I bought a new car several months ago. The manual says I don’t need to change my oil until my odometer hits 7500 miles. But virtually everyone I know thinks I’m crazy to wait that long and I will be destroying my car. So what’s the truth?
Any input?
Moderator’s Note: Moving to IMHO.
I used to work in an auto dealership service department. We recommended intervals of 3000 miles or 3 months, whichever came first. You could probably get by with the 7500 mile interval is all you ever did was drive on the Interstate. But who does that? Oil gets very dirty, especially stop and go driving. Oil changes aren’t too terribly expensive and it is really cheap insurance, considering that oil is the “life-blood” of an engine.
Change your oil every 3,000 miles. It’s the best thing you can do to preserve the life of your engine.
IMO, it’s such a fast, cheap, effective way of protecting the investment, why in the world not do it? (I’m also a bugger about keeping the car washed clean of road salt and grime.)
I’m a gen-u-wyne mechanical doofus but frankly regard cars as nothing more insanely expensive ways of getting from points A to B, C and beyond. But good tools deserve good care. It just isn’t a comon sense place to cheap out.
Veb
Click and Clack recommend 5,000 miles. You could do it every 3,000, but that ends up being kind of wasteful.
For more information: http://cartalk.cars.com/Columns/Archive/1997/November/12.html
Every 7,500 miles is pretty much the standard recommended interval for new cars.
The “every 3,000 miles” interval is listed under the Car Care Myths section of Consumer Reports. It’s in the Subscribers only section, so I shan’t quote it and cannot link to it here, but the gist of it is that you should follow your owner’s manual. The owner’s manual probably has two maintenance schedules, the regular one, and one for “severe driving conditions”, which, depending upon the manufacturer, may reduce that from 7,500 to 3,750 or 3,000.
Here’s some advice from one oil manufacturer, which pretty closely matches Consumer Reports, except that they indicate that 75% of people fall under the severe driving conditions modifier.
This FAQ from an auto expert site has some info about why and when you should change your oil, and recommends more frequent changes for those who aren’t absolutely conscientious about their auto maintenence.
This explains why frequent idling requires more frequent oil changes.
Here is another motor oil FAQ, which says what the others say, which is every 3,000 miles is probably overkill except under severe driving conditions. It also has a lot of other helpful information, especially as it relates to Oil Change places (which often use non-detergent SAE 30 and cheap filters).
The guys at Cartalk recommend every 5,000 miles, except under extreme conditions.
By the way, Cartalk is a great place to find answers to automobile questions that are easy to understand without being overly simplistic.
Do you drive frequently on dirt roads, in extremely high or low temperatures, in primarily short trips, or primarily in stop-and go conditions? Is the only time you check the oil when the “oil” light comes on? Follow the severe driving schedule.
Do you drive primarily on highways and major thoroughfares, and in non extreme temperatures? Do you check your oil regularly (every few hundred miles, or once a week)? Follow the regular maintenence schedule.
Oh, and if you’re not sure if your area of the country qualifies as “severe driving conditions”, ask the dealer who sold you the car, and follow their recommendation. Most dealerships routinely recommend the severe maintenence schedule, and, conveniently, recommend that you have their service department do the regularly scheduled maintenence. And that’s not a bad idea, as they will be using the proper oil, OEM or manufacturer recommended oil filters, and you’ll have indisputable records should you need a warranted repair.
Drat. Forgot to paste in the url for two of my links.
Here is the oil FAQ I refer to above.
This FAQ is the one I messed up above.
Please define “extreme temperatures”
Around this part of the country, temperatures from -30 Farenheit to +105 are considered “normal”. From a car’s viewpoint, does that count as extreme?
I had never heard of changing every 3,000 miles until I came to the US (from the UK). My manual says 7,500, or 5,000 with heavy driving, and describes what constitutes heavy driving. Very few people will drive that heavily (it’s a Toyota, btw).
My suspicion, to be shot down in flames perhaps, is that the Detroit specials of old needed fresh oil every 3,000 miles and the dealers have never backed off that because the more often the customer comes in, the more revenue they get.
I use synthetics in everything I drive. I change the oil every 10,000 miles.
My last three vehicles ran over 200,000 miles. No engine trouble whatsoever, and all three vehicles are still out there, running nicely. I have over 120,000 miles on my current vehicle, and again, using synthetics, not the least sign of wear. I use a borescope to look into the cylinders at every spark plug change and the honing marks on the cylinders aren’t even worn away yet.
I drive on the expressway in stop and go traffic all the time. Hard driving in horrible weather conditions.
Now, using standard oils at 7500 mile intervals? The dealer just wants to sell you a new car every couple years.
b.
My Z3 has nothing but synthetic oil in it, and BMW recommends an oil change every 15K miles, or once a year. I did a LOT of research on it when I first got the car, since it’s my baby, and opinions varied greatly on whether to go with the 3K guideline or the 15K guideline. Someone said to me “There’s been a ton of improvements in automotive technology over the past 30-50 years. Why is it so hard to believe that oil and cooling systems have been improved enough that the old 3K rule is no longer valid?”
But the real test for me was going and actually LOOKING at the oil at various time periods. At 3K miles, my oil was crystal clear. At 6K, same thing. A year after I got my car, it was starting to look a little dirty.
My car is now 2.5 years old, and has a grand total of 2 oil changes. The oil in it at the moment is as clear as water. I’m buying into the whole Synthetic Oil and loooooong intervals between oil change thing.
There is a reason the manufacturer is recommending 7500 before the first oil change. It is so the engine breaks in correctly. After 7500 miles, every 3 months is recommended. The dirty oil in a new engine helps certain parts, such as piston rings, rod and main bearings, and camshafts wear to a nice tight fit. That is why some new cars will use oil till the engine hits about 5,000 to 10,000 miles. The parts have worn into a tighter fit. The engine wll last longer and will use less oil.
All I know is that if I go much past 3K, my oil is jet black and heading toward being gritty. Of course, I don’t drive a brand new vehicle, either.
I try very hard not to let more than 3000 go by without a change.
For my car, Toyota recommends every 7,500 miles, not just the first 7,500.
From your above link Number Six
I think we can take his recomendation with a grain (or a whole container) of salt
i change the oil in my tundra every 7500. using synthetic and a good filter helps, try mobil 1 and bosch filters.
Both our cars get the oil changed every 7500 miles, as stated in the manuals (2000 & 2002).
Unless you’ve got an old car that burns WAY too much oil, “every 3000 miles” is a scam. New cars simply don’t need their oil changed that often.
When I started in the car business, back in 1968, oil change intervals varied from 2,500-3,000 miles.
Oil back then was just starting to go to multigrades. Most people had just gotten used to using detergent oils.
Today, I don’t even this you can find a bottle of 30W on the shelf. The technology in cars has gone was beyond what was thought possible. The metalurgy has imporved also. So I do not expect 7,500 to be excessive.
But with that said, the average mechanic knows the following
“You can buy lots of oil and filters for what one engine costs.”
If you are not sure about how you drive, go more often. I suggest every 5,000 miles for the simple reason that even a moron like me can count by 5’s.