First Oil change

Dirtyratz904 · Dec 4, 2021

Hello all,

My Tuscon limited hybrid is due for it's first Oil change. The dealership lists the included service as a conventional oil change. With the limited having a turbo should I go for the synthetic? Dealership lists that as a 79 dollar upgrade, which is a little ridiculous tbh. Shot in the dark here but has anyone brought their own oil in to be used lol? Anyone have any recommendations on what oil to use if I should decide to do it myself?

On a side not was this forum reorganized or something? I remember in June there being much more content and two different subforums to browse. It also my account was no longer registered as well in that timeframe.

Thanks in advance.

Jay · Dec 4, 2021

$79 upgrade for synthetic? lol! That's pretty ambitious pricing! My dealer practically begs customers to bring their vehicles in for the free oil change because the dealer gets to charge Hyundai $55 for the service. I can get my favorite oil, Valvoline Synthetic, in a 5-qt jug at WalMart for about $25 and the filter is $15 extra. For $40 I can make sure the job is done right and I get to use my favorite oil. I had the dealer fix an oil pan leak which necessitated draining and filling the oil. They overfilled the oil and I had to drain about .7 qt out when I got home. They also left out two of the 14 bolts that fasten the bottom aero cover. This is why I opted to pay out of pocket and do the job myself. My dealer will use my own oil if I bring it in. Your owner's manual specifies synthetic oil, BTW.

mungo544 · Dec 5, 2021

0-20 oil is only available as a synthetic. I don't think you have to pay that extra charge for synthetic during the free oil change intervals that are included as part of your new car maintenance package. My salesperson suggested to me that I change my oil every 3750 miles so I would get every other oil change free. By the way if you decide to change your own oil be prepared to deal with a dozen or so parts including 2 bolts, several fragile plastic clips, 2 panels 2 o-rings and two drain plugs. I have done my own oil changes 95% of the time during my 50 + years of driving but I'm not going to deal with that nonsense to save a few bucks.

Dirtyratz904 · Dec 5, 2021

Jay said:
Your owner's manual specifies synthetic oil, BTW.

That's what I assumed but hadn't checked thru the manual yet. I'll make the argument and see how it goes. I have a feeling the upcharge is just get people who don't know any better. I never paid for synthetic at Toyota on my included maintenance.

mungo544 said:
By the way if you decide to change your own oil be prepared to deal with a dozen or so parts including 2 bolts, several fragile plastic clips, 2 panels 2 o-rings and two drain plugs.

That's just a bit overkill. I had assumed it would be a bit more labor intensive but the lengths the manufacturers go to force you to use their service departments is getting to be a bit much. I guess it's just a sign of the times though.

phalkon30 · Dec 5, 2021

My Honda had a full under body panel for gas mileage, the dealer repeatedly forgot to put clips back or broke them. Honestly got pretty fast at taking it off by the end of owning it, have done the Tucson but it doesn't look that bad

Make them show you what oil they put in, I've read on Facebook several dealers have put 5w30 conventional oil in on the included warranty and only knew it because of how rough the engine was. Dealers are the same level as any other shop in my eyes, have had several that did more stupid damage to my cars than I have

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alip · Jan 30, 2022

Our of curiosity, can someone explain me the technical reason why oil changes are so frequent here in US, including modern new cars like a Tucson?
In the Netherlands, my Skoda (Volkswagen) only needed service (incl oil) every 15000 km.
No idea what oil went in there, never thought about it.

Jay · Jan 30, 2022

Alip, I don't think oil change interval is nation dependent but rather vehicle dependent. I could be wrong but you would have to show same car and different interval to convince me. What is the OCI for a Tucson full hybrid in Scandinavia?

jrc3 · Jan 30, 2022

My dealer said oil changes are included for life.

ses310 · Jan 30, 2022

$79 is a ridiculous up charge for synthetic as you can get a 5 qt jug for $25. I would call and question this with the service manager and see if you could get anywhere with him. I would also question just what they are putting in these cars if they aren't using synthetic. I do know there is a valvoline semi-synthetic that is 0W-20, but the majority of the 0W-20 oils out there are full synthetics. Makes me think they may be putting in a conventional 5W-20 or 5W-30 oil. Hyundai doesn't specify synthetic, but does specify 0W-20.

The oil change itself is pretty straight forward once you know how to remove and properly reinstall the drain valve on the oil filter. It's actually kind of nice as you can drain the filter before removing it so less mess. The 2 small panels that must be removed are no big deal. Do note that the 5.1 qts of oil that the manual says the car takes is wrong. I put in almost 5 qts initially and had to drain some out. It's probably more like 4.5. Next time I'll start with a little less than that and check.

I would like to find an oem hyundai filter for this car at a reasonable price. Our local dealer charged me $22 for a filter and I about choked. I did find some online, but once shipping is added it brings it up to almost the same.

Jay · Jan 30, 2022

ses310 said:
...Hyundai doesn't specify synthetic, but does specify 0W-20.

...I would like to find an oem hyundai filter for this car at a reasonable price. Our local dealer charged me $22 for a filter and I about choked. I did find some online, but once shipping is added it brings it up to almost the same.

