Best to not speculate. Don’t trust an owners manual either. Start at 3k or 5k, you decide. Get a free sample kit from Blackstone Labs. They’ll send you a plastic bottle. When you do your oil drain, mid drain, take an oil sample. Package it up and send it Blackstone to have it analyzed. They will tell you what condition the oil is in, give you s some data, and recommend your next interval. Do this several times and you’ll know when to change it. I had a STi fully modded, and tuned. My Amsoil was lasting 10-12k miles in that car and it was driven hard, twisties, and track. A lot of factors go into oil and changes, and the quality or type of oil is at the top of the list.

I change my oil filter every oil change. I think that's what the manual recommends, but really, as long as I have to get under the vehicle anyway, it is simple enough to do the entire job every time.

The oil seems to drain more completely when you remove the filter and of course, you get rid of the oil that is actually in the filter. Mixing new oil with old? Not me.

Given that quality filters are reasonably inexpensive, I just can't see trying to economize by omitting this step.

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
I did the same with my Subaru. It is much quieter, and less oil consumption.

Which Subaru engine do you have? My daughter has the 2.0 in her base Impreza. I was thinking of going to 5w-20 or 5w-30 (full synthetic of course) once her warranty ran out (which will be soon since she's nearing 36k which is her next oil change). I also make her get at least 89 octane because I don't like the way it sounds on 87 octane.

I don't even drive 5,000 miles between 2 cars each year, so I just change it once a year. Full synthetic and factory filter.

Engine oils are so thoroughly tested for protecting your engine, you just wouldn't believe it. The different tests on specific engines, the care and concern taken preparing each engine prior to the test...so much work to certify the package! The API credential on the bottle gives you confidence that the oil has an additive package offering peace of mind.

Modern base stocks, most notably Group III (highly refined mineral oil or gas-to-liquid) and Group IV (synthetic) also provide longer oil change intervals.

Absent engine oil evaluations (such as proposed earlier in the thread), it is possible to (a)rely on a vehicle computer to instruct the owner based on a preset interval (b)rely on a vehicle computer to interpret the driving history and calculate the engine oil life, (c)follow the owners manual or (d)choose an interval based on what we might call "referential authority," namely subject matter experts.

My practice with Mobil 1 in the specified viscosity is to change between 6K and 8K.

If I was driving dirt roads everyday then 3k would do in my book, but if driven on regular roads then 5k.

 
In my 2010 Tacoma PreRunner, 4 cylinder, 2.7L, 5 speed manual, synthetic engine oil looks almost new at 10k miles, so that is the interval I use. But then, I am an "old guy" driver, very gentle on the truck's components, and it is garage kept with 87k miles on the odometer. I am also on the factory brakes, which I use sparingly, with good pads remaining.

I change mine when the oil light comes on at 15%. Sometimes it is around 3500 and sometimes it is around 4800. Never made it to 5k. Mobil 1 full synthetic. Honda wants 0-20 weight. I run 5-30. 360,000 miles on my 2016 CRV. All city driving now.

Any place that tries to tell you it’s 3,000 miles is ripping you off. I get my oil changes at Firestone and they write 5,000 miles on the sticker which gets promptly peeled off and replaced with a small piece of blue tape with 6,000 miles on it.

Modern cars can go far longer and most are now synthetic oil which is designed to go long too.

My owner's manual says the following:

Your vehicle has an intelligent oil-life monitor system, a message appears in the information display at the proper oil change interval. This interval may be up to one year or 10,000 mi (16,000 km).

Later in the manual says:
If your information display resets prematurely or becomes inoperative, you should perform the oil change interval at 6 months or 5,000 mi (8,000 km) from your last oil change. Never exceed one year or 10,000 mi (16,000 km) between oil change intervals.

1997 Toyota Corolla - 189,000+ miles. It’s now my airport car and is driven ~50 miles per week/~3,000 per year.
2011 Toyota Venza - 65,000+ miles. Daily driver when I’m home. 6,000 miles per year average.

Both cars get oil/filter changed once a year when they get inspected. No problems encountered as of yet with that schedule. My place uses Quaker State Synthetic Blend.

It's outdated. Modern oils are typically a synthetic blend, "full" synthetic, or an actual full synthetic. That combined with better filters and you can easily get 7,500 miles on an oil change with modern vehicles. If you are really worried about it, you can change the filter in-between but the oil will be fine.

Outdated and a waste of money. Even 20 years ago it was outdated and a waste of money.

Only reasons I could see changing at 3,000 miles is if you are towing, a lot of stop and go (cab, transportation, etc.), police car or race (in which case you should be changing much more often that 3,000 miles).

The "it's cheap insurance" or "get metal particles" out is outdated as well. If you are using synthetic, and most cars these days are using synthetic or at least a blend from the factory, you are definitely wasting your money. If you change the oil yourself at such short intervals, you are wasting your time and money.

Engine manufacturing tolerances are so good these days that I doubt you would need to change the "break in" oil.

I'd like to see evidence of 3k, 5k, and 7k oil change intervals with the >3k intervals being the cause of engine failure. Even the fan boys on the "oil guy" forum don't use 3k intervals.

I could see 5k as an easy number to remember for services along with oil such as tire rotation, clean air filter, etc.

I drive a decent amount of miles and when I get to around 7k miles, that's when I start looking ahead at my schedule to see when I'll have time to perform the maintenance.

If you still change at 3k miles, you must also believe the only gun capable of defending your life is a 230gr .45 ACP in a full size 1911. It's time to catch up to 2022.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
Outdated and a waste of money. Even 20 years ago it was outdated and a waste of money.

...

If you still change at 3k miles, you must also believe the only gun capable of defending your life is a 230gr .45 ACP in a full size 1911. It's time to catch up to 2022.

My man, you win SIGforum for today.
"Too whirled wores!"

quote:

Originally posted by Chowser:

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
I did the same with my Subaru. It is much quieter, and less oil consumption.

Which Subaru engine do you have? My daughter has the 2.0 in her base Impreza. I was thinking of going to 5w-20 or 5w-30 (full synthetic of course) once her warranty ran out (which will be soon since she's nearing 36k which is her next oil change). I also make her get at least 89 octane because I don't like the way it sounds on 87 octane.

It's the 2.0 in a 2018 Crosstrek, manual transmission.

5w-30 is approved in the owners manual in the USA as a holdover to the next oil change if you don't have the 0w-20. Also the 5w-20 is fully approved in other countries with the exact same engine.

So, I have no worries that there is any risk of a lube caused failure, and never worried about warranty. The cold temp difference between 5w and 0w is about 5 degrees, and that's at about -30. Thus unless one is using the car in crazy cold climates, I see no reason not to use 5w.

I believe manufacturers are trying to eek out every bit of fuel economy with the thin oils.

Also, it may be true with direct injection (which this engine version is) that thinner oils result in more valve coking.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

the only gun capable of defending your life is a 230gr .45 ACP in a full size 1911.

Yup. It's the real McCoy!

Just my practice is every 3000-4000 miles.

Has anyone else ever heard this phrase?? "The solution to pollution is dilution."

Amsoil every 5,000 miles.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
I do my own so cost isn't a big issue and around 5000 miles. Probably overkill nowadays.
Mobil 1 and a high filtration Wix filter.

With my car you usually either have to bring your own oil and let them charge you labor (usually $40-50) or do it yourself because the oil spec (5W-50) is so uncommon. Pretty much the only game I've found in town is the Ford dealer. Hell, I've only found the one place in town that reliably has the oil is NAPA.

Filter and oil change every 5k miles. I've done that for my vehicles for years. It's just easy to remember when it's due for me.