Took my car to the mechanic last week for an oil change. I would normally do this myself but it's so brutally cold here right now.

Car is a 2011 G25 with 27k miles

As I haven't been to an actual mechanic since last winter so I dropped my car off and told them oil change and tire rotation (wasn't thinking). Forgot to specifically say use synthetic oil. It wasn't until a couple days later when I looked at my bill and I saw they had a charge for "oil". Looking back to a bill from last winter the charge was for "5W30 oil". I'm going to call tomorrow but I'm thinking they used regular oil...

Why would you use regular oil on a car like this? Fff new Hondas are calling for synthetic now, you'd think they'd get it right on an Infiniti.

Anyways if it is regular oil in my engine what are the implications? Should I get it out of there asap or wait till the next 5k oil change?

Thanks!

 

Nothing wrong w/ Dino oil, the oil quality is so much better than years past. The main advantage for Synthetic is longer OCIs, the VVEL setup on the VQs is prone to noise that can be minimized w/ some synthetic oils or Nissan Ester but that seems to be a case by case situation. My 09 has 70k miles now and never any clacking. I use Penz Platinum FWIW but have used Dino on my previous 07 initially prior to switching over.

I wouldn't worry about running 3k on your "new" oil then switching to your preferred Synthetic, but would lose sleep over this one.

 

Since Infiniti doesn't specify synthetic oil for the VQ, there was no reason for the garage to use anything but standard dino oil. The only thing that went wrong was you didn't specify what kind of oil to use.

As for implications, as long as the oil is 5W-30, there's really not any. Leave it in, monitor your mileage and change it at the next interval unless you have any problems.

 

I'd never ask a mechanic or dealership to use Synthetic. They always act like it costs $9/qt and charge accordingly. It does actually cost close $9/qt when bought individually from an auto parts store, but I don't know who does that. The 5 gallon jugs are like $35 from an auto parts store, and $25 from WalMart.

I'd go to 3500 miles or so on the dino oil then change it. There's nothing wrong with Dino oil as previously stated. You can double the interval with synthetic, but as for fresh oil, there's not much difference in the lubricating performance.

 

The call for Synthetic is mostly emissions & gas mileage related. I do 5K mile changes with either.

 

Because that is what the service manual calls for.

None whatsoever!

My previous 06 G35 with 171796 miles never saw a drop of synthetic and neither did my present 2012 G37S

Sleep tight

Telcoman

 

The dealer typically uses a synthetic blend (mixture of the 2).

While you can argue several advantages of synthetic (heat resistance, longer intervals between changes, etc.), internal combustion engines have been using standard Dino oil for many, many years, so I wouldn't worry.

 

The way I remember it, when synthetic oil started becoming more popular with a broader segment of the market, there were a lot of concerns about when to start using it... like after the first two dino oil changes. Or about how there was a point where there are too many miles on the engine to make the switch.

AFAIK, those concerns, whether originally valid or not, aren't applicable with today's synthetic oil and today's engines. Switch, don't switch, switch back... it doesn't matter anymore.

The only thing that does matter is that you use the proper weight oil for the car, and you change it at appropriate intervals. That's about it.


A car like what? Dial it back, Chris. The G25 is an entry level Nissan.

 

I have been using "regular" engine oil unless its specified to use synthetic in the manual.

The modern oil are good quality even 3000 miles oil change is over kill for "normal" use.

I usually get the oil change done less than every 3750 miles on my G with "regular" oil depends on driving condition, when was it last changed or if I have any track days in between. If I push it hard, I will get it changed sooner.

 

Thanks for the info everyone! My first car was a Saab 9-3 that specified synthetic. In my head I just assumed I would need synthetic now. In reality my 9-3 did need the synthetic due to the turbo engine, the G not so much.


Not sure what you mean by this. When I think entry level Nissan I picture a Sentra. Are a Sentra and my G25 the same?
The G25 retailed for $3.5K less than the G37. It is very similar minus the smaller displacement 2.5L V6.

 

I do my own periodic maintenance. I've had my 2010 for almost 5 years. I use synthetic oil, but I also know it is not required and doesn't help the longevity or gas mileage to any measurable factor. The reason I use it is, it doesn't cost me much to do my own oil change so what the heck.
Tom

 

Most oil that is labeled "synthetic" is really just a blend. There are a handful of true full synthetic oils, each manufacturer makes one specific weight of true synthetic oil for cars like Porsche and BMW which require very high quality oils, those are the only true synthetics while the rest are cheaper alternatives for everyone else.

The ones I know to be true synthetics are:

Castrol 0w-30 (made in germany kind), Mobil 1 0w-40, Royal Purple. As you can see the first two don't even come in 5w-30 weight, because they were formulated for german cars.

I personally do use "true" synthetics, but I do it because that oil lubricates my turbochargers and I want the oil to be top notch. For stock VQ engine it doesn't really make much of a difference if you don't regularly take it to a track or a drag strip. In fact when people say "just make sure to use the right weight" - that's not exactly true either. That's what manual says but that's not the only weight you can put in your engine. For example during winter time, 0w-30 oil will protect your engine a little bit better on a cold start but will work exactly like 5w-30 when it warms up so during winter 0w-30 is actually better than the one reccomended by your manual.

 

Yeah man, you're fine. Go synthetic on the next OC, and don't worry about it.

 

I only halfway agree with you. It's entry-level, but entry-level Infiniti, not Nissan. Entry-Level Nissan is sub-$15K and lacks many standard features on the G25.

In fact, it's (G37 at least) on par with the Maxima which is FLAGSHIP Nissan (for a sedan).

This would be entry-level Nissan :

 

Whatever. Doesn't matter what you call it. The car doesn't require synthetic oil, and the anthropomorphic implication that it "deserves" synthetic by virtue of its upscale marketing is silly. That's the larger point, ruffled feathers notwithstanding.

I use synthetic for a whole host of reasons, none of which are because it's an Infiniti.

I think I need to debadge some more. LOL