Oil change based on time for rarely driven cars

[kevmor99]

I have a few vehicles that are driven less than 1,000 miles/year, I think I drove the pickup only twice this year (about 100 miles total). Would an oil analysis tell me if my year-old oil is still good? Would I need the TBN test for it? Could I stretch my yearly oil change to maybe two years if I used something like Castrol Edge? I probably wouldn't bother changing the oil filter, but that would leave about a quart in it.

Thanks for your input

 

[rfeir]

I use Mobil 1 0W-40 in my 2001 BMW Z3 and drive it about 3,000 miles a year and change the oil and filter every other year. I do make sure it is run hot before I put it away for the winter and fill up the tank and the tires.

 

[Trav]

I ran into this a about a year and a half ago with my MIL car she doesn't drive hardly at all.
I decided on 2 years with Mobil 1 AFE. So far it hasn't burned any and still looks clean enough, i thinks its fine.

 

[Nick1994]

The type of oil you use won't make a difference to how long it will last if you're only going to drive about 100-1000 miles a year. If you get them up to temperature with a decent drive when you do drive them, once every other year is fine.

 

[Bluestream]

I go every three years on my BMW, oil and filter

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: kevmor99
Could I stretch my yearly oil change to maybe two years if I used something like Castrol Edge?

As long as you don't short trip it, you should be able to go 2 years no problem, and you don't even need Castrol Edge to do it.

 

[901Memphis]

Two years would be cake. 3-4 years is doable.

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Two years would be cake. 3-4 years is doable.

+1, didn't DNewton just post a good UOA on a 3 year oil change? oil doesn't know time, change it based on miles.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Another method would be gallons of fuel used. One farm uses 300 gallons for their pickups and other trucks that hall produce from the fields to the processing tables. They use the method because of long idle times and also slow going in the fields.

 

[Patman]

I'm still under 5000 miles on the M1 I put in my Corvette last fall before winter storage and just can't bring myself to change out oil that I know is perfectly fine, so even though I'm about to put it away for winter storage soon, I plan on waiting until the middle of summer 2015 before doing the next oil change. The oil life monitor is still sitting around 60% right now, I drive it pretty gentle most of the time, and whenever I do drive it I get the oil up to full temperature, it's not a short tripper at all.

 

[Whimsey]

10 years ago I posted the UOA my bil had done for a 1999 Porsche Boxter he bought. It still had the factory oil, Mobil 1 5W-40, and the factory oil filter after 5 years 9,000 miles. The UOA came back great, low wear and plenty of life left in the oil, It could have gone longer they said. The key was this car was driven in only nice weather and run hot before being garaged till the next run. I'm sending in the oil from my Contour. It ran 2 years and about 9000 miles. It was used for vacation travel and local to work in the "non winter" time. It was garaged in a semi heated garage from mid Nov through mid April.

Whimsey