[JordieM23]

my dealership wants me to get my oil changed every 3000 miles... I thought the maintenence book said every 5000... can somone help me out here

[CYBERICK1]

Originally Posted by JordieM23

my dealership wants me to get my oil changed every 3000 miles... I thought the maintenence book said every 5000... can somone help me out here

Hi Jordie!

If I were you... I'd go "by the book". Just my 2 cents... Dealer might want to take your money on the go...

[scvscions]

depends on your driving habits and oil preference. If you use syn then you're covered for at least 5000. Better safe than sorry thou.

[SlowDalPangEe]

i think driving habits is by far the biggest concern as far as oil change frequency. i doubt u track your car, but if u were too, i'd do oil change very frequently... if you car is used for long freeway only, u can easily get away with over 5k mi.


with average city+highway driving, the book is probably right, 5k

[wxb5sp]

you should be changing your oil every 3k better for the engine.

[AAG]

Originally Posted by wxb5sp

you should be changing your oil every 3k better for the engine.

No its a waste of oil and a waste of your hard earned money. Dino oil can go 5k miles (unless you you jack rabbit the thing at every stop light). Synthetics can run anywhere from 7.5k to 15k miles before an oil change depending on the brand you get.

[31bravo]

switch to a synthetic period. after my next free dealer oil change I'm switching to mobile 1 0-20 and a bosch oil filter and planning on changing oil every 5k.

[RavenWulf]

like a few others have said depending on your driving habits and environmental conditions (heavy amounts of dust, extreme high temps and such) will determine if you need to change it more than the factory recommended 5K/5 months between oil changes even if you are using "conventional" oil. if it is Toyota/Scion dealership then their computer will show it being due every 5K, if they are saying you have to due it more based on their computer for warranty reasons then I would take it to a different Dealer they are blowing smoke up your backside and not in a good way

[Anime Gee]

No less than 5,000 miles. It's a waste of money & more pollution to the environment if you do. Your dealer is still stuck with that 3,000 mile old-skool mentality & trying to make money off you. Heck, I do 10,000 mile oil changes on Castrol Syntec 0W-30 plus a Toyota filter & I'm seriously thinking of extending it to 15,000 miles the next time around.

[AAG]

Originally Posted by Anime Gee

No less than 5,000 miles. It's a waste of money & more pollution to the environment if you do. Your dealer is still stuck with that 3,000 mile old-skool mentality & trying to make money off you. Heck, I do 10,000 mile oil changes on Castrol Syntec 0W-30 plus a Toyota filter & I'm seriously thinking of extending it to 15,000 miles the next time around.

I would advise you to get a used oil analysis on that castrol motor oil to see if you can extend it that long.

[JoeBryan]

My mechanic told me 3000mi and my wife told me 5000mi. My wife was right (she reads everything) My mechanic told me synthetic only, and the book calls for 5-20 weight. I am going by the book on the mileage and using synthetic oil to improve engine life. My understanding is change more often in dirt road conditions and the like.

[Anime Gee]

Originally Posted by AAG

I would advise you to get a used oil analysis on that castrol motor oil to see if you can extend it that long.

Will do. I'll get a 10,000 mile oil sample & post it up & then I'll do a 15,000 mile sample & post it up. I pretty much do 10,000 oil changes on all the cars that I have, including my Miata that sees redline action many times during the day & bouncing off the rev limiter several times at night during the weekends. No issues whatsoever. (^_^ )

[PCH]

Always went 7K+ miles on Mobil1 Synthetic with all of my cars.

[Freetoes]

i recently switched to (castrol)synthetic myself. and am doing my oil changes every 3k. the engine purrs.

[wxb5sp]

Originally Posted by Freetoes

i recently switched to (castrol)synthetic myself. and am doing my oil changes every 3k. the engine purrs.

that's way to do it

[thanhtran]

they told me 5000 and 10000 too, i also thought oil changes should be changed every 3000 miles.

anyone hit me up and let me know please

[dreeder72]

The people at Toyota know what they are talking about, they built the engine and say every 5000 miles, go with that. Todays engines are much more efficient and cleaner than they were 30-40 years ago, and oils have come a long long way being more resillient to the elements. 3000 miles is an old standard that no longer applies.

