# Why does my car still work after 100K miles of not changing the oil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208 "2005-01-23T04:58:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/21 "2005-01-23T21:49:49Z")
Non detergent oil is made for **REALLY** old cars and some other kind of equipment. My father had a 1936 Ford that used non-detergent oil. Non-detergent oil is used in air compressors. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/22 "2005-01-23T22:05:31Z")
> [@mike1dog](#): > > If you’re adding a quart every 1500 miles, you’re basically changing all the oil every 6000 miles. This is not true. Old oil in an engine is contaminated with a variety of stuff, including _particulates_, _gasoline_, and _water_. An oil filter can only trap particulate contamination. If you change the oil filter and do _not_ change the oil, you might succeed in getting rid of the particulates, but the gasoline and water will remain. ---
**Author:** ![Lee\_from\_Texas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Lee\_from\_Texas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lee_from_Texas)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/23 "2005-01-24T00:21:00Z")
[QUOTE=Roland Deschain] Look Dude, I normally don’t have an extral $30.00 to have it changed (and have no clue how to do it myself, and no garage… QUOTE] Dude- you don’t need 30 bucks. I have mine changed at Wal-Mart for $11.99. It may be possible to buy the oil and filter for less than that, but for a dollar or two extra, I’ll have someone else do it. No clue how to do it yourself? OMG. Well, another poster went into detail on that. No garage? You don’t need a garage. Just drain the oil into a container that won’t let it spill on the ground. I find it amazing that someone who can’t afford a new…or another…car would treat their faithful steed the way you do. Just because it hasn’t failed yet doesn’t mean that it won’t at any moment. If you can’t afford another car, you should baby this one. I’m a big believer in insurance, both literally and figuratively. Regular maintenance like oil changes is a lot cheaper than buying a car to replace the one you screwed up. Not to mention the charges associated with having it moved away from the place where it finally gave up. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/24 "2005-01-24T00:30:02Z")
> [@chaparralv8](#): > > Oil changing instructions. > > 1. Find the oil filter. Remove it using the filter wrench over the pan and tip it into the pan. > > 2. Open one of the bottles of oil. Put your finger in it and rub the oil over the seal on the new oil filter. You forgot step 11.5 after removing the filter. Mop up all the spilled oil and quickly wipe the oil off your hands, face and any other surface it may have dumped on. 🙂 Of the 20 cars I’ve owned, only my 2005 PT Cruiser has an oil filter you can get off easily without dumping the filter. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/25 "2005-01-24T00:53:15Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > You most likely have damage to the cylinders and/or pistons if you’re burning that much oil. You’re supposed to change it regularly to get rid of the crap that causes the damage. Eventually your engine is going to fail, and it will be very expensive to fix. No one would spend thousands to fix a 1994 economy car with 300,000 miles on it. Oil changes cost $12 with a coupon, many places have specials where they do it for $15 w/o a coupon. The parts to do an oil change are about $7 minus the tools (which add another $10 the first time you do it. As to why it still runs, probably because you are putting new oil in as others have said. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Deschain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@Roland\_Deschain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Deschain)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/26 "2005-01-24T01:56:11Z")
I read those directions and I’m telling you that I couldn’t do that if both my son’s and my life depended on it. Now if you came here and showed me about three times, then spent several hours walking me through step by step, yea I could get it down. I’m so bad with “skills” that my wife spent a week tyring to show me how to make an occupied bed to nursing school standards and I stand no better than a fifty fifty chance of passing that skill competency next week (I was even in the Navy, but couldn’t learn how to make a bed there either, they would make the guy on watch during inspections during boot camp because they new my bed making was do bad.) ---
**Author:** ![busterpickle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/27 "2005-01-24T02:20:57Z")
That he is going this far with out changing his oil this long. I, too, am in the Navy and I see these people all the time. Shit, someone I work with just bought a BRAND NEW car and had yet to change the oil 17k miles later and the person has FREE oil changes!! FREE!! And, the person is married and the spouse also won’t take the car in! FREE OIL CHANGES FOR LIFE OF THE CAR!! FREE!! 17k miles and STILL counting!! Plus, these people barely have enough money to pay for the car itself and other expenses and have no money for a major repair but they still do it to themselves. Some people just can’t be helped. Really, they can’t. They get stuck in some bizarre, cyclic, wel-fare state of mind that requires intervention by other people. And, sometimes, that doesn’t do it. Eugenics anyone? eb ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/28 "2005-01-24T02:39:43Z")
