Oil change interval

Lee123

Went for my first "free" oil change last week. The appointment was set up when I bought the car and was 3 months from the day I bought it. I was told it would be free, and was also given a paper good for 2 years or 20,000 miles of free oil changes "in accordance with the maintenance schedule in your Nissan Service and Maintenance Guide." There were only 1932 miles on the car when I brought it in and the service adviser told me they wouldn't do the oil change free since I did not have 3,750 miles on the car. I finally talked him into it since the appointment was made when I bought it, but he insisted that the other free oil changes would only be done free if I put at least 3,600 miles on it between each change. I told him that would be 5 or 6 months and tried to explain that the manual says "3,750 miles or 3 months whichever comes first." I could not convince him that the factory required it to be done every 3 months. Then I talked to the customer service manager and he said the same thing, the 3 months doesn't matter. Ironically, they stuck one of those stickers on the windshield telling me my next service is due on 10/13, 3 months later.

I also had to pay $72 for the recommended ester oil, but I guess that's to be expected.

Since I only drive about 700 a month, it would be more convenient and cheaper to get the oil changed every 3,750 miles and forget the 3 months, but I believe that would mess up my warranty if I ever had a problem that they wanted to avoid covering.

It's hard to believe the dealer could be ignorant of the factory service requirements, but unless the meaning of "whichever comes first" has changed, they are nuts. Has anyone else run into this?

For what it's worth, telling them where to go and doing my own oil changes is out. I did that for most of my life, but I can no longer do it.