I picked up a new 2017 Signature late last year and have put fewer than 4K miles on it. The manual says that the first oil change should be at 4K miles. Should I have any worries about the age of the oil -- sitting around for the better part of a year -- and just go ahead and do it now? Thanks for any suggestions.
I keep all my engines bathing in a fresh oil Jacuzzi as often as possible. I've scoped all my engines from the top side and the cylinders look great, sidewalls look excellent, piston heads look wonderful, etc.. Its like a great day at the movies whenever I borescope something around here. For a long time, I allowed my engines to bathe in nothing but pure Red Line synthetic oils. However, I've recently made the switch to Amsoil synthetic oils. I also exercise the throttle the in all my vehicles occasionally to keep things moving - the way they were designed to move. And, I run MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil) through the fuel system from the tank and through the engine before an oil change (occasionally). Never had anything even remotely resembling a Head Gasket leak.
MMO keeps the fuel system lubricated (something most people don't even think about - yes your fuel system needs lube, too!) and it keeps Fuel Injectors well conditioned and unclogged. The remainder goes into the combustion chamber and treats the cylinder walls, piston heads, piston rings, reduces carbon build-up on the side walls (very important) and keeps the area (perimeter) where the head meets the block very clean (extremely important).
The other thing I do just before an oil change is Steam Clean the entire Engine using simple H2O. I don't talk about this much because you can blow an engine doing this if you don't do it right. You don't pour water through the intake system of an engine. Water molecules don't compress like gas molecules. Your engine was designed to run under a specific range of internal pressure. Too much water can increase pressures beyond the limits and cause damage to your engine. However, using a simply spray bottle from the hardware store and periodically introducing H2O through the intake downstream of the MAF Sensor (I do NOT touch the MAF with water under any circumstances).
I throttle up while slowly introducing water through a spray bottle set to stream the water (not spray the water) and slowly cycle through water injections and throttle advances until approximately 1/2 liter of water has been injected. I then allow the engine to idle for 5 mins. I shut it down for 30 min. Restart and then go for a quick drive on the freeway - taking advantage of 1-2 WOT scenarios that become available and that gets me up to the speed limit (or thereabout) quickly/rapidly (the fun part).
As a direct result of this regimen, I once sold a 14 year old XG350L for $2,100 having 220,000+ miles. I sold a 12 year old Celica GTS having 310,000+ miles and got $3,200 cash. And, those are just two examples. I've been doing Hydro Cleaning of my engines before YouTube even existed - using nothing but off the shelf oil (this was before I began using Red Line) and Marvel Mystery Oil. I learned how to do from my Father, who worked at Caterpillar Tractor Company - where he learned about Hydro Cleaning of engines.
He kept all his engines in pristine condition using off the shelf oil (we are talking back in the early 70s), Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) and Hydro Cleaning before every single oil change. He never did an oil change without H2O cleaning, first. He ran a 1968 Pontiac GTO as his work car. He also had a 1970 Mercury Montego. Those two cars were his "other" children and he pampered them like crazy. The 1970 Lincoln Continental was the family car. That car was so loved by the family that they upgraded to the 1979 Lincoln Town Car later. Pristine engines that purred - all of them.
From the late 60s right into the 21st century, frequent oil changes, proper hydro cleaning and MMO, has worked for more three generations in my family, to keep engines running like Big Cats. FWIW.