A Question About Oil Changes For Vehicles

[MainerMikeBrown]

They say that your car should get an oil change once every 3,000 miles or every six months, which ever comes first.

However, a guy I know who knows a lot about cars says that it doesn't matter how many months it's been since your last oil change, all that matters is the mileage.

My question is this: is this guy correct?

 

[Dan Hutter]

They say that your car should get an oil change once every 3,000 miles or every six months, which ever comes first.

However, a guy I know who knows a lot about cars says that it doesn't matter how many months it's been since your last oil change, all that matters is the mileage.

My question is this: is this guy correct?

I've always read that it's the mileage that counts. My buddy stores his car in the garage for the winter (about 6 months) when he comes up we flush the radiator and get an oil changed just as a precaution.

I've read a few times that oil changes really don't matter that much with the synthetic oil cars use today. I think about it like this in the 80s and early 90s you had to get a tune up every 30-50k, now cars are build to go 100k without a tune up. Oil life has more than likely increased too.

Personally, I change my oil every 4-6k. For $20 it's cheap insurance.

 

[Scotty]

I think at three thousand you're throwing away good oil. Unless you're talking long term storage of more than a year or so I don't think time matters too much especially with synthetic oils. I'm like Big Dan, 4 to 6 thousand miles is a good interval for oil changes. Most modern cars have an oil change reminder on them now that tell you when you need to change oil. I've been told these readings are based on engine revolutions over a given amount of time.

 

[Brandon]

They say that your car should get an oil change once every 3,000 miles or every six months, which ever comes first.

This is right about what I follow, I'll let it go to 4K or 5K between changes if the car is running fine and the last change didn't show anything to be concerned over.