What is the point of going long on the OCI? Oil is still cheap as far as maintenance is concerned. I get it if it’s a lease vehicle. Follow mfg. if you own it, and plan on keeping it for 300k, it’s just not worth it especially with DI, turbo charged, and thin viscosity. You can say it’s a waste, but used oil is recycled and used for lots of things. 2 are cleaned and resold, and the second it’s turned into fuel oil, for ships, and home heating. I change both of my DI vehicles back to every 3k oci. I prefer the engines to always have the viscosity that it’s supposed to be vs diluted with fuel. The cost of doing UOA, I can change it for cheaper. Cost of OCI. $28 M1 0/40 and $10 for filter. Also doing OCI, the car is getting a vehicle inspection and be able to spot unseen issues. Both vehicles see 3k miles every 90 days or so.
Long OCI
- Thread starter Bullwinkle007
- Start date
People can do what they like with their cars, but to me doing an extra oil change (or two) per year in the grand scheme of things is not anything to fuss over. I'd rather keep cheap and clean oil in my truck than dirty and expensive oil.
There was a thread a while ago where someone was asking what oil and filter to use for a 20,000 mile oci. All i could think of was "why?"
There was a thread a while ago where someone was asking what oil and filter to use for a 20,000 mile oci. All i could think of was "why?"
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I think it really depends on the type of engine and fuel system you have, along with your driving conditions. Port injected engines have much less frequent fuel dilution than DI. And DI engines with turbos add another element to the whole thing.
If someone has a port injected engine doing 60 miles a day of driving on the highway in ideal climates, they very well could do 10,000 mile intervals without issue. And for people that can’t change their oil themselves, and have to take it somewhere to have it done…the old “oil is cheap engines are not” theory is starting to run very thin. There are places charging $120 a pop on oil changes now using synthetic. If someone is driving 30,000 highway miles a year doing 3,000 mile intervals, that’s $1,200 bucks on oil changes vs $360 to the guy doing 10,000 mile intervals. Over ten years that’s $12,000 vs $3,600. A $8,400 dollar difference on something that is most likely not going to destroy your engine anyway. That’s even if the vehicle makes it that far before it rusts out or you hit a deer.
If someone has a port injected engine doing 60 miles a day of driving on the highway in ideal climates, they very well could do 10,000 mile intervals without issue. And for people that can’t change their oil themselves, and have to take it somewhere to have it done…the old “oil is cheap engines are not” theory is starting to run very thin. There are places charging $120 a pop on oil changes now using synthetic. If someone is driving 30,000 highway miles a year doing 3,000 mile intervals, that’s $1,200 bucks on oil changes vs $360 to the guy doing 10,000 mile intervals. Over ten years that’s $12,000 vs $3,600. A $8,400 dollar difference on something that is most likely not going to destroy your engine anyway. That’s even if the vehicle makes it that far before it rusts out or you hit a deer.
dnewton3
Staff member
Long OCIs are a means to improve the ROI.
ANY product can be over- or under-utilized. For some, maximizing the product potential is fun. For others (such as fleets), it's good fiscal sense.
Some ask "why not change early; it's cheap insurance"? Others ask "why waste oil; the oil had life left in it"? Those who change oil early tend to be more emotional about the decision; they want to "baby their baby". Those who extend the OCIs tend to be data-driven; there's no emotion in the decision, only facts.
OCI duration depends on MANY inputs:
- oil used
- equipment history (as a series design)
- unique history (how the one unit has been maintained and treated)
- environment
- driving type/style
- warranty status
- UOA data (if used)
- PC data (if used)
- etc ...
- and don't forget the emotional aspect
ANY product can be over- or under-utilized. For some, maximizing the product potential is fun. For others (such as fleets), it's good fiscal sense.
Some ask "why not change early; it's cheap insurance"? Others ask "why waste oil; the oil had life left in it"? Those who change oil early tend to be more emotional about the decision; they want to "baby their baby". Those who extend the OCIs tend to be data-driven; there's no emotion in the decision, only facts.
OCI duration depends on MANY inputs:
- oil used
- equipment history (as a series design)
- unique history (how the one unit has been maintained and treated)
- environment
- driving type/style
- warranty status
- UOA data (if used)
- PC data (if used)
- etc ...
- and don't forget the emotional aspect
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This right here is the biggest thing to pay attention. We so often generalize situations and want to assign common numbers to every single scenario, but that's not realistic.
