I had my car dealer do my second oil change yesterday. The second in 6,000 miles...

 I believe in maintenance. Probably more than most people think necessary. But I remember back in the old days of cars that Honda, Mercedes, BMW and a handful of other car makers used to fill brand new cars with "break-in" oil. One drove the new car for 500 miles and brought it back to the dealer who then changed the oil and oil filter. Apparently it was well known back then that the maximum of wear on an engine (all other things being equal) happens in the first 500 miles as small bits (parts per million) get worn down into the right tolerances and small fragments float about in the oil. Removing the excess metal shedding earlier greatly reduces subsequent damage to the engine's moving parts. 

Apparently, according to oil and flow experts, this hasn't changed one iota. It's just that now car makers want to make it appear that cars are less expensive to maintain than ever before. I guess the logic is that most of the damage from far less routine maintenance doesn't start to show up in most situations until after the first owners have moved on to their next car. And/or the warranty has expired.

My latest car is a Subaru Legacy Sport which has a turbo-charged motor. Turbo-charged motors run hotter than naturally aspirated motors; especially if one is an aggressive driver or one lives in a hot climate already. I don't drive recklessly or "hard" but I'm a stickler for reliability. I never want to get "stuck" if I can help it. The first full maintenance I had done (oil change with Subaru 0-20 synthetic --- as recommended by Subaru, Subaru oil filter, tire rotation) was at 2500 miles. Yesterday I pulled into the service line with 5800+ miles on the odometer. We did the same service all over again. It cost me a total of $158.  Less than my check for dinner with two friends on Monday evening....

It's my usual routine with every car to change oil and re-check fluids at the tail end of Summer because, as we've seen, it gets hot here for prolonged periods of time and heat can be mean to engines. 

According to the attending mechanic all the fluid levels were exactly where they should be before the oil change, and the bottom of the engine was "dry"; meaning no telltale leaks. The dealer's service department turned around the service, checking all the fluid levels, brake pads and rotors, suspension parts, etc. in about 52 minutes. They had initially promised to have the car back to me in two hours. I was just finishing a really good barista-made cappuccino and fresh baked scone when my service advisor came looking for me to let me know I was "good to go." 

when I exited the dealership in my refreshed car the placebo effect of knowing work had been done on the car kicked in and the car's handling felt smoother and faster than ever before. Money well spent if the car is more trustworthy. 

Vroom. Vroom. 

Please don't write to me and tell me how cheap and easy it is to change my own oil. That's something young adults on tight budgets might need to do but once you crest a certain age you give up stuff like helping people move (a good reason not to own a truck....), changing your own oil, trimming your own tall trees, and pretty much anything else that you find annoying or vaguely dangerous. Pay someone else to do that stuff. Especially if you are working and are billing multiples more money that you'll be charged by someone with all the tools and expertise. And yes, I know the oil can be/is recyclable...