The Car Talk guys on NPR say that you can follow the owner’s manual. They also address you question on why the two are different: The dealership wants to sell you more oil.
I am surprised that the owner’s manual says 10000. That is higher than any I have heard, but I haven’t bought a new car in 8 years.
On that note, also conform yourself with following the recommendations in your maintenance (or owners) manual for all of the other services. I hate going to the dealer or quick-lube places and listening to the outright fscking lies about their maintenance schedules.
Wow - I’ve never owned a car with less than a 6,000 mile interval. I currently own a Toyota that recommends 7,500 (or 5,000 for severe conditions, which are way more severe than anything I encounter). Despite that, the Toyota dealership faithfully puts a 3,000 mile reminder on the windshield every time I take it in. They are simply out to make more money, just as when I take it in for service and they add the “dealer-recommended service” to the factory-recommended service, which doubles the price (and I decline). I have a friend who is a manager of a Honda dealership and he describes these practices as purely up-sell.
What about 8 cylinders? Or to be a total wise guy, my Colorado has 5 cylinders. What about 5 cylinder cars, is there a general rule?
Yes, there is. The general rule is get out your owner’s manual (refered to in the industry as the most expensive book you have ever purchased, and never read) and read what the guys that designed and built your engine recomend. :rolleyes:
[Mr.Slant** Thanks for your kind comments. Over the last year, I have been learning more and more about oil. There is way more to this than I used to believe.
Boy I screwed up the coding on that one didn’t I? :smack:
Do modern engines use no oil at all anymore? 10,000 miles between oil changes huh?
Assuming a moderate usage of a quart every 3000 miles and if you added to replace the loss-----you would come pretty close to changing the oil at 10,000 miles without ever actually changing it.
I have never owned a car that didn’t use at least some oil. If none were added no car I ever owned would have ANY oil in it at 10,000 miles.========fried motor.
Of course my youngest car is 23 years old----so maybe it is possible these days.
I’ve always had GMs and the recommended oil change interval is 7,500.
The Jiffy Lube recommendation is 3,000.
Modern cars do use a lot less oil then older cars did.
Back in the 60’s if you owned a British car and you only had to add a quart in 1,000 miles you had a good engine. 
When I started working in a gas station, we had one customer that had a slant six Chrysler that used 1/2 quart in 3000 miles. We thought his car should have been in the Guiness book.
Nowadays with better metals, better machining, and advanced engine management* using only a quart in 10,000 miles is not unknown.
We sold a car a few years back that had a 10,000 miles oil change interval. I had one of these a company car. It used about 3/4 of a quart in 10,000 miles.
*the introduction of idle motors, believe it or not, caused a reduction of oil usage. On decell the idle motor open and limits the amount of vacuum in the intake manifold. this limits the amount of oil pulled passed the valve seals and rings.
My Ford Escape has a change interval of 5,000.
It would probably help if the people at the dealership took a peek at the owner’s manuals. When we took home my beloved (I mean it; we’re very close) Saab 9-2X Aero this summer, my husband remembered reading somewhere in his obsessive research that the engine had a break-in period (during which time RPMs were to be kept low, damn them, DAMN THE CRUELTY). He asked the sales rep and a pair of maintenance personnel, and everyone said nope, no such thing, not to worry. Then I got the manual home, and was stricken to find that it was true – not once, but twice those manual writing bastards advised me not to exceed 4000 RPM for the first 1000 miles! I did my (ahem) best to obey.
Er, that’s 5000 kilometers. About 3000 miles.
Good point, ombre3.
In fact, new cars have a variety of oil consumption patterns.
Some new cars use a little, some new cars use more than a little. The automaker rule of thumb is that you won’t get warranty service for “excessive oil use” unless you’re putting in more than a quart per 1,000 miles. I’ve heard that Cadillac’s North Star V8 series is thirsty.
Your theory of changing the oil through burning it is one that is in fact used in the Over The Road truck industry. There is at least one company making semis that intentionally transfers motor oil into the fuel system from time to time, ensuring that the oil will be topped off so as to extend oil change intervals. Of course, their method works much better when your oil capacity is measured in gallons than quarts, and is of no use at all in gas engines, but the principle applies.
I used to have a Mercedes diesel that leaked 4 quarts per 1,000 miles. I changed the oil faithfully at 3,000 miles, but knowing what I know now, I suspect I would just change the filter at the reccomended intervals and NEVER change its crankcase.
Your Ford Escape has a 3000 mile interval because many [all?] automakers consider Canuckistan to automatically be “severe” and because your car is a Ford.
In North America Ford and Mercury both have across the board policies of 3,000 miles for severe and 5,000 miles for normal usage.
If you don’t have the manual Escape, my Sable has the same engine as your SUV. Congratulations, that’s a peppy little Duratec powerplant and allegedly trouble-free.
Bob,
You should understand that Rick was reciting the factory oil change reccomendations for 2004 Model Year Honda Accords.
If your 2004 Accord came from the factory with the 5-cylinder from a a Chevy Colorado, you’ll want to have your dealer’s service department contact Honda tech support for specific advice.
Like Rick said, follow what the book said.
As I have said before, every time this topic is raised on the SDMB, the"change the oil every 3000 miles" seems only to be confined to the US. In the UK and the rest of Europe it is quite common to have the manufacturer recommend oil changes of between 10,000 and 20,000 miles. We are not just talking about the very expensive cars , but equally to Fords , Peugeots and Fiats etc. So why the big difference ? As as been said above , it seems to be just a money making exercise from the oil-change companies.
My mistake, I thought they were general rules for # cylinders in any car.
I suspect the oil change intervals in the manuals are ultraconservative, designed to bring in money for the dealerships’ service departments. But failing to follow it may cause you grief if you have an expensive warranty claim.
They may be ultra conservative in the US , but the rest of the world seems to get by on much longer manufacturer’s recommended service / oil -change intervals.
How much does an oil change cost in the UK these days? I remember paying something like £40 ($70) 10 years ago. When I came to the US and found all the 3,000 mile recommendations I wondered if there was some sort of trade off between cost and distance as an oil change here costs more like $25 even now, and even at the Toyota dealer.
Can’t answer that off-hand. I think most people in the UK get an oil change as part of the manufacturer’s full service. This is usually at 10,000- 20,000 miles or every 12 months. There doesn’t appear to be many of the stand-alone oil-changing companies you have in the US. The last full service on my Nissan Micra, at a main dealer, cost £170, including an MOT. The car is three years’ old.