely that the tech doing the service forgot to reset it when they did the oil change.

smobgirl > Ferrero1911
05/25/2016 at 11:30

The last three times the light has come on it’s been at the 3,000ish miles/3 month intervals the dealer keeps recommending. That’s why I wondered if they had the power to set that. It was resetting itself at 7,500 or so miles when indie shops were still doing the work. And it's a 2012 also.

smobgirl > Birddog
05/25/2016 at 11:35

Nah, it’s totally cool. I just did everything I could to avoid driving in general and avoid uncomfortable driving situations (like stop and go, etc) for about 4 months. That’s why this light surprised me more than the last couple. That's why I get for babying it, now it expects white glove treatment forever!

smobgirl > 190octane
05/25/2016 at 11:37

Both. The Abarth has an exclamation point in a triangle for things not covered by normal warning lights, and then it tells you in the LED when you start the car. I reset it now though, it was getting annoying!

smobgirl > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
05/25/2016 at 11:43

That's what I was thinking. It was the sudden change to a whiny demanding vehicle once a dealer was doing the work that made me wonder. I've never had a car that knew to ask for anything except in dire emergencies.

190octane > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 12:47

You should do a google search to see if you can change the interval, I know I can on mine.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > smobgirl
05/25/2016 at 18:11

I’d like to own one for the small car experience. The first gen cooper s, gti, and this are considered too. I’d consider the abarth more reliable than a second gen cooper s.

Steve in Manhattan > Ferrero1911
05/25/2016 at 18:22

Of course they did ....

smobgirl > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)
05/25/2016 at 19:01

I’ll admit I didn’t test drive either the Cooper or the GTI, but I was smitten with the Abarth from the second I set foot in it. At the time I considered it the unknown enemy as far as reliability and repair costs were concerned but so far I've been happy with the decision. Its been a total blast, even (ok, especially) in snow. This thing does better at altitude than anything else I've driven.