This isn’t technology news per se, but it’s definitely worth writing about. The question of the day is, how often should you change your oil? If you’re like us, you’ve always been lead to believe that it was a must to change the oil every three months or 3,000 miles, whichever comes first. Even when you go to get your oil changed somewhere, they usually put a sticker on your windshield with the date and/or mileage when you need to come back and it’s always 3,000 miles or 3 months. As it turns out,that “rule” is just a myth.
A recent article over at Yahoo Autos talks about how the 3,000 mile rule is a misconception and was only necessary back in the day when single-grade, non-detergent oils were used. These days the oil is an improved product that lasts a lot longer than it used to, and the engines are better too. Because of that, most manufacturers now recommend that the oil get changed at 5,000, 7,000, or 10,000 miles under “normal driving conditions.”
Obviously the oil companies along with the companies that provide oil changes, like Jiffy Lube, are going to continue to promote the myth to get the business. Just know that even the manual for your vehicle will probably recommend an oil change at about every 7,500 miles and not 3,000 miles, if it’s newer. Of course every vehicle will be different and it does all depend on the driving conditions, so look at your manual and see what the car manufacturer recommends. I checked out the manual on my vehicle – it’s a 2000 Ford Ranger, and it says an oil change is needed every 5,000 miles.
It’s probably worth checking your manual to see what is suggested because it could save you some money in the end…
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Nice post. I recently bought a Chevy Cobalt and I like what they are doing with the “oil life” monitor. It supposedly adapts to your driving conditions and lets you know how much oil life you have as a percentage (e.g., 45% remaining). It’s time to change mine but since I bought the car used, I don’t know exactly how many miles I’m getting between oil changes. Extrapolating out, it looks like somewhere around 6,000 miles.
Thanks for pointing that out, it’s now fixed.
Believe oil longevity depends on a few factors such as mileage on the engine. Obviously 300,000 miles will allow more blow-by and dirty the oil quicker than say 30,000 miles.
FYI, I have 230,000 on a Chevy van V8 which uses 1 quart every 2,000 miles and the oil is visibly darkened on the dipstick. Since it was new I have changed the oil and the filter every 2,000, using Castrol 20/50 in lieu of adding a quart (20%).
amsoil 0w-20 changed every 10,000 miles
Thanks for reminding me of oil changes. I tend to be forgetful and drive continuously—like the Duracell bunny—without checking the miles driven. Usually my wife is the one who raises the red flag.
I have a 1981 Nissan Bluebird, and it has been running like a Swiss watch, defying my lousy maintenance habits.
You mean the Energizer bunny, right.
For those who want to be totally crazy about oil and analysis, an excellent resource is the BITOG forums at [bobistheoilguy.com]
Synthetic oils tend to last longer, and based on testing at [neptune.spacebears.com] you can see that a high quality synthetic can actually perform for over 15000 miles. And that was before the current crop of Mobil 1 synthetic oils that claim the 15000 oil change interval.
As for “darkening” of the oil, these days that doesn’t tell you too much by itself. The fact that the oil gets dirty just means that your engine is NOT getting dirty… and that’s a good thing, assuming your oil filter can keep up. Of course, particles in the oil that are “small enough” to not get filtered by a quality oil filter don’t really matter, but still make the oil look darker.
Bottom line, there’s a LOT to look at. Personally, on my turboed motor (Subaru Legacy GT) I go about 6000 miles before I think about doing an oil change, but I also use Mobil 1 because it’s a turbo motor. My previous car (Mazda MX6) ran for 163k miles under my care, and still goes just as good as new (also ran M1). My wife’s Mazda Tribute is at 110k+, and got the same treatment, and is still chugging along just fine. In the end, these days, vehicles don’t really fail due to motor wear issues… it’s usually electronics or transmissions or other such things that go bad. That’s a testament to better engine and oil design of today. 3000 miles is certainly just a waste in most cases.
My 2003 Saturn ION has one of those computerized oil-monitoring features (I think it and the Cobalt share a common platform).
The oil-service center where I have my oil changed still puts a 3/mo – 3,000/mi change reminder sticker on my windshield each time. However I just go by the digital Saturn oil-change-needed indicator on the dash readout. Hard to tell but it seems to be hitting every 7,500 mi or so. I’ve logged over 110,000 miles so far on the car (mostly highway) and it hasn’t seemed to increase in frequency at all over that time.
I’m very good about getting it changed about a week or two after the alert.
“Obviously the oil companies along with the companies that provide oil changes, like Jiffy Lube, are going to continue to promote the myth to get the business.”
Oh, lookee, another conspiracy theory on the Internet…and I thought I’d gone to Sybernetnews not DailyKOS.
The sticker on my windshield shows a handwritten 5,000 miles for the next change.
Stick to news and leave the rabble rousing for the lunatic sites.
Fred, one of the benefits of authoring a blog is that I am able to express an opinion along with facts. That’s simply what that statement was.
I fail to see any constructive purpose behind your comment that two industries are purposefully advocating creating false demand from their customers. What I saw was public promotion of resentment with no basis in fact. Sit in an auto dealership or one of those oil change businesses for a day and look at the condition of cars which people bring in. Changing oil is preventive medicine that pales in comparison to the cost of gasoline or the vehicle itself. There is more than enough demand for oil and oil-based products for it to be profitable without entire industries colluding to defraud their customers.
oil change is really necessity of every automobile, so it’s a nice consideration.
I have a 2003 Saturn Ion in which I use synthetic oil 5/30, I used penzoil platinum and changed the oil at 3,000 miles
the Saturn oil change light did not state it needed to be changed;
As I always look for sales on oil, I find it usually for $26 dollars for a jug, in Canada;
1 jug is perfect for a complete oil change;
I tried using castrol synthetic and at 3000 miles the oil was very dark, the oil change light came on and when I changed it the oil filter looked TERRIBLE; ( I used a fram filter)
From now on I am sticking to a wix filter, and pennzoil 5/30 platinum synthetic oil;
In Canada, Canadian Tire usually has a sale on this oil every 6 months or so, I stocked up on 3 jugs, as my son drives a 2005 Ion level 2 standard shift car;
My 2003 level 3 car is an automatic, and has 42000 kilometers on it,
So this time I am going to try to make it to 5000 miles before changing the oil or when the oil change light comes on I will send it for oil analysis just to see what’s up;
Amsoil oil is supposedly the best but cost $$$$$$$$$.