Automotive shop employees/owners....

[Alan]

For years we have practiced 3000 mile oil changes, and put that interval on stickers, except for diesels and synthetic, which we did at 5000 miles. The state of California is pushing 5000 mile intervals, and with today's technology, I don't really disagree with this. We are thinking of going to 5000 mile intervals on standard, and 7500 on synthetic. I do not put much faith into the on board reminders that a lot of cars have now, I have seen my wife's Yukon go almost 20,000 miles before the light came on.

What are other thoughts/opinions on this?? What are some of you doing that have shops?

And English, what does your dealer service department do?

 

[Kelly]

Can I comment as a consumer? For years Toyota has recommended 5000 for extreme driving conditions and 7500 for regular driving conditions. I lean closer to 5000 because of my commute and stop and go rush hour traffic. I use my trip meter to keep up with it vs the window sticker.

 

[mike cummings]

I use Mobil 1 Extended synthetic oil. Mobil says you can go 15,000 miles before changing but I change at 10,000 miles.

 

[Alan]

Can I comment as a consumer? For years Toyota has recommended 5000 for extreme driving conditions and 7500 for regular driving conditions. I lean closer to 5000 because of my commute and stop and go rush hour traffic. I use my trip meter to keep up with it vs the window sticker.

Of course you can comment!!!! There are some manufacturers that even go 10,000 miles for 'normal' conditions, but I think that is too much. I think that 5000 is definitely reasonable.

I use Mobil 1 in my personal vehicles as well, and have gone usually around 5000 or 6000, which I think is a waste of the oil, so I'm going to start pushing 7500 miles or so between service.

 

[Joker]

I try and change mine every 3k miles b/c thats the way my Pappy taught me! However, b/c I'm always busy and on the go it winds up being about every 4k to 5k. I know the place I get it done at the sticker still says 3 months or 3k miles. And I always get it done before a big trip somewhere.

 

[Kelly]

If I ever get a job closer to home with lighter traffic conditions I'll probably go to 7500. I check it fairly often between 3K and 6K.....jic.

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

I have a new GM crew cab dually and a new Suburban. I change all my vehicle's oil at 3000 miles quite faithfully despite the computer readout telling me that I still have 65% oil life when I change it. I have had about 35 GM cars and I have never had any one not carry me well beyond the 200,000 mile mark without internal incident. Buzzz's Blazer, which he got in high school in 1988, has over 486K and runs great so I'll keep up with my current regimen despite their newer recommendations. It works for me!

 

[Alan]

I have a new GM crew cab dually and a new Suburban. I change all my vehicle's oil at 3000 miles quite faithfully despite the computer readout telling me that I still have 65% oil life when I change it. I have had about 35 GM cars and I have never had any one not carry me well beyond the 200,000 mile mark without internal incident. Buzzz's Blazer, which he got in high school in 1988, has over 486K and runs great so I'll keep up with my current regimen despite their newer recommendations. It works for me!

It's hard to argue with that kind of logic, and even making our intervals 5000, I'm sure there may be a handful of customers who will prefer every 3000 anyway. Although I have a customer with a Honda Accord that had over 425K on it when he totaled it. And he might have changed his every 8 or 9K!!!

 

[Mr. Jean]

I think 5,000 miles in normal driving should be fine. If towing or off road/dirty area driving, I prefer 3,000. Oil/lube places/stickers remain at 3,000 as they don't want to encourage 5,000 and lose 40% of their oil change business. New cars are able to go 6,000 or more with the newer better oils and engine designs out there now. There is no harm in staying at 3,000 either, it just remains cleaner and probably helps the engine last longer.

It's my opinion that the filter makes a big difference too. I have a friend that runs his oil for 8,000. He changes the filter every 4,000 and replaces 1 quart of oil at that time. It works for him.

 

[n/a]

Change oil in my Viper every 1500 miles,in the Lexus every 5000, but only change it every 15,000 in the BMW.Thats per factory specs.Dont really know if that does any damage,dont keep them past 35,000 miles or so.

 

[Alan]

Change oil in my Viper every 1500 miles,in the Lexus every 5000, but only change it every 15,000 in the BMW.Thats per factory specs.Dont really know if that does any damage,dont keep them past 35,000 miles or so.

