Don’t Be Fooled Into Thinking an Oil Change Every 3,000 Miles Is Necessary

This is not entirely true. The darkness you seen in your oil has nothing to do with how dirty the oil actually is, all that is is excess carbon that is picked up from the firing of your engine, just by looking at the oil won't tell you how "good" it is. A TBN test is one of the only real ways to see how much of the additives that the company has placed in the oil to help it do its job of neutralize the acids in your engine along with cooling and cleaning are left to see how much life is left on your oil. The additives in the oil breakdown over time and especially with the heat of running your engine, the fact is changing the oil in your car has nothing to do with it really being dirty its the fact that it breaks down and can no longer do its job, oils purpose is not just to lubricate the engine but also cool it and remove anything in the engine such as sludge from old oil as well as very tiny metal particles from your engine. you should always change your oil every 3000 miles. Now 3 months is a bit soon it will not break down by then, but if you spend a lot of time sitting in traffic running the engine, not racking up miles, but still running it you may want to consider 3 months, if you just do small driving around town not really in traffic you should be fine up to 5 months or so. as long as you change your oil roughly every 3000 miles or 5 months (which ever comes first) your engine will last you a long time, now one thing to note with the oil change sensors in your car, most of them don't actually ever touch the oil, they work with your odometer and do it based on how many miles you have driven, which the number of miles often can be changed. Your car coming from the dealer will often have it set to 6000-9000 miles do to the fact that the manufactures often ship with synthetic oils, which do to the molecular enhancement of these oils they do not break down near as fast as conventional oil.

I have a VW Passat 1.9 TDI 2003, filled up with Fully Synthetic Oil in 2003, since then the oil hasn't been changed for 200.000 Miles, i still drive the car. I regularly check teh oil viscosity which is as it is new. Dont waste your money for nothing. If you change the oil they take that black oil and put one spoon of chemical and from bleck it becomes amber in color and then they pack it and sell it to you in a store. We are living in the world of fraud!

Glad to see I'm not crazy. I've been changing my oil every 5,000 miles for as long as I've been driving. It has seemed to work so far.

I have a 2005 Toyota Camry and ive driven my car about 1000 miles past its recommended mileage but the oil change light hasn't come on yet. I checked the oil and there was still a sufficient amount left and the color was still amber-ish. Should I wait til the light actually comes on or should I go ahead and get it changed?

I have a 2002 Ford Explorer with 180,589 miles on it, and at around 15,000 miles, the check oil light has come on after about 14 miles from the 3000+ put on the sticker. The truck runs great.

I bought a new car 2009 Lexus, but I rarely drive it because I travel to work in a van pool. Often times my mileage is under the number before the oil change date. My friend who thinks he knows about cars andsays I should change the oil based on the earlier of. The date comes way before the mileage for me because my car is often sitting in the garage. How often should I change my oil? Based on the date or based upon the number of miles I drive? He says based on the date, and I disagee.

One more thing, my father has a 2003 ford f150 that is a daily driver for a traveling business. He changes his oil every 3,000 miles and the truck is running as strong as ever with not a single clickm tick, or knock in the motor. The truck is running on 220,000! that's right, a ford with OVER 200,000 miles and not a single noise coming from the engine compartment. now tell me a constant oil change and taking care of a vehicle wont improve the life of the vehicle.

You should change oil if you are using those non-synthetic cheap oil. (30 dollars oil change)

If you are using synthetic oil for your car, read the manual of your car. (80 dollars oil change). It is between 5.000 to 10.000 miles.

Chris Tengler, on average, people keep a car for 2-3 years, then they trade it in for a new one. Nothing will happen to an engine if you change your oil every 5-6 thousand miles for 2-3 years of driving the vehicle.

Chris, you are just playing it silly with an oil change.

Watch more TV and read more newspapers, they tell you how to live the life cause you are the stupid one and you don't know how to live it yourself.

The oil is the life blood of your engine. If you wait 5000 miles to change the oil, you're causing wear and tear inside your motor, thats a fact. When your oil starts getting dark it's carrying lots of metalic dust and particles that wear on all the moving parts. The CHANGE OIL SOON light on newer cars should be changed to CHANGE ENGINE SOON. Why are people so freaked out about changing their oil every 3000 mi? Wake up people, it costs less than a tank of gas. Some people will even give you a free car wash with an oil change. People that go 10000 mi probably only brush their teeth once every 10 days to save money.