Hyundai does specify full synthetic 0w-20 for the hybrid. See pg 2-12 of the manual, note 2.
O'Reilly Auto Parts sells the OEM filter for $15.

ses310 · Jan 31, 2022

I stand corrected (but not totally

)

From the manual (the footnote):
": Requires < API SN PLUS (or above) Full synthetic> grade engine oil. If a lower grade engine oil (mineral oil including Semi-synthetic) is used, then the engine oil and engine oil filter must be replaced as indicated severe maintenance condition."

Regardless, I think the dealers should be required to use full synthetic at the free maintenance intervals without an up charge, then. But then, these are the same guys that are trying to add 5k to the MSRP of their cars.

I saw those filters at the time, but wasn't convinced they were OEM. Under the "line" description it says PGF for Premium Guard Filters. Maybe Premium Guard makes them for Hyundai, not sure. I do like having a receipt from Hyundai for filters, when I buy them, so there's no reason they could possibly use to deny a warranty claim, especially considering the issues they had with the Sonata engines. Realistically, filter brand should't be a reason, though.

alip · Jan 31, 2022

Jay said:
Alip, I don't think oil change interval is nation dependent but rather vehicle dependent. I could be wrong but you would have to show same car and different interval to convince me. What is the OCI for a Tucson full hybrid in Scandinavia?

Well, I don't know as i never looked into this, but curious now. Till now i assumed US cars have different localised engines with different oil needs.
I agree with you that, assuming the same engine is placed in a car like the Tucson Hybrid as delivered from South Korea, there should not be a differentation per country.
I looked up Dutch language manual (own translation):

Required oil:
SAE 0W-20, API SN PLUS/SP or ILSAC GF-6
Requires <API SN PLUS (or higher) full synthethic> motoroil. When using motoroil of lower grade (mineral oil, incl. half synthethic) then you need to change the oil and oilfilter according to the severe usage requirements
Rrecommended motoroil (Europe): Shell Helix Ultra AH 0W-20 ; Helix Ultra A5/B5 0W-2

Somehow the page in the chapter where maintenance intervals are listed is omitted (and on the chapter of oil maintenance it just says, follow the interval scheme). However, the Hyundai service webpage generally lists that for this car maintenance is every 15.000 km or every year, which ever would come first. That would include oil, as this is considered part of maintenance.
So, for reasons not clear the US maintenance interval is more conservative?

Jay · Jan 31, 2022

alip said:
...So, for reasons not clear the US maintenance interval is more conservative?

Good find. And some of the listed vehicles have maintenance intervals of 30000km or 1 yr. So I have no idea. Maybe there are environmental concerns imposed on Hyundai by the local government. I don't think there is an environmental or mechanical reason that they would be shorter in the US. Could be that oil is less expensive here than there and Hyundai wants to stretch intervals to show low cost of operation there and be competitive with other makes that recommend long intervals.

MLS · Jan 31, 2022

I've had Hyundai's since 2004. The dealer initially always tried to upsell on routine maintenance and apply "severe" intervals. I only allow them to do what is specified in the factory manual for "regular". Never any issues so far... Also, i do oil changes at 5k intervals rather than the specified 7500. This is between regular and severe. It is also easy to remember and hits all the intervals for some of the more extensive services which are at 15k intervals. The local dealer regularly has coupon specials and senior discounts for oil changes so the $ is reasonable. That said, I haven't priced a full synthetic at the dealer.

ses310 · Jan 31, 2022

I never knew that there's a big difference in recommendations in Europe vs the US. Lot's of theories you can find online but no real reason I could find. Interesting info, alip. Same car, same oil spec, different interval. I wonder if in the US, we're just so ingrained with the 3k maintenance interval from the 60's that is still perpetuated by the quick change oil places that we're just slow to adopt anything different. The 8k recommendation for the Tucson seemed long to me (I slowly moved from 3k to 5k on my more recent vehicles) but I'm feeling better about increasing it since seeing what they've been doing in Europe.

mungo544 · Jan 31, 2022

I just called to schedule my first 3 year free oil change. the dealer told me the interval is different for a turbo engine, 6000 mi. vs. 7500 mi. I wouldn't mind because that would give me an extra free oil change. I can't find anything from Hyundai that confirms this. Has anyone heard this from their dealer?

kevinrobedm · Jan 31, 2022

In Canada, for the PHEV, the maintenance interval is every 8000km (from the canadian hyundai website) which is 4970 miles. We are probably considered an "extreme" driving conditions.

Jay · Jan 31, 2022

mungo544 said:
I just called to schedule my first 3 year free oil change. the dealer told me the interval is different for a turbo engine, 6000 mi. vs. 7500 mi. I wouldn't mind because that would give me an extra free oil change. I can't find anything from Hyundai that confirms this. Has anyone heard this from their dealer?

This .pdf explains the program: https://www.hyundaiusa.com/content/...ce/Hyundai Complimentary Maintenance_2021.pdf

jwslam · Jan 31, 2022

Dirtyratz904 said:
On a side not was this forum reorganized or something? I remember in June there being much more content and two different subforums to browse. It also my account was no longer registered as well in that timeframe.

Were you here instead?