How often do you change your oil?

[solidg]

For the past 4 years Ive been changing my oil every 3k miles. I think soon Im going to change to every 4k miles. The reason for the change in the change interval is I saw something on Quaker states website that says you could change at 4k now, since oil has improved.

[gator2764]

In-town driving should be 3 to 4K but all highway can be 5K

[GSS123]

7000 miles between changes, I use Mobil One synthetic oil. Drive a lot of highway miles.

[yotatechie04]

I change my oil every 3k, do a lot of highway and city, and I use Castrol SynTec.

[Neinta]

I do mine every 5,000. I use Valvoline synthetic or Chevron depending on if I change it myself or take it to a lube place.

[RIP]

Thread is a little old but, what the hell. I've owned 7 cars in 36 years and have changed the oil every 5K miles with the cheapest brand of oil that has the API emblem on it. Never had engine problems - never saw the gas mileage dip. I've had over 200k miles on some of them. In 96 Consumer Report Magazine did tests on 70 NYC taxi cabs, putting over a million miles on them and conluded the brand of oil made no difference what soever and in normal driving oils will last 7k miles. They also concluded oil additives are a total waste of money. The oil companies tell you to change oil every 3k miles. If you want to keep their execs in chaffered limos, keep changing your oil at 3k miles.

[Brian R.]

That study only holds true for the engine in the taxis and the type of driving they do. Most engines are harder on oil that the basic engine they order for taxi fleets. Taxis also keep their engine hot by driving and idling alot. They don't do short to-the-grocery store jaunts like some people do regularly.

There are a million ways to drive a car over its life. Everyone has to make their own decision about how much they stress and contaminate their oil, as well as find out if their engine is susceptible to causing their oil to degrade faster than normal. There is no right or minimum frequency for oil that fits everyone.

[WickedNYCowboy]

I change mine every 3,000 miles. I am going to start using Mobil 1 Synthetic and a Valvoline or Wix filter.

[RIP]

More food for thought. Have you heard of people that never change their oil? I ran into one the other day. He's in his 70's and has owned countless cars/trucks and several motor homes. He said he has never changed the oil on any of his vehicles. He just tops it off when needed. He says he's only had one engine related breakdown. When the vehicle hits 150k miles he sells it usually after 4-5 years of ownership. I certainly wouldn't go to that extreme but, it is an indication of the abuse many engines will take.

[Vroom2]

I'm at the opposite end, I guess. I have heard of folks that never change the oil in there vehicles. Amazing.

I've always been religious about 3k-mile oil & filter changes. Somewhat recently I switched to Mobil1 and have upped that to 5k miles. I have no doubt I could go longer (roughly 65/45 highway/city; 25k miles/year) between changes, but paranoia sets in, I guess.

Brian R. made a good point - stick with your comfort level based on your driving patterns. Personally, I think of good oil, a good filter, and frequent changing of both as a fairly cheap insurance policy.

Take care,
Jerry

[Brian R.]

I think a good filter and frequent (3K mile) changes are enough to get by with any name brand API motor oil. It is the people/engines that are really hard on their oil who benefit from synthetic oil.

I think that is why there has been so many different places recommending 3K oil and filter changes. You can get by with almost anything and they are playing it safe. Only racers, dirt road drivers, and people/engines that are extremely hard on oil need more frequent changes than that.

BTW, I used to test engine oils in a laboratory for a while in my younger years.... The best oil I ever saw (if your engine would use it) was ARCO Graphite. Nothing could touch it for friction and wear reduction. My old 454 Chevelle with a carburetor consistently idled 500 rpm faster with AG than with any other oil. I always had to adjust the idle down when I used it and back up when I used any other oil. All the other oils made it idle the same speed. AG also kicked ass in laboratory testing. It's too bad so many engines had trouble with it. Mine never did. I would still use it if I could buy it.

[dan83]

3k, mobil 1 synthetic only

[JPad4]

3K-4K, Valvoline DuraBlend 5W/30, Toyota oil filter
91K on my '00 with no problems (crosses fingers)

[Toyrolla]

2K-3K religiously, preferably with a Toyota filter.

There have been a few times when I've used a Purolator Pur-One filter whenever I didn't have a factory filter handy.

[Brian R.]

I use Mobil 1 with Purolator Pure-One filters. Change every 4k on my 4Runner and every 3k on my Camry. For some reason, the Camry seems to trash the oil faster (if color and smell are any indicator).