Automobile Maintenance

[tominboise]

Since this is a thread about auto maintenance and there is no other procedure more basic than an oil and filter change....does anybody else besides me get a bit nervous adhering to the recommended oil change intervals nowadays? These are often 7,000 to 10,000 miles between oil changes, more with synthetic oils.

I'm from the old school where 3,000 miles between oil changes were the norm. Admittedly that was 40 to 50 year ago. But I just have a natural recoil action to going 7,000 miles between oil changes.

Watch the youtuber "I do cars" for awhile and see what he thinks about deferring oil changes. Generally speaking, you won't hurt anything but your wallet changing more frequently. I aim for 5k miles or once per year, whichever comes first. I also get an oil analysis done the first time around to get a feel for how long I could go if needed.

Some engines, such as the ecoboost Ford V6's, specify a 10k oil change but doing it a 5k is a prudent practice, due to fuel dilution from the injection system and oil shearing from the timing chains.

As others have mentioned, cruising 5k miles on the Interstate is a lot easier on oil than 5k worth of trips to the grocery store.

 

[Jerry1]

I have a Toyota Corolla and drive 2700 miles a year. I use synthetic oil and usually change it yearly. After reading this thread I may be able to go longer.

If it’s still under warranty, you may want to check the manual. I drove very little one year and thought about skipping the oil change. But, someone on this forum told me to check the manual and, sure enough, oil is to be changed at least once per year. I’m sure a full synthetic oil would be fine, but I did the oil change just in case something happened to the engine. I didn’t want to argue with GM.