When to change your oil

[Homerboy]

Cars get driven minimally (less that 10K a year).

Do you do every 3K miles?
Do you do every 3 months?
Do you do when the cute little dummy in the dashboard goes on?

 

[LTC8K6]

10K I would probably change every 6 months.

5K I would probably change once a year.

This depends on the trip lengths.

If the trips are short, then I would lean towards more often, despite the miles.

If the trips are long, where the oil gets fully up to temp for a while, then I'd go with the above.

 

[Yuriman]

I use a 10k interval, which is what it says in my manual.

 

[dud]

Cars get driven minimally (less that 10K a year).

Do you do every 3K miles?
Do you do every 3 months?
Do you do when the cute little dummy in the dashboard goes on?

OP, you are going to get a lot of differing advice. I own two vehicles and use them under similar circumstances. The car is 7 years old with 36K miles and a 10 yr old truck with 46K miles. I use a miles drive/time algorithm to determine when to change the oil. I change every 4K miles or every one year ... whichever comes first. I've been doing this routinely for 25 years with no problems. I use conventional oil and a good Purolator (Pureone) or equivalent filter.

Hope this helps.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

After a TBN analysis through Blackstone Labs it was suggested that I change the oil every 7K miles.

So far this means I change the oil twice a year.

**I Use Synthetic Oil.

 

[Raizinman]

Depends on a few other factors:

1) Are you using regular oil or synthetic?
2) When you drive the car, is the car driven for 30 or 40 minutes and fully warmed up or only short 5 or 10 minutes trips, which would leave moisture in the oil.

Not knowing the year, make and model of your vehicle, most newer cars will tell you when to change your oil. This is not based on time or mileage, but on a host of various criteria such as:

Idle time, Full throttle time, average RPM, mileage, temperature sensor, and other factors. The computer will know much better when to change your oil than you do.

 

[maxi007]

I change after 7K KM or 4-5 MOnths

 

[Jimzz]

I use semi-syn high mileage and change it every 5k-ish or once a year.

 

[996GT2]

Another factor is the size of the oil sump in your car. If you drive say a BMW 3-series with a 7 quart sump, you can get away with a longer interval than a car with a 4.5 quart sump.

 

[Meghan54]

Personally, I'd read my owner's manual first and see what the mfgr's recommendation is.

Then, adjust accordingly.

 

[KK]

7500 with synthetic

 

[Zodiark1593]

Volvo V70, 5000 miles with semi synthetic. Basically, whatever the manual says.

I drive about an hour a trip, so oil definitely gets to temp.

 

[jagec]

Whenever the old stuff runs dry!

 

[phucheneh]

I agree with LTC8k6 (you really need an easier to remember name), basically. I would summarize my thoughts as: once a year at minimum, or else every 4-5k. Assuming the standard bulk 'synthetic blend' you get with an average $20-35 oil change...i.e. the lowest grade oil in wide use...recycled 'there's gotta be SOME synthetic in there' oil.

Which...isn't really terrible oil. Better than what you got out of a brand-name bottle 20 years ago.

If full synthetic, once a year is still probably a good habit to keep, or else every 7-10k depending on use (high mileage mostly-highway cars would be the ones at ~10k). Some people will try and go longer, I say meh, it's starting to get a little more risky, and with no good cost benefit. Every car should get an oil change and a decent inspection at least twice a year. And going over 10,000 miles without rotating tires is too long on pretty much anything. Some cars can set in a decent wear pattern in as little as 5-7k or so.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Whenever my car tells me to.

 

[Zodiark1593]

I agree with LTC8k6 (you really need an easier to remember name), basically. I would summarize my thoughts as: once a year at minimum, or else every 4-5k. Assuming the standard bulk 'synthetic blend' you get with an average $20-35 oil change...i.e. the lowest grade oil in wide use...recycled 'there's gotta be SOME synthetic in there' oil.

Which...isn't really terrible oil. Better than what you got out of a brand-name bottle 20 years ago.

If full synthetic, once a year is still probably a good habit to keep, or else every 7-10k depending on use (high mileage mostly-highway cars would be the ones at ~10k). Some people will try and go longer, I say meh, it's starting to get a little more risky, and with no good cost benefit. Every car should get an oil change and a decent inspection at least twice a year. And going over 10,000 miles without rotating tires is too long on pretty much anything. Some cars can set in a decent wear pattern in as little as 5-7k or so.

I'd definitely recommend 5k oil changes for Turbo cars, particularly, the older oil cooled turbos. They can chew through even synthetic pretty quickly.

 

[MustISO]

In my car it gives an oil life % based on how the car is driven. I've never gone under 50% life which is usually every 5-6 months. Mostly driving on the highway to and from work, about 30-45 minute commute.

 

[xaeniac]

Read the manual; go by mileage

 

[crashtech]

When the car says there is 15% oil life left. That comes around 7K or so usually.

 

[LTC8K6]

Read the manual; go by mileage

The point, I think, was that the car isn't driven much. Going by the mileage is not the best idea for lightly used cars.

 

[rh71]

Doesn't this matter if you're still under factory warranty? If it says every 3k (I know) or 6 months, don't you have to at least change it every 6 months or you risk not being covered if something happens to the engine during that time? That's what I'm doing on a low mileage car (not synthetic).

As for synthetic, my trusted indy guy tells me it can even go 2 years (I do ~3k/yr mi). He was even turning away my business in saying so. I think I'm settled at 1.5 years for this next one.

 

[SparkyJJO]

The Camaro gets 1 oil change a year (every spring). I don't put enough miles on it in a year to need to do it more often.

The Trailblazer used to get 2 oil changes a year (spring and fall) but with my new job that I don't need to drive near as much anymore that's likely to become a once a year thing too.

 

[LTC8K6]

Doesn't this matter if you're still under factory warranty? If it says every 3k (I know) or 6 months, don't you have to at least change it every 6 months or you risk not being covered if something happens to the engine during that time? That's what I'm doing on a low mileage car (not synthetic).

As for synthetic, my trusted indy guy tells me it can even go 2 years (I do ~3k/yr mi). He was even turning away my business in saying so. I think I'm settled at 1.5 years for this next one.

Well, if it's under warranty, there's no need to ask the question.

You would obviously have to follow the owner's manual.

 

[Uppsala9496]

The owners manual for my edge states every 10,000 miles or once a year, whichever comes first. Would imagine your manual also has a date/mileage time as well.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I typically change my oil when I feel like it.....like 7-10k is fine. If you do it once a year, you're probably fine. Some people really push the 3k miles or 3/6 months. These days, synthetic oils will go 5k-10k between changes. They worry less about oil breakdown because of the additives and viscosity at higher temps.

The only thing to consider is that driving in areas of low air quality (pollen, dust, or pollution) can allow more containments to get through your air filter and into your engine oil. On the other hand, if you're going to sell your car at 100k miles, what difference does it make? The odds of your engine seizing due to not changing your oil frequently is significantly low enough that it's not worth it unless your warranty is voided without maintenance records.