Change Your Car's Oil Only When You Need To

We were talking about oil changes the other day and one of the ladies in our office noted how she always gets her oil changed every 3,000. A couple of us asked her if that's what her owner's manual suggested and she said she didn't know -- that she just gets it changed every 3,000 because that's what she's always done. That's what you're "supposed" to do in her opinion.

So consider this a news flash for those of you still changing your car's oil every 3,000 out of habit -- you may not need to. Consider this piece from Yahoo:

It’s been a misconception for years that engine oil should be changed every 3,000 miles, even though most auto manufacturers now recommend oil changes at 5,000, 7,000, or even 10,000 mile intervals under normal driving conditions.

Greatly improved oils, including synthetic oils, coupled with better engines mean longer spans between oil changes without harming an engine. The 3,000 mile interval is a carryover from days when engines used single-grade, non-detergent oils.

Not only is the outdated 3,000-mile rule costing you more money, but it's contributing to other problems:

Using 2005 data, the Board estimates that Californians alone generate about 153.5 million gallons of waste oil annually, of which only about 60 percent is recycled. Used motor oil poses the greatest environmental risk of all automotive fluids because it is insoluble, persistent, and contains heavy metal and toxic chemicals. One gallon of used oil can foul the taste of one million gallons of water.

In other words, we're throwing away (and using) much more oil than we need to be. Bad for our pocketbooks and bad for the environment.

Car service shops do all they can to perpetuate the 3,000-mile myth. Even my dealership -- who KNOWS that my car requires an oil change only every 7,500 miles -- puts a sticker on the top left side of my windshield reminding me to bring the car back in for an oil change in 3,000 miles. They even send me letters reminding me that it's probably been about 3,000 miles since I was in last -- and that I need an oil change. The place I regularly go to get my oil changed (I only go to the dealership when other works needs done -- they're too expensive otherwise) does the same thing with the window sticker. They want me to come back in 3,000 miles.

I take the stickers off the car and throw them away. I track my miles and have a note that reminds me when a change is really needed. I do this for both of our cars.

So if you're getting your oil changed every 3,000 miles simply because you're "supposed" to -- check your owner's manual and see what the real mileage should be. It could be 3,000 miles, but it's more likely that it's a lot higher than that.

Comments

[Ryan S]

A lot of this depends on the type of driving you are doing. If it is stop and go, increase the intervals based on your manual. If it is all highway, you don't have to change as much. See your manual.

[Dangger]

I take oil samples of my oil and have them lab tested. It's like a health check up on my engine. plus it measure soo much detergents and additives are left... i can stretch my oil to 8.5k with no problems.

[PatatrooperJJ]

Well first of all there are usually two schedules for oil changes. The standard one which has the longer interval. Most people do not drive that schedule. Then there is the heavy duty schedule. This is the one that people should follow. The only reason that car makers reccomend 6000 or more miles between oil changes has to do not with oil quality but with a goverment mandate. In the mid 90s the government required auto makers to reduce the need for oil changes. The auto companies chose to comply by doubling the recomended milage between oil changes, not by making any physical engine change.

[ekrabs]

Technical details aside, this is a good article. Thanks for sharing!

[indio]

I keep their sticker in my car windshield as a reminder and just add 2K miles to it to determine when it needs changing.

[Blaine Moore]

My wife changes hers every 5000 and just uses the nearest 5000 miles as a guage for when it needs to be done - no stickers necessary.

My new car tells me when I need to the change the oil so I don't have to bother tracking. The status window with my odometer can be switched to tell me the oil life (100% right now since I just bought the car) and once it gets down low enough it will blink at me to tell me to get the car serviced.

[rwh]

Our 2007 Honda Civic has a computer that figures out when you need an oil change. It monitors the type of driving and displays the % of life left in the oil. You reset the counter at each oil change. So far it drops to 10% (the point in which it should be changed) at about 5000 miles.

Also, I don't know about the pollution claims mentioned in the post. I would be surprised if there is any state that doesn't require used motor oil to be recaptured and recycled. Of course guys like me that change their own oil could just dump it down the storm sewer, but I make sure to take it to the recycle place and my guess is most others do also.

[Patrick]

I leave the sticker on, then add 2,000 miles. (my manual states to change the oil every 5,000 miles). That seems to be the easiest way for me to track it.

