3-yr lease - 1 yr + 10 months no oil change yet, should I wait past 2 years ?

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Jason90405

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99% of my drive happens on electric only... I think I've filled up at the gas station 3 times since February of last year. I've been able to get away without gas change even though am supposed to do one every year.

So if I wait until next February, I could probably only do 1-oil change before having to return the car in February of 2022 ?
 
Sounds like you could go 3 years without an oil change. Not my recommendation.

Does your lease agreement require you to have maintenance performed per the maintenance schedule?
Are there penalties for failing to do so?
 
I just reviewed my agreement. It said I must maintain the car with recommended steps in the manual but didn't mention penalty.

If I change the oil after next February, would the system's computer's 12-month warning come up again before my lease is up on Feb of 2022?
 
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Even though you don't use the gas engine much, when it runs there are impurities that infiltrate the oil. Just like a lawnmower, generator, or motorcycle, scooter, or any other device that has a 4-stroke engine, you should change the oil annually just to get the junk out of the engine, and put fresh oil in. With the Clarity, it's not uncommon for folks to go a while without using much, if any, gasoline.
 
I would change the oil once a year. I have several vintage tractors. The books says change the oil every 100 hours. Most of them don't see more than 2 hours of run time a year, but I change the oil once a year.

On the other hand, if you buy it at the end of the lease you don't ever have to change the oil if you don't want to.
 
Jason90405 said:
If I change the oil after next February, would the system's computer's 12-month warning come up again before my lease is up on Feb of 2022?
Click to expand...

The message minder indicated an oil change and tire rotation at ~7500 miles and 6 months. Even though I had an estimated 3000 miles on the ICE, I had the oil changed. That may be an old habit from owning motorcycles in the 1980’s and 90’s where a careful break in period was recommended along with an initial oil change at ~500 miles for many new engines. I see it as cheap insurance to not F-up the engine.

I’d imagine that the message minder will pop up the oil change alert after 365 days from resetting the previous alert, at the latest, even if you have very few miles on the engine. If you choose to have the oil changed, and don’t want to risk having the alert show before the lease expires, then have it done no more than 364 days before you turn in the car.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I decided to take it to Pep Boys for oil change and to fix the low tire pressure warning I have (in addition to the maintenance warning)

It turned out I had a nail in one of the tires. Since I brought my own oil, the total was like $45 for oil change, fixing tire, tire rotation/balancing.
 
@Jason90405, it seems like you don’t run your engine enough just for the health of the car. Yes, I know the engine will run a maintenance mode once in a while but that really is not enough. Go ahead and use HV mode or even HV Charge mode from time to time long enough to heat up the oil and burn off some contamination and keep everything lubricated. At least run it enough to find out everything works correctly while it is still under warranty.

Anyway your usage proves that it is possible for you to have an all electric vehicle for 99% of the time. I wonder about the other 1%.
 
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