How often do you think average person gets oil changed?

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I've heard stories of people saying they've never had an oil change but how common is this? do you think the average person who does not know the importance of changing the oil are getting regular oil changes? here where I live I have to take my car to a mechanic every year for a roadworthy inspection and that's the only time I take it there not once have they said I need a service or oil change etc.
 
A family friend bought a new Suburban back in the 90's, around 25k miles (90% short trips) the engine decided to stop working. Turns out the wife thought the husband was getting the oil changed, the husband thought the wife was handling the service. I doubt many people nowadays completely neglect oil changes, but I'm sure there are some. It would be a very expensive lesson, especially if you have to learn it more than once.
 
Based on my observation of my neighbor's maintenance, I'd say every couple of years, maybe longer. He is one of those guys that claims to have lots of money in the bank, but that's exactly where it's going to stay. He MIGHT get the oil changed in his 2000 Corvette, but when I ask him about his wife's GLC he just shrugs his shoulders. "Someday" is the answer I usually hear.
He even saw me checking the oil in my car one day. He said "what are you doing that for?, it''s a Mercedes".
His son is just as bad.
 
From someone that has been inspecting vehicles for 4 years I can tell you I see quite a few people over extend what their window sticker says to change at. The worst offender is young people in Nissan Sentras, altimas, some maximas, that's got to be the most neglected vehicles I've seen on a regular basis. 10K+ on bulk oil. Some college kids have no clue.

Now the people who regularly come in for oil changes at my shop usually don't run more than 2k over the suggested 3k OCI for Chevron Supreme and 5k for M1 FS. A good majority change on time.

From experience most people do not pay as close attention as BITOG members. I always do my best to educate/advocate for them to keep an eye on oil level depending on the vehicle and don't over extend if its one of those Nissans of Hyundais that run conventional oil/dealer bulk regularly.

Personally in some of the worst offenders I'll opt for a 5w30 over 5w20 if I notice the oil low before I drain it and some cases even throw in a quart of Chevron Delo for a little clean up.
 
You would think the oil change reminders on the instrument panel would prompt people to do SOMETHING. Or does that just get ignored after a while too?
 
I would think the idiot lights have helped with that. "Maintenance Engine SOON!!!!" "Service engine Soon" are pretty scary indicators. My neices and nephiews freak out when they see them.
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Back in the good ole days before the light....oooh boy. I remember changing my moms oil in a old 1980s mercury cougar and the 10w-40 was so shiered down it poured out the oil pan like black ink. thin as water and 100% opaque.

Don't know how long that oil was in there but the engine cranked up with the fresh oils and said "ahhh.....thank you buddy".
 
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i think another question would be how often do people check their oil level . the average bitog reader might check it every other day while the average driver may check it once a month if ever .

i was helping my son detail his GF honda and check the oil. it was a quart low. i added some. when i ask her if she ever checked oil her answer was " there is oil in it" ?. LOL
 
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Originally Posted by Dunkaroo
I've heard stories of people saying they've never had an oil change but how common is this? do you think the average person who does not know the importance of changing the oil are getting regular oil changes? here where I live I have to take my car to a mechanic every year for a roadworthy inspection and that's the only time I take it there not once have they said I need a service or oil change etc.


I change the oil every 3 months or so.
I worked at a dealership and saw everything from "when the car is traded in, they put new oil in it for the next customer" to "every 3K miles!"
 
Most of my friends service their vehicles according to the maintenance schedule, probably because their cars have maintenance lights that are too annoying to ignore.
 
the longest OCI was 70+ thousand,,,,and of all things it was my dad....lol...he knew better just kept putting it off … that was a 1970 chevy impala ,I was way to young at the time to do an oil change didn't even know anything about cars then ...just remembered my uncles and my dad talking about that
 
Quote
You would think the oil change reminders on the instrument panel would prompt people to do SOMETHING. Or does that just get ignored after a while too?


They learn how to reset it. Then tell the wife that the oil change was done, all good.

Thank you YouTube!
 
I think that depends on the person.
* I think a lot of people let it go over because they are too busy and may let it go a couple of hundred or a thousand over before going.
* There are also people who follow the manual.
* There are people just do what their dealer, mechanic or oil change place tells them to do. In my opinion, they often recommend either a generic and shorter interval or a shorter interval than what is recommended in the manual.
* There are people who just do it every 3K. This is often the cast with older car owners because in the old days, you want to change it 3K.

Paul
 
I know I personally change more than I would like to. The Leaseon and my Forester have to do every 6K miles for warranty purposes.

But I know a lot of people who just never change oil. Maybe once every other year. Usually coincides with brake jobs or tires , other maintenance.
 
This was many years ago, but I had an uncle that drove almost 100 miles a day to work. He was driving a 59 ford with the 6 cylinder engine and 3 speed manual trans. He NEVER changed the oil on purpose. Every 100000 miles he and his brother would drop in a new rebuilt short block, and be ready for the next 100k.
 
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