Im working on big engines and really im seeking some one to answer this question: lube oil change scheduling ?incase of you cant get complete analysis like metal content,contamination analysis.
Appreciate your help.
Thanks

Just paid $4400 for a used (14k miles) engine in a 2003 Honda Accord w/ 99k miles, because of unspecified oil leaks. Burned oil like crazy. Two different mechanics diagnosed "infrequent oil changes" as most likely culprit. I pointed to the owner's manual, which says it only needs oil changes every 10,000 miles. They say it should be 3,000 miles regardless. Am a bit cranky at Honda for putting that in the owner's manual, what the heck! In any event, engine purchased. Even if I got fleeced - and I don't think I did - I'll spend the $20 at Jiffy Lube, even if it only prolongs the engine slightly, $4400 is a lot of oil changes to get thrifty on.

... Says the guy who changes his low end cars more than he changes his oil since 2000

well i have access to good quality oil for cheap ($15 oil and filter) and i change the oil myself on my 06' acura rsx every month regardless of the km i put on it... sometimes i dont even travel 1000km a month and still change it, and she runs fine and smooth. I guess it all depends on the person.

The smart thing to go is get your oil changed every 3000 to 5000 miles.
The people who go 10000-15000 miles(16,000kms!!!!) without changing the oil are nuts and I doubt these people even check the oil level. Your car will start to burn it or leak, I had a car that burned a quart every 600 miles, highway driving.

I change my oil every 5000 to 7000kms. I do it myself, costs me about 30 bucks, using good synthetic oil(bound to come on sale between changes) and filter.

Food for thought see below scenario..

Say there are two Identical vehicles
Vehicle 1 travels in city traffic in varying RPM's and speeds for 1 hour covering 20 Miles going to office and comming back home same time and distance. (Average 1250 RPM since city, AVG 20 MPH)

There by Covering 20 x 2 = 40 miles and 2 hours per day. Say in 100 day's you get 4,000 Miles (Time to Service)
And engine run time of 2 hrs x 100 days = 200 hours.
Total Engine Revolutions = (RPM 1250 x 60 min)x 200 hours = 15,000,000 turns

Now comes the interesting part

Vehicle 2 Travels to a outstation Office in Highway Speed 55MPH for 1 hour without traffic. Which mean going at top gear assume average 2000 RPM and Speed 55 MPH.

So for a Day's drive it's 55 x 2 = 110 Miles 2 hours up and down.
Say in 100 day's you get 11,000 Miles ( Way past 3000 or 4000 limit).
And Engine run time is 2 x 100 = 200 hours same as vehicle 1
Total Engine Revolutions = (RPM 2000 x 60 min)x 200 hours = 24,000,000 turns

1'st vehicle's 4,000 miles in 100 day's can be covered in (4000/110) = 36 day's from Vehicle 2's driving style.
And Engine run time 2 hrs x 36 days = 72 hours.
Total Engine Revolutions ( RPM 2000 x 60 min) x 72 hrs = 8,640,000 turns to cover same distance.

Now lets see how many miles can be covered using the 1'st vehicle's total engine revolutions by using 2'nd vehicle's hi-way style driving.
(15,000,000 / 2000 rpm) / 60 min = 125 hrs x 55 MPH = 6,875 Miles

That's Like (6,875 - 4000 ) = 2,875 Miles Free

Conclusion City driving you may need to service earlier (3000 - 5000) than the Hi-way style driving ( 5000 - 11,000 ).

If there is a posibility to know how many turns an engine can take before an oil change is needed.

Eg. 15,000,000 turns, 24,000,000 turns or it's more or less. Depending on that plus knowing your average RPM and avarage MPH I guess you can land at a rough idea about how many miles you can do before an oil change.

I thought most modern cars and vans now only need an oild change every 20,000 miles or so - mine does in any case.

yes and i want to save a couple of hundred dollars by not changing the oil ( and in the process blow up my 40,000 audi ) ya right. what a load of crap.

I found the best way to check my oil is to put some between my fingers from the oil stick. If if feels like watery with no oily feeling, it's time to change your oil. I always change my filter with an oil change. The filter is even more important than the oil.

