Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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I have been driving for 60+ years and have "worn out" probably 20 cars. I typical "recycle" my cars at typically 180,000 miles. By recycle, I mean giving each to one of my children, who shortly wreck them.
I have had one engine fail due to lubrication problems. This occurred when I idiotically failed to notice a low oil condition and literally ran the engine out of oil. (Cheaply repaired by burnishing one of the crank throws and installing new rod bearings).
But the point of my comment here is to state that my policy is to a) use quality oil (Castrol, in my case) and b) rarely change oil (rarely, means 50,000+ miles).
My point? Only suckers change oil at 3,000 miles. Those who recommend these premature oil changes are simply promoting their own financial self-interest. They are not serving the best interests of the public.
I suggest that a conservative approach is to change oil and filter at 20,000 miles.
I understand that professional truckers to do not change oil on a schedule but depend on periodic lubricity tests to signal deteriorating oil. Perhaps someone with experience with this industry to comment on this practice. t
We successfully tested vehicles to 200K miles using the following procedures:
10K miles - change of oil only, no filter change
20K miles - change both oil and filter and so on for each 10K miles.
At each interval, an oil sample was taken and laboratory tested for metal contamination and quality of oil.
At the end of 200K, the engine was removed and disassembled and I have never heard of one of these test engines having any significant wear associated with them. Typically the result is the engine could have continued to perform as normal, without any repairs necessary, only normal maintenance (valve clearance check/adjustment, timing belt/water pump replacement, etc.).
This article is wholly valid and I have been informing my family and friends for more than ten years to follow the manufacturers recommendations. If you're not sure, then check your owners manual and call the manufacturers representative for your vehicle. They're knowledgeable and accountable to provide the consumer with accurate information.
In sum, the manufacturers (both oil and automotive) place an enormous amount of time and energy (and money) into maintenance requirements for vehicles and want to provide the best economic outcome for the consumer. I am a witness to this effort and know from my experience that today's vehicles and oil products are the best they have ever been, on a longevity basis and maintenance-wise.
Bill
This is the only country where this is the case. The service interval for cars in Europe has been 6000 miles since the 70's, in the early 80's it went to 9,000 miles and now your car tells you when to have a serviced, for most cars with synthetic oils that can be up to 20,000 miles.
This is wasteful money laundering scheme and if you take part in it, you deserve to be fleeced.
I could go on about free healthcare but that will probably bring down the site !!
1) Today's oil may last 6-7000k miles, but the article/studies fail to consider one HUGE factor — dirt (which may cause more engine wear than weary oil). Perhaps the studies need to differentiate the benefits of changing oil vs oil filters.
2) My vehicles always run smoother immediately after I change the oil and filter. (Perhaps it's the new filter.)
3) The driver "insecurities" argument is incredibly weak.
I change my own oil/filter at 2,500-mile intervals because it's easier to remember than 3k-mile intervals. I have been recycling oil and oil filters since 1976, and will continue to do so until I go electric.
If you are smart you will use a FULLY SYNTHETIC motor oil like MOBOL 1 advanced oil. Use the weight your car requires because it is set to the gaps in your engine's metal to metal surfaces and using the wrong weight will cause a problem. I only change my oil every 10,000 to 12,000 miles and have NEVER had a oil/wear engine problem. I have a 2000 Chevy Venture that we drove for over 300,000 miles and currently have a 2008 Pontiac Torrent that has 130,000 miles with no problems and I expect it to go well over 300,000 before we get rid of it. I had a 1994 S-10 truck that I first used synthetic oil on and after 3000 miles the oil was so clean you could hardly see it on the dipstick. That setteled my mind on using the synthetic oil instead of standard oil. I also use the MOBOL 1 synthetic oil FILTER with the synthetic oil and not only does the oil last longer, but I get better MPG with the synthetic oil too. 3 to 5 miles per gallon better.
The advantage to using Synthetic is incredible. Popular science ran an article about synthetic several years ago.
They took 2 new identical Lincoln Continental Mk III's, one with conventional and one with synthetic. The one with conventional oil received an oil and filter change every 3,000 miles. The one with synthetic received periodic filter changes, but the oil was never changed, oil was only added when it was low.
Both engines were torn down and miked after 100,000 miles of driving. The conventional oil engine was completely worn and needed a rebuild. Also, the valve covers and pickup screen were covered in sludge along with the oil galley holes. The engine using synthetic was within specs for a brand new engine, without any sludge or varnish build up at all. Synthetic just doesn't break down and any darkening (discoloration) of the oil is due to harmless blowby from combustion and does not affect the lubricating properties of the oil.