[TimR]

I capture my used oil and drop it off at Pep Boys. I buy the oil there and then pour the used stuff back in the bottles from my drain pan. A few min with a funnel and it's all bottled up and ready for drop off.

[Angie]

I also thought it hand to be changed every 3k...and I'd usually go over about 1k (slap on the hand) before I got around to it...then i read my manual and it recommends every 5k. So I don't feel so bad about going about 4k before changing the oil.

[3K Oil Changes]

If you believe the 3k oil change is a farce, then prove it wrong. Change your oil next time. Drive 3k and change the oil. Then do a 7k oil change and you’ll see the difference. The 7k oil will be much more fouled than the 3k. It will smell differently; it will probably have a slightly burnt smell. Finally, get your fingers dirty. Rub the oil between your fingers. The 7k oil will feel gritty. That grit is metal shavings from the internals of your engine wearing away. The 3k oil will have no grit and no burnt smell.

Given the same engine in the same model car, driven the same, the engine that has the consistent 3k oil service has dramatically less engine sludge and internal part wear than the engine with the 7k oil service as recommended by the “manual”. If you ever see anyone with a high mileage car (250k+) and still has hasn’t had an internal repair to that engine they will tell you that they religiously change the oil every 2,500 to 3,500 miles. I haven’t met anyone with a 250k engine (with original parts) doing 7k oil changes. As mentioned in a post above, the 7k oil change has more to do with politics and marketing than sound mechanical advice.

Other mechanical gimmicks are 100k+ spark plugs, 100k antifreeze and 150k+ transmission fluid. They’re gimmicks to sell you a car advertised as “low-maintenance”.

[FMF]

3k --

Then why not an oil change every 1k miles -- wouldn't that be even better?

The point is, at some level, an oil change isn't needed, and there's no arguing that both oils and engines have made improvements in the past 20 years. Then again, if you like paying for something you don't need, then be my guest.

[Shorty]

The best advise is to follow the owner's manual recommendations for all fluid changes and scheduled services. The main reason that stealerships and quick-lube joints want you every 3K miles is not necessarily to change your oil for $19.99, but to suggestive sell other unneeded services with a much greater profit margin. The car care industry is too often a racket, trying to prey on the fears of uneducated consumers. A trusted mechanic can be one of your most important "financial advisors".

I wonder if "3K Oil Changes" above is in the car care industry? Just a guess. Cars and oil and other parts are designed for much longer life than they used to be.

[Mike Hunt]

I had a VW GTI with a turbo engine and I made sure the oil was changed every 3500 miles. Because it was a turbo engine and the RPM's of the turbo were so high I was very cautious about changing the oil regularly. High RPM engines and turbo engines benefit from this type of care. Other cars you can change the oil less often. It's always good to look at the oil periodically. Remember oil changes really are an ounce of prevention. Point being, don't just switch to 8k oil changes without doing some due diligence and then blame us when your engine requires major work permaturely.

-Mike

[andie]

We have a trusted mechanic who doesn't upsell us and we get our 12 year old cars to her place every 3 months even though we definitely won't have driven 3K in that time. For $60-75/yr/car, we get someone who knows what they are doing regularly looking at the car. This has helped us catch things early like a cracked CV boot etc. Sure, we could have an oil change 1.7 times a year, but I think it's worth it to know about problems sooner rather than later. This is also why we don't change our own oil which we could do in theory. We might know enough to change our own oil and air filters, but we don't have the professional vision for how the car should look from the underside.

[No Debt Plan]

We leave the stickers on, but only change the oil every 5,000 or 6,000 miles. I just take the number they put on the sticker and add 2-3k miles to get my "correct mileage" for an oil change.

[Phil M]

Nobody has mentioned synthetics yet. Most synthetic oils can last much longer than standard oils. Using synthetic oil in my old car,the garage would put 6000 miles on the sticker. Regular oil would be 3000.

My new car, a MINI Cooper, uses synthetics too, but it doesn't require oil changes until the 15000 mile mark according to the manual! But I don't trust it. Oil is an indicator of things going on in your engine. As the motor parts turn and rub on eachother, it files off bits of metal, of burnt oil, etc... All of that floats around in the oil until it's changed. Why let that build up for 15000 miles? I try to change it between 7500 and 10000 now.

So yeah, 4000 miles out of standard oil should be fine. 5000 might be pushing it. But definitely check the manual. Or switch to synthetic and change to an 6-8000 mile schedule.