The Los Angeles Times reports that many drivers are changing their vehicle's oil too often.
Many automobile owners are spending more than they need on motor oil, believing that it should be changed every 3,000 miles even though almost no manufacturer requires such an aggressive oil-change schedule.
The long-held notion that the oil should be changed every 3,000 miles is so prevalent that California officials have launched a campaign to stop drivers from wasting millions of gallons of oil annually because they have their vehicles serviced too often.
. . .
Improvement in oils, friction proofing and car engines have lengthened the oil-change interval, typically 7,500 miles to 10,000 miles for most vehicles.
Changing motor oil according to manufacturer specifications would reduce motor-oil demand in California by about 10 million gallons a year, the agency said. The state has created a website, checkyournumber.org, where drivers can look up the suggested motor-oil change interval number for their vehicles.
. . .
"The 3,000-mile oil change just says that the marketing campaign by quick-lube companies has been effective," said Steve Mazor, manager of the Auto Club of Southern California's Automotive Research Center. It made sense years ago, when "we had cast-iron block engines with cast-iron pistons that would expand when they got hot and older lubricants," Mazor said.
There's more at the link.
Intrigued by this report, I went to the Web site it mentioned (checkyournumber.org) and entered the year, make and model of my vehicles. Sure enough, the site came back with recommended oil change intervals of 5,000 miles for both, rather than the 3,000 miles recommended by the service facility I normally use for the job. If one looks at an average cost for an oil change of about $30 (by the time all taxes and fees are included), switching to a longer interval between oil changes can save a useful sum of money each year. It might stretch well into three figures over the life of the vehicle.
Peter
Note that my owner's manual has 2 interval listed, one for "normal" driving, and the other for "hard" driving. "Hard" driving includes, according to the manual, stop-and-go driving, dusty conditions, and towing. The longer interval is, IIRC, 7k while the shorter interval was 3k (I think). Since I switched to synthetic, I use the oil mfr's interval of 15k.
ReplyDeleteThat website doesn't go back any farther than MY 2000? Is no one in Cali driving anything from 1999 or older?
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ReplyDeleteLOL! That site says my 2001 Hyundai Accent should be changed every 7,500 miles but my 2006 Saturn Ion should be changed every 3000! The OnStar oil change alert in the Ion averages out about 11,000 per change and that is ALWAYS changing it before the max limit is reached!
ReplyDeletePS: I use Full Synthetic oil and a new filter every change and made the very 1st oil change at 300 miles.
ReplyDeleteperlhaqr beat me to it. Does California make people sell anything older than a model year 2000 vehicle?
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