Oil filters will fail if you leave them in too long. If you ever experience this, you can shake the filter and hear the deteriorated parts banging around inside. So, change the filter at least once a year (I prefer Fram Extra Guard types, usaully around $10.00).
The engine seized at 74000 miles. Does that mean the oil was 74000 miles old?
If you don't know, then your argument is meaningless.
IF you had read the article more than just skimming it, you would have seen that the article suggests to follow the manufacturers recommended maintenance intervals.. I know for one my vehicle manufacturer recommends oil changes every 7,500 miles, and its an '01... the point the article was making is that 3,000 miles is a number made up to increase business for the oil change companies---since a vast majority of the population probably never would consult their owners manual, people easily fall victim.
Open up your owners manual AND FOLLOW ITS DIRECTIONS instead of following some jiffy lube recommended schedule.
seriously, how could you miss that?
Of course the manufacturers want to change the maintenance schedule to substitute severe for normal condition because that affects the sell-ability of their cars and ultimately their bottom line. They say their cars require less maintenance, but it's only because they have adjusted their schedules.
Also, nothing has fundamentally changed oil. So much so that no oil manufacturer has any clear information or data about these "changes". Edmund's shame on you for not listing supporting data or articles with hard numbers to back up such a fallacious claim.
Oil may be able to handle heat slightly better these days but not by much. THE MAIN IMPETUS BEHIND THIS ARTICLE, is the drive to maximize profits by car companies trying to sell new cars, that by the way have not significantly changed the way that they use oil. They still produce heat from friction that breaks the oil down and even after 50 years or so there have been only marginal gains in the reduction of oil breakdown in an engine.
I also have worked at a SAAB dealership (gm engines and cars) and when they changed their schedules about a decade ago to increase their range between oil changes, it was met with disastrous results with 3 or 4 year old cars coming in with blocked oil pickups due to a build up of old oil.
You really should do better Edmunds to research and not just be another tool of the car sellers. YOU REPRESENT THE CUSTOMERS, NOT SELLERS. This may seem like you are helping us out but you are doing the opposite.
I've run synthetics in my engines, gear boxes, and differentials since I first learned of their existence back in the seventies. With high quality lubricants and filtration, oil change intervals can be extended well past the manufacturer's recommended mileage. Attentiveness is the key to maintaining any machinery. Monitoring the levels and conditions of all of the fluids and related components is the key to long service life. It's fairly easy to blow up an engine in a multitude of different ways. It's almost always due to poor maintenance and/or abuse.
The article says that owners should BE AWARE of what their car's manual recommends as the oil change cycle. Not what some guy writing the minimum on a sticker says. It's not difficlt to remember - what day is your birthday on? Go for that week, and figure out based on the manufacturer recommendations, how many months between changes you should go - and then get it changed the week of your birthday, and every [however many] months in between.
Know how to check your own oil. You don't have to change it, but know how to check it. Same with antifreeze. That's almost too easy. There's a fill line, and a great big cap for it, and a marker line. If it's not full to that marker, you're burning or losing it somewhere, and you either need to get that fixed, or check and top off regularly.
I have a vehicle with 145K miles, and it's had a bad head gasket for the last three years. It would cost more to fix that then the vehicle is worth at this point. But I know how to check an top off the oil and antifreeze, and I've learned to drive it gently. It doesn't give me any problems, and amazes mechanics when they tell me "oh, by the way..." and I say, yeah, it's been like that for a few years now. "How have ou kept the engine from seizing?"
It's called paying attention. And that's what this article was trying to stress.
The new cars with electronic fuel systems are much more precise in how they deliver the fuel. Very seldom do they inject too much fuel, even for a microsecond. So the oil DOES stay clean longer then in the 1970's.
And today's oils are better quality. I have personally begun to use only synthetics. My Jeep has a diesel engine and the factory recommendations are to change at 12,000 with light duty, 6,000 with severe duty. I change the oil at 12,000, but I replace the filter at 6,000 to remove any acids that may have accumulated, because they are hard on the metal parts.
Please be certain to use oil recycling centers. Don't laugh, there are companies that can re-refine that oil. They filter out the impurities and acids, and when they are through with it, it tests as safe and clean as first time refined oil.
I don't know if they are keeping synthetic separate from petrol oil, but they should. Synthetic has better resistance to break down from heat.
I now have 120,000 on my Jeep and it still sounds the same as new so my 12,000 mile oil changes haven't hurt it yet.
This car is STILL on the road. 179,000+ miles changing the filter every 5,000 with a quart added and complete changes each 10,000. My 2007 Silverado 5.3L goes as often as 8,000 miles between changes in the fall/spring but closer to 5,000 in Summer.
Oil and filters are better engineered than Dad's and GrandDad's Oil and Fram filters.