The only way to "know" how long you can run your oil is via oil analysis. The Army uses an oil analysis program (AOAP) to test both the oil for service life, and the engine and other lubricated power train components for potential mechanical breakdown. This is done on a 90 day cycle, and catches problems before they get expensive (i.e. one part failure causes another and so on). We don't change the oil until the analysis indicates the oil needs changed. That is based on fuel contamination and the ability of the oil to neutralize acids created by the combustion process. That abilty is expressed as Total Base Number (TBN) and most modern engine oils can go well over 3000 (more like over double in normal service). The additive package in the oil is what gives the oil its ability to suspend particles (detergent) and neutralize acids (TBN) When the oil gets too thick (viscosity) and/or incapable of neutralizing acid (low TBN) and suspend particles (detergent capacity is "full") it's worn out. Not really before. Regardless, it's a safe bet, and less trouble if you change per the manual recommendations. That way, you don't have a Magnusson-Moss case to fight. I would, however, recommend getting an oil analysis done on your oil (about $20) on at least an annual basis, and ESPECIALLY a month or two before the warranty expires, to catch any internal problems before they catch up to you and your warranty. Then, you get to fight with the dealer and manufacturer over who gets to pay to fix something that "technically" isn't broke. But, you have proof if it does break right after the warranty expires.

I have been driving many different cars since the year of 2000 and I've always changed the oil every 7000 miles. Never had any problems with that.

Those who change oil every 3K miles, are suckers that listen to to their mechanics which don't give a damn thing about you, but try to sell as much as possible.

Well here's what I can add...

Not changing your oil for 60,000 miles on a leased 2000 Volkswagen Jetta will cost you close to ten thousand when you blow the engine.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Unless you're driving a car you purchased new within the past two or three years, I wouldn't go longer than 5,000 without changing the oil. But don't take it to have changed. Changing oil is very easy and cheap. If you drive older cars like many frugal people I feel changing your own oil accomplishes a couple things. First, saves you a couple bucks over taking it to have changed. Second, it will help you bond with your older car. Many people take real pride in how well their older cars run or how many miles they have gotten out of them. Changing your own oil gives you a chance to get the know what you're car looks like on the bottom side. While you're there take a look around at the tie rods, hoses, exhaust, tires, etc. I'm not a mechanic by any means but changing my oil has given me the confidence and knowledge to do some other minor repairs and preventative maintenance.

I just want to say to everyone that the mechanics that recommend you to change your oil every 3 months or 3k miles are not ripping you off. Do you even know why oil change is so cheap? Well the reason is that they want you to bring your car in to check for damage parts like: brakes, timing belt, and others parts that needed to be repair. To tell you the truth, they only make 5$ every oil change.They make their money on parts and labor but certainly not oil change. When you bring your car in they look for things that they can make money off also at the same time they checking for your safety. Saying that you can save money by prolonging your oil change is just dense.

Just Use AMSOIL

I use synthetic oil in my car. I change the oil every 10,000 miles 2,500 above the reccomendations in my manual. I have not had any problems at all yet. I still get my car serviced every 30,000 miles as well

i beleive engine wear is according to driving and driver... stop stomping the gas and the brake pedal...
if you have a V8 keep your rpms under 2200... 7000 miles on oil change is suffient... i have had cars where i never changed oil "just added when needed"... "no problems"...

I've been changing my oil on average of 10,000 miles for decades. I get a lot of milage out of my cars. the last one was donated at 221,000 miles after the trans went, but the engine was fine.
A word about filters. All filters are designed to become more efficient as they filter smaller particles. It is not until they begin to inhibit the flow of the material they are intended to filter that they need to be changed. This would show up as an increase in oil pressure on a gauge, and I have never seen this even in cars with a lot of miles and with as many as 12,000 between changes. Changing a filter to soon probably can't hurt, but it isn't being allow to reach it's peak efficiency. All that being said, I think it's best to follow your vehicle manufacturers schedules for all the reasons previously stated in this post,

Well My honda Civic says that it requires Oil change every 10,000 miles under Normal conditions & 5000 miles under severe conditions.
My Honda dealership (in irving TX) puts 3,000 mile reminder-stickers.
On my 30,000 mile service they kinda forced me to get an "Induction service" done.
Whats the induction Service & how beneficial it is, has a big question mark on the it.
I called the Honda Customer care and initiated complaint against the Irving Honda Dealer (McDavid Honda) for fleecing customers to do un-due services and stuff like that.
I take great care of my car and i fill up at good gas stations and there is no chance that my engine would have huge amounts of carbon deposits from use of inferior fuel. Even my mileage per gallon of fuel suggests that.

All in all i'd say change Oil at 6000-8000 range for normal drivers and driving and around 5000-6000 range for people who dont drive too much every day and are involved in very low or very high temperatures, stop & go driving (delivery vechicles) etc should change oil according to time rather than mileage.

Nice post.

I love that all places still religiously put the 3,000 reminder sticker in the window. I am sure that it helps their business.

I was recently trying to explain to my wife, that those little stickers are irrelevant for most newer cars. I took a little convincing.

Thanks for the tip for the oil change. Does the fact that the oil light has come on indicate that damage is starting to occur to the engine, or just to inform you the oil needs changing. many thanks.

