Low annual miles: How frequent to change oil?

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Vehicle is a 2001 Jeep Cherokee XJ with about 128K miles. It now gets driven under 700mi/year. Last oil change was in February 2017 with dino (non-synthetic) 10W30 or 10W40. About 1100 miles driven since that oil change, and it's now January 2019.

Any reason to get an oil change? Or wait another year or two?
 
I would change every 4 years based on my UOA results (which were absolutely fine after 2 years/13.000kms most of them in "easy but not slow" highway/rural roads driving for the car and 2years/6.000kms on the CBR) without a UOA,or more if you want to spend the money for an actual UOA after 4 years.
 
This is always a subjective question & answer.
The Firebird FORMULA(always garaged) in my signature get blend HM oil every 2 years/~3k miles and is only driven summers here in NY State.
You'll most likely get several answers.
 
Re "Mom's Last Car" a '99 Saab 9-5SE:
Last oil change was 22 months and ~2,000 miles ago.
The family's turbos got me familiar with the stink of gas fouled oil.
The oil in this car was foul so I changed it.
UOA is the way to go for real data.
...or you could stick your nose into the filler. If you smell varnish or gas, you might want to change it.

Oil's so cheap...get her hot once in a while...blah, blah blah
 
Originally Posted by Nickdfresh
I'd do it every two years, and make sure you take it out for over 30 mins every once in a while...


^^^^^^^^ I agree with above
Change it every two years. No reason to mention anything else, since you are hiding your location. Sometimes location plays into this matter and you are being secretive about location. In that case, I won't mention 1-2 other things here, especially regarding an aging filter.
 
I'd take it out for a run every once and a while to keep things moving and lubricated and keep the changes at the 2 year interval.

My dad bought an RV some time ago and was using it once a year for a nice run somewhere in Canada and then he got diagnosed with Cancer and so the RV sat most of the time with maybe the occasional run here/there to keep things from seizing up. I think he changed the oil finally after 4 years and maybe 600 total miles. 0 issues. He sold it not to long ago and it passed inspection and ran great when he sold it.
 
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I am now to the point where a couple of ours sit around most of the time.

I'm not changing oil with under a thousand miles on it.

So unless it is all short trip mileage, those two get changed every two years now.
 
Just changed the oil in my Ram Van. 30 months and 285 miles. Threw away perfectly good oil but it was the wrong grade and I wanted a better oil in it.
 
What does an oil change cost you ? Compare that to what you are paying for insurance , inspection and registration .
 
My 93 Toyota pickup gets about the same mileage as you and based on UOA, I could go 4 years but I do it annually and give it a good checkup. It does mostly short trips within our neighborhood shopping trips of 5-10 miles 3-4 times per week.
 
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Modern oils have high TBN to combat acids. The need for oil changes every year is a thing of the distant past. However, that does not negate the need to change oil due to use.
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by Nickdfresh
I'd do it every two years, and make sure you take it out for over 30 mins every once in a while...


^^^^^^^^ I agree with above
Change it every two years. No reason to mention anything else, since you are hiding your location. Sometimes location plays into this matter and you are being secretive about location. In that case, I won't mention 1-2 other things here, especially regarding an aging filter.


I updated the location. Interested in the 1-2 other things!
 
My daily driver is a 2001 Camry 2.2L. It sees about 3,000 miles per year but they are hard miles. Short trips with wide open throttle, seldom sees highway, etc. I change it every six months with a HM blend. Cheap peace of mind.
 
Seems like everyone is either 2 years or 4. IMO the oil will be fine with either, but how about every 3?
grin2.gif


Seriously though a single UOA will tell you how the oil's doing.
 
I would take it for a nice hour long drive once every two-there months and change the oil every 3 years after one of your drives. Might as well do an transmission drain and fill at the same time.
 
Originally Posted by vavavroom
Do you live in a climate with a proper cold season? Are most trips with this vehicle under 30 minutes?


No cold season here. I try to make each trip 20 minutes one way, 40 minutes round-trip (usually with a stop for an hour or two between the trip legs).
 
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