Note to self: Never buy a used car from Roland Deschain. ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/29 "2005-01-24T02:45:26Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Note to self: Never buy a used car from Roland Deschain. hahhahhahahahha now THAT was funny 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/30 "2005-01-24T02:46:41Z")
> [@Roland Deschain](#): > > I read those directions and I’m telling you that I couldn’t do that if both my son’s and my life depended on it. Now if you came here and showed me about three times, then spent several hours walking me through step by step, yea I could get it down. I’m so bad with “skills” that my wife spent a week tyring to show me how to make an occupied bed to nursing school standards and I stand no better than a fifty fifty chance of passing that skill competency next week (I was even in the Navy, but couldn’t learn how to make a bed there either, they would make the guy on watch during inspections during boot camp because they new my bed making was do bad.) Take your car to walmart, they will change it for $12-16. Most car repair places only charge $12 or so too. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/31 "2005-01-24T08:49:05Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > IIRC one auto manufacturer, maybe Ford considered burning 1 qt/900 miles is considered ‘normal’. That doesn’t sound right. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/32 "2005-01-24T13:35:00Z")
> [@Roland Deschain](#): > > Also, I may eventually donate the car. However, I actually intended to make it a “permanent car” meaning that I would just fix whatever goes wrong (as it breaks including engines) forever. How are you going to do this if, as you acknowledge, changing the oil is too complicated for you to do yourself and too expensive to have done? If you’re doing no preventative maintenance on the car, your simply not aware of the damage and decay. It’s like saying you haven’t brushed your teeth for three years but they aren’t falling out. The word you’re missing is “yet.” Cars, like teeth, need to be taken care of or they fall apart. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Deschain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@Roland\_Deschain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Deschain)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/33 "2005-01-24T14:11:11Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > How are you going to do this if, as you acknowledge, changing the oil is too complicated for you to do yourself and too expensive to have done? > > If you’re doing no preventative maintenance on the car, your simply not aware of the damage and decay. It’s like saying you haven’t brushed your teeth for three years but they aren’t falling out. The word you’re missing is “yet.” Cars, like teeth, need to be taken care of or they fall apart. Very simply when something breaks I will pay to have it fixed. If the engine finally gives out I will have a used one put in by Miller’s in Shelbyville (they said they can do this for about six hundred in labor plus the cost of the engine if I will work around their schedule). IF the alternator or the clutch then breaks I will fix those things. Consider that the alternative of spending three to six thousand on another used Toyota or Honda is frought with the same possiblilities. I could buy another Toyota (say a 1997 Corolla with 150K miles) only to have it break on me as well. At least with my Toyota I know what’s been replaced, and what has not been. Plus, and this is the key _I already own the vehicle and it is paid for_, thus any “new used” vehicle would have the cost of acquisition in addition to the cost of repairs to consider. I’ve owned this car since early 1995 (at which time I paid $7500 cash) and have conducted the following repairs/maintenance in all that time. My heater fan doesn’t work and that is a pain (Miller changed the blower and it still doesn’t put out much air although what it does put out is warm. He said that he couldn’t find a “squirrel” cage for the blower, but I can’t see how that would keep air from coming out). 1. New oil and changes including Duralube as discussed above. 2. One new timing belt at around 150K miles. 3. Three alternators (it seems like it burns an alternator every 100K miles or so). 4. New tires as needed (I usually get around 70K miles out of them despite never doing alignments only rotations). 5. A new ignition switch so I now have two keys. 6. One new clutch at around 190K miles. 7. New brakes as needed, maybe twice since I’ve owned the vehicle (I use the manual stick to slow down and spair the brakes). 