10,000 Oil Change Intervals

[DavidJones]

I love it.
I'm turning 60 years old this year and I've seen vehicles, oils and oil change intervals change dramatically. We bought our 2012 Highlander Limited 2wd new about mid 2012. This week the SUV turned 110,000 miles (COMPLETELY trouble free miles) and I treated it to it's 11th oil change. It's live on a steady diet of Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 with premium filters. Just a few decades ago I'd have probably been following the "old" 3,000 mile standard....or somewhere around 36-37 changes during 110,000 miles.
I'm looking forward to many more miles with my wife driving vehicle and me NOT laying on my back changing the oil on it....like we did back in the "good old days".

 

[JLTD]

 

[Artem]

I mean... if the driving style is not SEVERE and the vehicle supports the drain interval and you'd rather not get under the car to perform extra oil changes, then by all means, it would be silly to do more frequent oil changes.

I beat the [censored] outta my cars like they are a stolen rental and prefer shorter OCIs for peace of mind that the engine is WELL PROTECTED during my Hundreds of trips to the Redline and beyond during said interval.

I buy the best synthetic oil on sale and it costs me >$10 to dump the Lube. Plus I'm young and enjoy messing around with the car.

But it's good to know I can go 20,000 miles on Mobil 1 EP if NEEDED.

 

[63Marauder]

Well the owners manual for my 1963 Mercury says 6000 mile oil change.Not that far from 10,000.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

I love 10K oci. 20 years ago I had 5 drivers & cars. Did 3k oci on all of them. Basically, I had my own lube business.

Now I do 10K on 3 cars regardless of the time. Saves a lot of time and $$.

 

[NO2]

M1 EP will go 15K. We change ours every 13-15K, about every 18 mo. Still has plenty of life left. I wouldn't do it on a turbo or DI engine but it's fine with conventional ones.

 

[sohccammer427]

10,000 on any quality synthetic is not an issue anymore. In fact Mobil 1 has that "annual protection" line that they claim can provide protection for 20,000 miles. Under certain driving conditions, like mostly highway, I see no reason why this is not doable.

Chemistry is a beautiful thing.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: 63Marauder
Well the owners manual for my 1963 Mercury says 6000 mile oil change.Not that far from 10,000.




Noticed that at car shows --- a lot of older cars had 6000 mile change intervals


Originally Posted By: Artem


I beat the [censored] outta my cars like they are a stolen rental and prefer shorter OCIs for peace of mind that the engine is WELL PROTECTED during my Hundreds of trips to the Redline and beyond during said interval.


Well I never raced it, but my Focus got 10K oil changes on 0w-20 while pulling my camper around on many summer trips.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I sometimes wonder how many members here do 10+K OCIs and are first and last owners of their vehicles?

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: 63Marauder
Well the owners manual for my 1963 Mercury says 6000 mile oil change.Not that far from 10,000.
Noticed that at car shows --- a lot of older cars had 6000 mile change intervals ...
Yup. Assuming manufacturer's recommended change intervals were much lower seems to be a common misconception among those too young to remember.
That said, a lot of 60s cars and oils had trouble with intervals that long if conditions were not near-ideal.

 

[mrdctaylor]

Originally Posted By: DavidJones
I love it.
I'm turning 60 years old this year and I've seen vehicles, oils and oil change intervals change dramatically. We bought our 2012 Highlander Limited 2wd new about mid 2012. This week the SUV turned 110,000 miles (COMPLETELY trouble free miles) and I treated it to it's 11th oil change. It's live on a steady diet of Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 with premium filters. Just a few decades ago I'd have probably been following the "old" 3,000 mile standard....or somewhere around 36-37 changes during 110,000 miles.
I'm looking forward to many more miles with my wife driving vehicle and me NOT laying on my back changing the oil on it....like we did back in the "good old days".


I have the same vehicle/same year and also stick with 10K miles changes and Ow20. I've done it early a couple of times, but that was only because I was going to go on a long road trip that would've pushed it over 10K.

 

[Ifixyawata]

Originally Posted By: Triple_Se7en
I sometimes wonder how many members here do 10+K OCIs and are first and last owners of their vehicles?


What is this question driving at? Are you saying that people may be selling off cars after doing 10+K OCIs and not really seeing the long term effects?

 

[tig1]

We all (for the most part) know I have been doing 10K OCIs for the last 40 years with M1 oils. I have oil change freedom.


1) Go to WM and purchase oil and filter.


2) Change oil and filter.


3) Clean up tools and oil change pan.


4) Take old oil to O'Reilly's.


5) Check oil level once a month( my engines are not using any oil).


Oil change freedom.

 

[bbhero]

Great answer Artem.

 

[bunnspecial]

I've been doing 10K intervals of M1 on my last two DDs, and with well over 100K miles on my previous vehicle doing that I never felt like I was causing any trouble. I have no reason to not keep it up on my "new" car.

With that said, after drinking the thicker oil Kool-Aide I've bumped my MKZ from the factory 5W-20 to 5W-30.

All of that said, the sloppy tractor engine in my MG still gets 3K or less changes. The rings are worn(I hope to fix that this fall) and the oil soaks up a lot of nastiness. I actually usually change it every October, which sometimes is 3K miles and sometimes less. I just prefer not to have oil sit in the sump more than a year knowing the amount of blow-by the oil is soaking up.

 

[BrocLuno]

Originally Posted By: Triple_Se7en
I sometimes wonder how many members here do 10+K OCIs and are first and last owners of their vehicles?


I'm usually the last as I buy at around 100,000 miles (bargain hunting) and sell when they won't pass SMOG testing (usually over 250,000). 10K changes (actually just annual changes, mileage irrelevant, but usually somewhere around 10K) are now my go-to recipe

 

[IMPALA08]

I find it amazing that in EU, 10000 mile oil changes are the low and up to 15000 mile common.
I've used synthetic since 1980 and have done 10000 oil changes since. My 2 cars now are both on 10000 mile changes
2015 VW Jetta 1.8t
2015 Forester 2.5

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted By: 63Marauder
Well the owners manual for my 1963 Mercury says 6000 mile oil change.Not that far from 10,000.


Did 3000 mile oil change intervals come from mechanics/garages in order to increase business instead of automaker's recommendations ?

FWIW, Infiniti (and I'm sure others) still were recommending (and may still do so) 3750 miles oil change intervals for "severe" duty scenarios. By severe duty, they refer to city, stop-and-go driving, etc. If it's more highway miles, they say 7500 miles.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted By: IMPALA08
I find it amazing that in EU, 10000 mile oil changes are the low and up to 15000 mile common.


Diesels are far more common in Europe too and it's my understanding that oil change intervals on diesels are always longer. That's not an EU or environmental thing in that case.

 

[Rat407]

The Volkswagen dealer here tells everyone that purchases a VW from them to come in every 10k for an oil change. It has been that way for a long time that I can remember.