You are correct!! Engine oil is so well engineered today that you don't have to change it as often. Just another way for companies to make more money off of uninformed consumers.

Thanks!

My father's business partner told me that the kindest thing he does to his Mercedes is to get the oil changed every 1,000 miles. And recently the mechanic for Yellow Cab in Quincy told me that he has Chevys in the fleet with over 400,000 miles on them. Bet he changes the oil more often than every 3,000 miles.

Actually the 3,000 mile number arose from a study Consumers Reports did analyzing the habits of people who had cars with more than 100,000 miles on the odometer (or something like that, I forget the specifics.) The common denominator was that cars that had more frequent oil changes -- every 3,000 miles on average -- were the ones that lasted the longest without significant repairs.

So, it's not just a number somebody pulled out of a hat. Before this study, the common wisdom recommended in manuals was an oil change every 10,000 miles. FYI.

Yea, I drive my turbo Rx7 only 1,000 miles in nine months. Normal driving down the highway. So after nine months do I change my oil and filter?
I just do it once a year or every 2,000 miles.

You're right. Today's oil quality is very high and there is no need to change it too often.Cadillac Seville: (synthetic) oil change 30.000! miles...

I agree with the main idea that your oil doesn't need to be changed at the rate the sticker says. We're not lazy, we consider just these cheap oil changes a good way to picking out problems early.

My husband and I drive about 6000 miles/year on our 11 year old cars. We take our cars in every 3 months and pay about $17/ oil change. We don't get the oil changed because we think the oil is dead; we do it so that our trusted mechanic gets a good look at our cars regularly. At the age of our cars, we're in the period where things need to be replaced. We rather catch that when it costs $100-200 than when it costs several times that. We just went last week and because we're regulars they charged $11 bucks for each oil change. My car was fine and off it went. My husband's car was leaking stuff and a gasket needed to be replaced. We're pretty happy with the way this works.

When you dont change your oil every 3,000 miles its like playing with fire. Its not the oil that will damage your engine, though it does wear down and lose its ability to lubricate, its the build up of moisture, engine crud from combustion, and wear on parts that will cause the most damage. Cars are expensive and if well taken care of will last 250-500 thousand miles or more as all of mine have. So by not changing your oil and filter you are increasing the wear and tear on a motor that runs at 2000-6000 rpm. Oil and filters are easy and cheap to change regularly compared to buying a new car. Also, you cannot "test" your oil by looking at it, when you do this you are not seeing what builds up in the pan and gets pumped through your engine or how clogged your filter is or the actual "molecular condition" of your oil. Finally when it comes to what the manual says, your probably fine going 5,000 miles on a new motor with high quailty oil and filters but if you look in your manual you will see that the reccomended service stops after 100k miles. Maybe the auto makers just want you to buy a new car every 100k miles? Do what you want ... but cars are expensive and I want mine to last as long as possible.

If not 3000 miles, what is the ideal number ?

The 3000 mile thing is definitely a money maker for oil change businesses and they have convinced a large part of the driving public that it is an absolute necessity. My advice is to follow the intervals in your owners manual. In my Saab, that is 10k miles.

For Michelle and r who had questions about different driving habits. Again, these guidelines are for typical driving conditions. If you drive very little and it takes a very long time to reach 3,000 miles this assumption may not be appropriate.

I'm not an automotive expert so I don't know what effect infrequent driving has on your oil. It may require that you set up an oil change schedule that isn't so much based on miles but instead based on time. But for something like that I would check with a trusted mechanic or refer to your owner's manual for the vehicle.

My problem (not really a bad problem to have) is that it takes me 6 or 7 months to hit 3000 mile mark. Do I wait that long, even though "they" say to change every 3 months or 3k miles??

I tend to wait until about month 5, even though I'm nowhere near 3k yet. Opinions??

Great topic!

What about if you only drive about 3k miles a year anyways? Or even less? Do the recommendations need to be altered?

Yeah, I can agree with this, as I did a 13000 mile road trip with my brother over 3 and half months without ever changing the oil the entire trip. In fact I don't think my brother changed the oil in his truck for about another 2 months after we got back, so you can definitely go quite a long way without the "recommended" oil service.

Definitely get in there on a regular basis and check your oil level. If you're burning oil, you need to know about it.

As someone who just purchased her first car under a year ago, I've bee wondering about that 'every 3,000 miles' oil change. It just seemed fishy to me that every car would need an oil change at the exact same time, and that all the folks pushing the timely switch would profit from frequent changes. Thanks for sheding some light on this lie. :)