Oil Change Cost

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

For about $50 or so, the Walmart's in Tilton and Plymouth do oil/filter/check and top off fluids/inflate tires

Oy, as I've said many a time, avoid the Tilton Walmart. Young technicians, high turnover of techs and managers. They stole my unused inspection sticker, broke my rocker panel, installed hubcaps poorly and I lost them on the way home, etc. Smarter people in Plymouth, I think.

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

The recommended oil change is every 3000-miles, but I always go to 5000-miles before next oil change

Why?? My car takes synthetic oil and Chevrolet recommends changing the oil every 7,000 miles. I did that until I saw some very persuasive videos explaining why that's a terrible idea and showing the damage that results. My new mechanic told me recently that the 7,000-mile recommendation gets the car through the warranty period, after which the manufacturer doesn't care what happens to the car. I'm going back to 3,000-mile oil changes unless someone here has a reason why 5,000 or 7,000 is OK.

[LikeLakes]

Like so many things, there isn't a single fits-all answer to oil change intervals.

If I had to generalize, if you are running a modern car with synthetic oil, nobody has to change faster than 5,000 miles. I generally start thinking about it at somewhere over 4,000, get around to it somewhere in the high 4's. Contrary to what you were told the automakers aren't evil geniuses that don't care if their engines fail after the warranty. Their recommendations can definitely be followed, but I choose to not push it to the max since in the course of a year changing oil a bit sooner doesn't cost much. On my diesel trucks I'd go 6-7,000 miles. One exception was a Chevy Tahoe that had the cylinder deactivation "feature", they were prone to failure and pretty solid evidence that 3,000 mile changes would tend to avoid that problem.

If you are interested enough to prove the point on a specific interval, you can do used oil analysis (UOA) to see what kind of life your oil has left and what if any wear is happening in your engine.

[jbolty]

Originally Posted by LikeLakes

Like so many things, there isn't a single fits-all answer to oil change intervals.

If I had to generalize, if you are running a modern car with synthetic oil, nobody has to change faster than 5,000 miles. I generally start thinking about it at somewhere over 4,000, get around to it somewhere in the high 4's. Contrary to what you were told the automakers aren't evil geniuses that don't care if their engines fail after the warranty. Their recommendations can definitely be followed, but I choose to not push it to the max since in the course of a year changing oil a bit sooner doesn't cost much. On my diesel trucks I'd go 6-7,000 miles. One exception was a Chevy Tahoe that had the cylinder deactivation "feature", they were prone to failure and pretty solid evidence that 3,000 mile changes would tend to avoid that problem.

If you are interested enough to prove the point on a specific interval, you can do used oil analysis (UOA) to see what kind of life your oil has left and what if any wear is happening in your engine.

^^^ this

short trips and a lot of sitting can create a lot of condensation so I change the oil in my jeep once a year, even though I might only drive it 1000 miles, but my car that gets a lot of highway miles with long trips I go about 6000 -7000 and rotate the tires every other time.

my chevy truck which has the cylinder shut off mentioned above I go by the change indictor which is generally about 5000

I miss when we would use the old oil as undercoating

[TiltonBB]

I have a 2020 Chevrolet and the recommended first oil change is at 7,500 miles.

In my other vehicle I put the Mobil One Extended Range Synthetic oil that says it is good for 15,000 miles. I may change the filter at 7,000 miles, just because.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

...Why?? My car takes synthetic oil and Chevrolet recommends changing the oil every 7,000 miles. I did that until I saw some very persuasive videos explaining why that's a terrible idea and showing the damage that results. My new mechanic told me recently that the 7,000-mile recommendation gets the car through the warranty period, after which the manufacturer doesn't care what happens to the car. I'm going back to 3,000-mile oil changes unless someone here has a reason why 5,000 or 7,000 is OK.

For our gearheads, a video worth watching has a chemist (and car-guy) who markets only break-in oils.

The interview between "Dave" and the chemist (in the dark-framed glasses) covers a lot of ground, but the takeaway is as bolded above.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fu7PlRsqMyA

Start at minute 13 and get your best life-time sophisticated lecture on oil, rings, additives (especially zinc), fuels ⛽️, rebuilds, break-in oils, "sims" (simulated breaking-in at the bench), oil change intervals, yesterday's folklore--and more.