Driving green means not changing your oil until you need to

Yeah, sorry I'd rather change my oil on time to avoid issues in the long run and waste more money in the long run...

Auto manufacturers are in the business to sell cars. I am in the business of repairing cars. I have noticed in the almost 30 yrs I have been doing it that several things have occurred: (a) yes, oil qualities have changed to the point where going from 3k to maybe 15k would probably be just fine, if all we were concerned with was the oil - but there are numerous other factors, (b) engines have changed from being primarily steel to aluminum, and even plastic in some cases, for internal components, meaning that having good, clean high flowing oil is more important than ever, (c) aluminum and plastic create more particles in the oil as they sheer and wear easier than did the steel, and the oil carries these particles to the filter, as its design intent, (d) oil also acts as a secondary engine cooler to the antifreeze - oil with high particle counts and low flow does not cool as well as clean, high flowing oils, (e) oil passages in engines have been reduced in their diameter, which also leads to the need for oils which are clean and high flowing - it also raises oil pressures, and, (f) oil filters haven't really changed in the slightest.

Summarily, there are always those out there with the 300k engines that only changed their oil every 20k; those are the exceptions. It is far more likely that one will experience catastrophic engine failure by 100-125k on such a program. I do my best to extend the life of my customer's vehicles because if they get a new one, it has a warranty, and I lose their repair business for at least three years. Therefore, by having them engage in an aggressive and comprehensive maintenance program, which includes oil and filter changes at 4 mo/5k mi, we extend their engine life. We do take advantage of the engineering advances in auto parts, but we don't buy into the manufacturer's marketing nonsense - also called planned obsolescence. This is a program in which the manufacturer determines the balance at which they can let the car fail, but yet still retain enough customers to keep the company viable - the car's failure is engineered into the vehicle; they know and can predict each parts' failure within a few months or a few thousand miles. If nothing fails, they do not sell parts or cars, and they go under; think about it.

So, do you want to be "green", and spend thousands of dollars repairing and replacing your second most valuable investment - unnecessarily? Or, do you want to follow the sane advice of an ASE certified Master Tech of almost 30 yrs experience, with nothing to gain unless your car keeps going down the road? Which makes more sense?

3000 miles?Lay off the damn drugs,will 'ya! LOL

My 1985(!) Fiero V6 said 7500 miles for normal duty. I thought that was a bit long, but this is nothing new.

Here's a thought: by changing the oil at regular, sensible intervals, (before a large volume of it gets burned past the pistons and rings or evap vacuum) you not only reduce wear on the internal engine components, but more of the total amount of oil you put into the engine gets drained out - and is able to be recycled!
Gasoline and disel fuel is non-renewable - lubricating oil is.

I wouldn't go 15k on regular oil. Use a synthetic for any interval over 7500 miles. the non-synthetic evaporates leaving a sludge build-up over time.

yea and some nasty ass's change there drawers every month!

The oil in my engine is cleaner than when it came out of the bottle.

30 years ago I bought an oil filter for $300 that takes out dirt the size of cigarette smoke particles. It also removes water from the oil, so sludge and acid never form.

And I never change oil. I just add a quart once a month when I change the filter medium which costs about a buck.

This engine has 300,000 miles on it and it's still going strong. It's coming up on a valve job, but I'm hoping to get 500,000 out of the lower end.

I told one lie. When I bought the filter, it costed $27. Today they cost $300.

toyota had recommendations for changing oil every 7,500 miles and there came reports of oil sludging and caused a flurry of blogging. Toyota blamed owners for neglecting their car maintenance. Finally toyota finally backed up their product and replaced engines on cars with first owners according to a certain criterion. Oil breaks down due to acid, water in oil ( due to short trips), and certain driving conditions. Owners manuals tell you to change oil due to severe driving condition ( are they ever really explained to the owners?) Valvoline tell me to change my oil every 4,000 miles for maximum engine protection ( according to their engine guarantee). So since driving conditions deem the time intervals how are owners supposed to guage the proper time to change it. Or should this Gov't program implement this at a time where California economy is in dissaray. There seems to be a lack of sense to where the priorities when it comes to economics when it comes to priorities. Or does the green movement take presidence over everything?

As a retired oil sales rep I can tell you old habits are hard to break. If you are ever lucky enough to visit an oil packaging company where they blend, color, package and label, oils for many different brands it is really an eye opener. Lined up outside at the loading docks are, Shell, Texaco, Fina, Mobil, Exxon, as well as others. Not a lot of difference in any motor oil. The oil comes in on a tanker from Texas then is pumped inside to be mixed, "colored", (remember Sears Golden?) canned, bottled, labeled, and then loaded on semi trailers. Would television commercials lie to you? You bet.

oil's cheaper than a new engine, and easier to get

This is total horseshit here. I change my oil and filter every 2000 miles on all my cars and I stand firm on that platform. I am religious about it. I've never sold a car to anyone that was an oil burner either. And most cars I have sold at that point had well over 250,000 miles on them. Keeping the oil clean is the life blood of any engine. Oil changes are cheaper than engine rebuilds. Priced a rebuilt motor lately?

You can change your oil every 5000 to 7500 miles and at 100000 you will buy a new car. That is what the manufacture wants you to do. If you change it every 3 to 4000 miles you can drive that car until it has well over 250000 miles on it.
Go ahead and wait I change mine every 3000 and have 170000 on it now. it still runs like new and I reccommend it to my friends.
I am a Tech for GM

This is a huge con job by the state not too mention the car manufactures love the fact you will buy a car more often since you are not changing you oil enough to safeguard your engine. Plus the report says nothing about the various driving patterns and traffic inqured that dramilcally alters the life cycle of the oil. WHAT A SCAM SO YOU BUY ANOTHER CAR QUICKER. WE ALL KNOW HOW THEIR BUSINESS IS DOWN.

Am I missing a point on this "Oil-Change" subject? The computer tells us when oil
change is needed! That takes guessing out of the equation?
HAPPY MOTHER'SA DAY TO ALL THE MOMS, MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS!!!

pay me now or pay me later

don't ya just love how politicians get into every thing.
now thier in the oil change business

The 3000 mile oil change myth has been perpetuated by three industries. The oil manufactures, the filter manufacturers and quick lube facilities. It makes more sense that longer oil change intervals would adversely their income. I've been in the auto parts business with ASE certification for over thirty years. The 3000 mile oil change was the "rule" then and still people fall for it today. Isn't it counter intuitive to think that their has been no improvement in oil, filter, and engine manufacturing techniques in all those years? Oil today is so much higher quality than even 10 years ago. Just look at the API ratings on the bottle. As far as certain cars having sludge issues, this is all due to poor engine design. That certain Toyota engine had to have the oil changed more frequently to compensate for a poorly designed lubrication system. Durability is a product of design. Honda uses the same metals in their 2.2L Accord engine as GM uses in it's 2.2L engine, but Honda consistently lasts three times as long. Has nothing to do with changing the oil. It's better design.
As far as selling more new cars, new , innovative, cool looking cars works much better than how long the engine lasts. The majority of owners barely keep a care more than 5 years, most manufactures warranty the drivetrain for that time. So it's the second or third owner that looks at longevity. So do yourself and your environment a favor and change your oil as recommended by the people that designed and built your car. Don't be a corporate sheep and waste money because of a myth perpetuated by the oil change industry.

synthetic oil doesn't break down like like regular motor oil once did......
but, contaminants that wear on your engine still appear.

Ford and conoco's research has shown that changing motor oil too often causes more engine wear.