8. I put two new rear struts on the vehicle at around 220K miles, the fronts are still original however. That’s it I’ve spent maybe $2,500 hundred on repairs AND maintenance in the past ten years. That’s about it so even if I spend several thousand (even three or four) in repairs over the next several years I should still be ahead of the game when compared to buying a new vehicle. The rust is limited to about five quarter sized area on the hood and front right quarter panel. I intend to own this car in thrity years. I’ll go so far as to say that even if I won the PowerBall lotto for 100million that I would still keep this car as my primary vehicle, if for no other reason than to demonstrate to my wife and friends how stubborn I am. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/34 "2005-01-24T15:03:54Z")
> [@Roland Deschain](#): > > Look Dude, I normally don’t have an extral $30.00 to have it changed. I know this isn’t the pit, and I apologize in advance to the mods. But there’s no excuse for not changing the oil in your car. Lack of money? I do not believe it. If you don’t have $20 every four months to get your oil changed, then I must also assume you do not have enough money to pay for cable TV, an internet connection, alcoholic beverages, going to the movies, and eating in a restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/35 "2005-01-24T15:14:57Z")
I’m sure there are many car-owners who are indeed not well-off enough to afford any of the luxuries you mention. Although they may seem like essentials to you, luxuries is just what they are, whereas in a remote neighbourhood, car-ownership is perhaps essential. Let’s not jump to conclusions here. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/36 "2005-01-24T15:17:26Z")
Duralube isn’t doing anything. It’s snake oil. Actually, it’s just oil (good oil maybe but not miracle in a can). Have you looked at your oil at all? Is it jet black? Or somewhat clean? It’s possible the constant changing, along with long driving (hot engines burn off varnish and other contaminants) is keeping stuff somewhat clean. I doubt it though. Have fun paying for a new engine and a tow from the side of the road. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/37 "2005-01-24T17:33:10Z")
> [@Dead Cat](#): > > I’m sure there are many car-owners who are indeed not well-off enough to afford any of the luxuries you mention. Although they may seem like essentials to you, luxuries is just what they are, whereas in a remote neighbourhood, car-ownership is perhaps essential. Let’s not jump to conclusions here. Owning a vehicle requires a certain level of responsibility. If you cannot afford to maintain a car, you have no business owning a car. ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/38 "2005-01-24T17:42:52Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > If you cannot afford to maintain a car, you have no business owning a car. now that’s a _bit_ harsh… as a member of the working poor, i can barely afford to maintain my car (read: i only fix items whos function is required for operation of the vehicle), and i don’t even have a ton of bills (lot’s of past debt and low income). Having kids brings lot’s of added responcibility and _those_ people who have kids and low income usually can’t afford to maintain thier cars regardless of the importance of doing so. However, as ill-advised as having kids generally is for peeps w/ a low income, after having had done so, they still need a car. Even if they can’t afford it. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Deschain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@Roland\_Deschain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Deschain)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/39 "2005-01-24T18:41:56Z")
Well, I think you guys might be missing the point a bit. I have known a good number of people who have owned Toyotas and Honda’s who maintained them to scrupulous standards (certainly they changed the oil every three thousand miles and did scheduled maintenance, and had garages to store the vehicles). However, their cars encountered expensive “issues” anywhere from 150K to 250K miles (and in two cases they just got a new car because they wanted one). On the other hand I’ve treated my car like crap (by your standards) and am going strong at 310K plus. If I write back at 400K or even 500K miles will your position be the same? Of course I may end up at the side of the road (that’s why we have AAA), but that could happen without regard to how often I change the oil (and has with other cars I’ve owned where I did change much more frequently). ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208/40 "2005-01-24T18:53:44Z")
**Crafter\_Man** , Your crack from 9:29 01/23/2004 passes my filter for a one-off funny insert. However, your last couple of posts have been **GD** material with a definite flavor of the **Pit**. Calm down, please. [/Moderator Mode] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-still-work-after-100k-miles-of-not-changing-the-oil/286208.md?page=3)