NYT story on how 3k mile oil changes are behind us

Post by **matthew1** » 15 Sep 2010, 17:59

Oil chemistry and engine technology have improved to the point that most cars can go several thousand more miles before changing the oil, Mr. Reed said. A better average, he said, would be 7,500 between oil changes, and sometimes up to 10,000 miles or more.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board ran public service announcements for several years about “the 3,000-mile myth,” urging drivers to wait longer between oil changes. Although the information is a few years old, the board has a list of cars on its Web site and how often they need oil changes. The concern is not only the cost to drivers, but the environmental impact of throwing away good oil, said Mark Oldfield, a recycling specialist for the agency.

The 3,000-Mile Oil Change Is Pretty Much History

ed7 · Post by **ed7** » 15 Sep 2010, 18:34

I read this the other day and choked, not about using the oil much longer, but about the chance of conviencing the public to adopt extended drain intervals. You just have to believe that the technology is there.
At work my small gas powered equipment gets new oil every 50 hours and a new filter every 100 hours, my diesesl powered equipment gets oil and filter every 100 hours. Think of an hour at full throttle and medium duty work as 50 miles. I put an hour meter on my last two wagons and averaged 25 miles per hour, pretty light duty stuff I'd say.
It's also about knowing your car and how much oil it consumes between changes. My drain interval for the last few cars was 5000mi and change the filter every other oil change(spin-ons). With my new (2001 w/175,000mi at purchase) V70 I decided to go synthetic with 10,000mi intervals for both oil and filter.
As I get older, I'm finding better things to do besides work on my car. This car is using about a quart between changes which is real good for a 10 year old car with 211,000mi so far. Michigan to Mississippi happens several times a year.

ED7

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 15 Sep 2010, 19:02

A few people on Bob is the Oil Guy forums have been doing 10K synthetic changes for over 20 years. You still see a lot of the 3K/3 month marketing scam in auto stores. Checker Auto parts always has signs that say "Always change your oil at 3,000 miles or 3 months".

Even for turbo cars, people tend to change out oil way too early. 5,000 is easy for most cars, even with a good dino oil.

Post by **billofdurham** » 16 Sep 2010, 12:18

As everyone knows I try very hard to avoid posting on controversial subjects but Volvo UK upped the change interval from 5,000 to 7,500 miles in the late 1980s. That covered the 2 & 7 series. In the 1990s the interval went to 10,000 miles and when I enquired if this also applied to the earlier 2 & 7 series I was assured it did.

I was very surprised to read on this and other US Volvo forums that the change interval was 3,000 miles but when I mentioned this on one of the 'nasty' forums I was flamed well and truly. One of the friendlier replies was, "It's a marketing ploy to get you to buy Volvo." I have not been on that forum since. If it were a marketing ploy to get me to buy Volvo they are already out of date as Vauxhall, part of GM, then had a change interval of 1 year or 15,000 miles which has now been increased to 1 year or 20,000 miles.

Because of cost, unless full synthetic oil is specified by the manufacturer, we use semi-synthetic oil.

Even my old, playabout Jeep Grand Cherokee has a service interval of 7,500 miles. I think it is made by a US company.

Are they taking you for a ride?

Bill.