You are not going to change the oil on a modern DI turbo four cylinder run in the city as you would a good "ol fashioned" port injected V6 with 90% highway miles. There are just too many variables to make blanket statements of 3000 mile OCI or 10000 mile OCI, etc.
The problem with oil change places, they use the cheapest OF they can get. I would never run one of those ever. They maybe good for 5k
Which is why automakers created the OLM to determine the appropriate interval for all driving conditions. Of course the counter to that is that automakers do not prioritize long term wear (150k, 200k, 250k miles?) over resource usage.
But OLMs are junk and are to never be trusted. They'll only have you buying a new car sooner.
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
Some cars are a pain in the rump to change and thus a long run oil filter in a remote area is a plus.
If the world only consisted of Subarus long OCIs wouldn't make sense as top extraction and a top mounted filter make it a breeze.
Why do people that change oil every 3k miles cheap out for pennies and avoid Top Tier gas ?
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If the world only consisted of Subarus long OCIs wouldn't make sense as top extraction and a top mounted filter make it a breeze.
Why do people that change oil every 3k miles cheap out for pennies and avoid Top Tier gas ?
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Whether it's a socket set, a computer or a car, I believe in taking care of the tool. I leased a 2103 Accord LX Sport, and serviced it with M1 every 5K, or less.
Our 2006 TSX has about 120K and I would drive it anywhere and not even check the oil level. I just put a set of Michelin Sport A/S tires on it. Do I overdo it? Perhaps, but I have never been sorry I have erred on the side of quality.
Our 2006 TSX has about 120K and I would drive it anywhere and not even check the oil level. I just put a set of Michelin Sport A/S tires on it. Do I overdo it? Perhaps, but I have never been sorry I have erred on the side of quality.
I have four 3rd gen Honda Odyssey EX-L's. I really like that generation, and they are very luxurious 8 pasenger minivan's and are so cheap on the used car market. I like to think of them as the most luxury per $1 spent.
I plan to keep them for many years to come. So I cleaned out the engines with 3 cycles of:
[Solvent based engine flush, followed by 1 quart HPL EC30 + 3.5 quarts regular full synthetic oil]
for 3 consecutive 4,000 mile OCI's.
Now I'm just doing 4,000 mile / 6 month OCI (whichever comes first) with a low priced full synthetic that has either the Dexos 1 Gen 3 (or Euro MB 229.5x) approval with a HTHS > 3.1. My only concern is internal engine cleanliness. A clean engine with frequent oil changes and clean internals should be able to go 300k miles. I decided I don't want to deal with sludge, varnish, stuck piston rings, groves in cylinder walls, oil burning etc on any car I ever own. So I never go past 4k miles with full synthetic HTHS > 3.1 oil.
UOA's don't capture sludge/varnish accumulation, and the wear metal readings are always within the statistical deviation (margin of error) of the test.
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My Jag F-Type has an 18,000 mile, 0W-20 OCI. Silly really, as under the oil cap is the extractor tube. No need to get under the car. Easiest oil change ever
This is spot on. I would ask outside of this community, what percentage of people change the oil on the vehicles they own? What is the percentage of the overall population that does their own oil changes? 20%, 30%?
Good question. I wouldn’t think it would be that high. Would be interested to know for sure thou
Patman
Staff member
After I started doing oil analysis 20+ years ago and started seeing how I was draining out oil that had lots of life left in it, I started doing longer intervals. Right now I basically follow both of my oil life monitors and that works out to about 10k changes in the Civic and about 7k changes in the Corvette. Not as extended as a lot of people on here, but still extended enough that I don't feel like I'm draining perfectly good oil either. Another factor for me is that for the last 3 years I have lived in an apartment, so I need to drive over to my father's house in order to do my oil changes now. Even though he only lives 15 minutes away, it's still a little bit less convenient than the days when I owned a house and could do oil changes anytime I wanted.
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Yeah I agree, some places are putting bulk (whatever synthetic) and low quality filters, yet still charging full price of upwards over $100.
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I fail to see where he made a blanket statement.
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At least a trip over to dad's gets the oil warm enough for a decent drain.
My oil change cost is:
Oil: $17.98 SuperTech High Mileage Full Synthetic 5W-30 @ 18.98 - $1.00 for 5% discount of Walmart credit card.
Filter: $3.50: Fram Extra Guard 7317 (95% Efficiency @ > 20 microns) from Amazon subscribe and save.
Labor: $16 at local tire place to do the oil change with my oil and filter.
Total price 37.48 + tax.
It would only be: $21.48 + tax if I did the oil change myself.
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Wow, you’ve got yourself the cheapest costs all around. Nice job.