[doom_crew]

I go in the middle and go with 4,000 miles. Haha.

[Thinker]

Guys, go read this SAE article so you guys actually become informed about this stuff

"Title: Extended Oil Drain Intervals - Conservation of Resources Or Reduction of Engine Life (Part Ii)"
After reading that you may never change your oil again at even 10,000 miles!

There are millions of miles of oil analysis that not only prove short duration changes increase wear but also result in a lack of additive activation in the motor. If you own a Jiffy Lube then I would expect you to subscribe to the "3,000 mile Mentality" myth.

Oil additives are activated by heat and pressure. Due to the additives having to hold up over time i.e. longer than 10,000 miles the formulations take a certain period of time to become active in protecting the motor. Draining the oil at lets say 3,000 miles simply means the additives have just become active at the point you are draining your oil! In other words you are increasing wear by about 500% doing 3,000 mile drain intervals!

Oils that carry the extended drain ratings such as 506.01, 507.00 etc mean that the additives are formulated to remain active for periods up to 2 years, 40,000 kms or 640 hours of usage. Oils like Mobil 1 0w40 are formulated to withstand 400F sump temps WITHOUT breaking down and losing viscosity. Furthermore the oils cannot break down due to the PAO makeup of the oil. These oils do not rely on elastomers like the conventional oils do. This means that the oil can fully protect your motor at any temperature without the concern of thermal break-down and thinning out of grade.

If you doubt the 10K oil change intervals perform an oil sample at 1,000 miles. Most cars with a fresh sump of oil will peak out at the 1,000 mile mark. After that the wear metals may increase by only 5-10% over the course of 10,000 miles! Nearly 90% of the engine wear occurs in the first 1,000 miles on an oil change! Increasing oil change frequency increases the duration your engine spends in the activation period of the additives and greatly increases the damage in your motor from failing to follow the guidelines of the manufacturer.

Just looking at iron in a VW motor typical readings are around 20-35 ppm after 15,000 miles of use maximum on a motor that has more than 60,000 miles. The oil filter is not capable of filtering this much metal simply because the wear metals are so small they can't be filtered from the oil. Also because there is so little wear metal you do not get wear as a result of the metal being suspended in the oil.

Dispersant's require time to bond to the wear metals and byproducts in your engine oil. As byproducts such as soot (gasoline or diesel make soot just different sizes which discolor the oil) are created additives coat them and prevent them from clumping and becoming larger. Typical soot particles in diesel oil are in the nanometer range in terms of size 10 times smaller than what any bypass filter can even capture which is rated at 2 microns absolute. Your oil filter in your motor is rated at capturing particles in the 7 micron range with only a 75% first pass rating...Bottom line is your car would last forever if you change the oil every 20,000 miles and NEVER replace the oil filter simply because your motor is not making enough metal or by-products to ever get captured! Oils especially those for diesels can handle upwards of 8% soot, that my friend is a LOT of soot! To put that in perspective a typical motor after 25,000 miles without an oil change or filter change will only have 1% soot in the oil. This oil will appear tar black yet the oil still has 80% of its rated levels of protection remaining!

Most oils are limited by time in the sump rather than miles due to sulfur in the fuel. Most gasoline motors can safely go 2 years between changes when using quality oils formulated for extended drains such as Mobil 1 0w40 and Truck and SUV 5w40. These oils along with those sold as VOW 506.01 have very high TBN ratings that neutralize acid formation for upwards of two years (1 year in diesels due to higher sulfur content which causes the acids).

Here's the deal, forget the myths about frequent oil changes and basing your perceptions on how the oil looks. The best advice is use a quality oil and drain it at the specified interval. The worst thing you can do to a modern car is over maintain it, yes this is possible due to the very specific regimen that VW engineers figured out to keep your car running at peak performance with maximum durability.

Cliff Notes of Article:
3000 mile oil change is a waste of money.
3000 mile oil change wears out your engine FASTER, so no, it does not help you at all to change it more.

[Calesta]

... and Mobil1 downgraded their oil quality in the last year or two. I've switched away from Mobil1 synthetic, and most of my track buddies have too.