Oh but I want to make it rocket science.
I am very happy you never bought a car from me when I owned a dealership.
6 Likes
Unless you are going to an indy Firestone, a Corp owned Firestone Complete Auto Care will not use your oil and filter or at least it is against company policy… But some managers will do it, but they typically don’t last to long after an internal audit if they do it much… lol
1 Like
Are you talking to me? If so, I guess you hated whenever an engineer patronized your business… So frustrating to have people that like the details and the intricate nature of mechanisms/machines!
Oh I thought that the parts etc were just not warrantied the same if you bring customer provided parts. Never had an issue with providing my own oil filters, spark plugs, coils, bolts/wires, struts, etc.
To a Firestone complete auto care??
Not all of the above, no. However I have done customer provided spark plugs and struts at a Firestone complete.
You found a unicorn or a few of them then, cause it is a big no no for any company owned FSCA to use customer bought parts… If upper management (above the area manager) finds out they may loose there job(s)…
Like I said, I’ve had great luck with Firestone helping me get and stay on the road 
1 Like
Can’t speak to OP’s particular car, but I’ve always changed my oil in the driveway myself, & used Fram * oil filters for my cars and Motorcraft for my truck. I’ve always used Pennzoil brand dino-oil with an SAE rating (SF … SN … etc) at least what the manufacturer recommends. Never experienced any oil related problems in 50+ years, but, full disclosure, older cars & my driving style is pretty easy on the engines. IMHO, beyond following the manufacturer’s requirements, for oil-choice, most important factor is to choose a well known name brand, then use that same brand for the life of the car. For oil filter choice, the most important factor is to choose a well-known name brand filter, and to verify it has a visible anti-drain valve, see post 12 above.
I expect OP – being rightfully concerned about doing this correctly – would serve themselves best by just purchasing the oil filter and the oil at the Kia dealership. I doubt there’s a huge price difference among the alternatives, and peace of mind has a good deal of $$-value.
“*” My most recent oil filter purchase for my Corolla was from O’Reilly’s Parts Store, a “MicroGard” brand. That particular store didn’t seem to stock Fram filters. Can’t speak to that brand’s merits & demerits, no experience, yet. Worrying a little about this though.
1 Like
Yes, i was and i did. One if the reasons i realized i was unsuited to a retail business
I just buy oem filters and Mobil 1. I just find it interesting that someone buys a Kia but then wants the best of the best parts for it.
4 Likes
Well. I’ve been that bothered by things of the world and people I run into before too. Sometimes you can’t hang with attention to detail and that’s fine for most people. Just not engineer types.
Things don’t have to be perfect for us per se, but the decisions have to made and they have to make sense. How can they make sense if you don’t do a detailed comparative analysis of some sort? I takes a lot of effort to analyze all possible aspects of a program or process. It’s required level of analysis for many of our jobs because lives can depend on your accuracy and proper understanding of the problem you were developing solutions for. You don’t just switch that off haha.
For me, my livelihood, ability to provide for family and any attempt to save for retirement all require my car to last as long as possible with as few problems as possible. I can’t sink money into more financing and repairs than I need to especially unexpected ones. I’d rather have peace of mind that I understand exactly why I chose that thing and why it’s the right choice for my car and driving needs.
Unforseen repairs or catastrophic failures can destabilize people and families sometimes. Especially in the financial reality of today. Maybe you’ll eventually understand us nerds some day! Hopefully!
Well I think when it comes to oil and filters yes it’s justified. If I can afford to pay a little extra in hopes mean time between failure will be a little longer then I’ll do it. Not for everything necessarily but I think oil and the filter is one of those things I want a high degree of assurance this is going to be treating my specific car very well or even better than OEM. Sometimes there will be little design improvements in aftermarket or off brand parts. Those are worth knowing about because they can further augment mean time between failure.
Let me know if you know who makes a great filter for a Kia.
I will first give a reminder: save all your receipts since 9.5 years from now you may need to prove you got the oil change.
Question #1: if you are keeping your warranty in effect, will you be going to your Kia dealer (who you don’t trust) for normal maintenance?
Question #2: why would an engineer interested in the last detail of oil filter quality ever buy a Kia? The ten year warranty does absolutely no good for a car with 120,000 miles. So many other cars are solid until 200K even though they don’t have a ten year warranty. With a Kia, your best bet is to have the engine die at 99000. Kias don’t die because of the oil filter quality.
3 Likes
I’m not going to get warranty work done at that dealer anymore. I’m going to be moving for work soon and will probably have access to better mechanics that I trust. Mechanics can still go through your warranty for compensation on repair.
Because life is different for everyone and my identity, decisions and needs don’t always fall into making all my decisions in the specific category or perspective of optimizing for engineering applications. Imagine, there may be competing needs and priorities at the moment of decision and in the life of a modern human being! Wild.
You bought an inexpensive, entry level basic transportation appliance. It is a waste of time and energy to try and maintain it to last 300,000 miles when you will likely get rid of it before it reaches 100,000 miles out of boredom.
4 Likes
You indicated you are moving to a new location.
You might like the Kia dealership at new location better than the one that you do not trust.
I am one of those people that have maintenance performed by the dealership for the duration of the powertrain warranty.
The only thing I do myself is changing air filters (I do those more often than required), cabin air filter, and wiper blades. Rarely do I go more than 300 miles without checking all fluid levels.
As for oil, I have had numerous cars for well over 100,000 miles that were only fed dinosaur oil. Current vehicles call for and get synthetic blends.
3 Likes
Ok thanks for the information!
I think you misunderstood what I wrote. I asked for the absolute best, but I also asked for the most affordable option that would be safe. People are just focusing on the fact I asked for the best possible option, which is mostly intended to give some kind of context to the choices I’m given across the board.
Take a look at the YouTube: Engineers Test the Best Oil Filters
1 Like