How long does it take to put the 1500 miles on the Viper? A customer with a Corvette uses Mobil 1, but changes it once a year, since he doesn't put any more than 5000 miles on it in a year.

My Honda Civic, since July 2005, has only had about 10,500 put on it, so I've been changing it once a year or so. We simply don't use the car much, mostly just for going back and forth to work at 2.5 miles a day, and a little bit of around town driving.

 

[Mr. Jean]

A customer with a Corvette uses Mobil 1, but changes it once a year, since he doesn't put any more than 5000 miles on it in a year.

That's what I do to mine and change it just before putting it away for the winter.

 

[BaldyLochs]

I have a relative who is an Senior engineer for GM Powertrain. I can tell you with as much honesty as I can put into this keyboard I'm typing on... those numbers are there for the oil companies and the dealership service centers. The auto manufacturers will never admit it, but that 3k mile mark is a joke, and always has been. And with most new cars now running sythetic - that's why you see alot of cars with 50,000 mile factory covered scheduled maintenance. For a while there, they really touted that to the consumer, tricking people into thinking they're getting a deal when buying a new car. Now it's no big deal. Still, there's always that disclaimer.... your individual vehicle's requirements will vary dependent on your driving conditions.

 

[PJ]

well I used to be a 3k guy. On my old 4cl sanoma I did 3k for the first 100k miles then every 5k for the second 100k..never did reach the 3rd 100k. Anyway since then I've just done 5k on every car I've owned. Its easier to remember on the odometer and since I can rack up miles quick its keep the cost of changing it down.

 

[.]

I use Mobil 1 Extended synthetic oil. Mobil says you can go 15,000 miles before changing but I change at 10,000 miles.

My dad has been using Mobil 1 for as long as I can remember and I started using it back in 1990. We both run it at least 10,000 miles before changing it.

 

[tomslik]

on the other hand, if you've got something with variable valve timing, you're gonna hate life IF you don't keep clean oil in it.
more $$$ for me, and your car ain't my ride home.
oil is STILL cheaper than cast iron (or aluminum)...

 

[Alan]

I have a relative who is an Senior engineer for GM Powertrain. I can tell you with as much honesty as I can put into this keyboard I'm typing on... those numbers are there for the oil companies and the dealership service centers. The auto manufacturers will never admit it, but that 3k mile mark is a joke, and always has been. And with most new cars now running sythetic - that's why you see alot of cars with 50,000 mile factory covered scheduled maintenance. For a while there, they really touted that to the consumer, tricking people into thinking they're getting a deal when buying a new car. Now it's no big deal. Still, there's always that disclaimer.... your individual vehicle's requirements will vary dependent on your driving conditions.

I wouldn't neccessarily say the 3000 mile interval was a joke, many years ago, I think it was more critical than today. Shops didn't evolve with the times, and don't want to lose the business by going to higher intervals. I can watch my customers, and I'd say less than 15% actually come in every 3000 miles anyway. So how much does it really affect business by changing my stickers to 5000 mile intervals? Probably not as much as you think..

 

[BaldyLochs]

I wouldn't neccessarily say the 3000 mile interval was a joke, many years ago, I think it was more critical than today. Shops didn't evolve with the times, and don't want to lose the business by going to higher intervals. I can watch my customers, and I'd say less than 15% actually come in every 3000 miles anyway. So how much does it really affect business by changing my stickers to 5000 mile intervals? Probably not as much as you think..

Interesting. Well as for me, my daily driver calls for Mobil1. I change it out at 5k now, although the factory says do it a 7.

 

[n/a]

How long does it take to put the 1500 miles on the Viper? A customer with a Corvette uses Mobil 1, but changes it once a year, since he doesn't put any more than 5000 miles on it in a year.

My Honda Civic, since July 2005, has only had about 10,500 put on it, so I've been changing it once a year or so. We simply don't use the car much, mostly just for going back and forth to work at 2.5 miles a day, and a little bit of around town driving.

I put around 1200-1500 miles a year, use Mobil 1.So i guess you could say i change it once a year.

 

[Too many to list here]

We use semi-synthetic Kendall in our shop,usually add 4000 miles on the reminder tag.Some people are right on time for the next change,others go 3-5k over, or wait until the light comes on.

A question-If a vehicle calls for 5w-20 but it has 135,000 miles on it,and its the middle of summer-do you still use 5w-20?