How often do you change your oil?

I used to change the oil in my dirt bikes every 500 miles. That's due to the wet clutch, it heats up quickly and leaves contaminants in the oil which is shared with the cams, piston, rings valves etc. Lots of the new generation thumpers have separate engine and gearbox lubes with different change intervals.

This is back - Regarding the Honda car I have for work - the monitor will tell me when to change the oil on the little 2.4 engine.

It seems too low for me. The sales guy AND the mechanic that held a warranty presentation said expect 8-10,000 miles on oil changes - no use pouring good oil down the drain. I was brought up on 3,000 mile changes.

My brother has an Audi 2.0 Turbo that gets it done at 10,000 miles. And it is now using oil requiring him to take it into the dealership to get oil added. (what's up with that?)

So is 3,000 miles a waste?

If you use a quality oil and a quality filter I think 3,000 miles is a waste. I do all of our cars at 5,000 and have not had any issues over the last 10 years or so.

I think the quality filter does play a very big role, and you probably don't get that great a filter at your local JLube.

High quality filter and good synthetic oil should net you anything between 5k and 10k, although I'd probably get an oil analysis after about 3k and then maybe again at 6k.

I do my Accord when the little thing in the instrument panel tells me to. I have no idea how often that ends up being, I use Meijer store-brand synthetic and any decent non-FRAM oil filter.

The 4Runner gets Meijer store-brand synthetic and a decent filter every six months (which probably ends up being around 5,000 miles in the winter and 3,000 in the summer.)

The shop truck (1988 Chevy 305 V8) gets whatever high-mileage dino oil is on sale at the time and a Purolator PureOne filter. It probably gets changed twice a year, but doesn't get a lot of miles.

I have had the heads and oil pan gaskets off a lot of imports at the shop and, honestly, cylinder wall wear and gunk build-up is usually very limited if the owner can remember the last time they changed the oil. I think I've seen more issues caused by quickie lube incompetence than too-long oil change intervals.

Daily Drivers (04 MDX/04 IS300) get 5K intervals with Synthetic (usually Valvoline). The race car (240SX) gets Napa 30W every engine build , which is about 1500 miles. I'll do 3000 mile intervals if I can get a motor to last that long...

Wait....you're telling me I gotta change the stuff???

I usually go between 4000-5000.

So what's with all the Fram bashing? Not that I'm a fan of them, just don't know what it's all about.

In responce to Klayfish's question about Fram bashing, I think it's mostly that they seem to use inferior parts in a heavily advertised product. Some of their products are probably better than others but for the most part I think it's a case of paying for marketing and not quality.

There may also be some dislike for Allied Signal/Honeywell but I doubt that is the case for most people.

Fram filters use a cardboard end cap for the filter media that can sometimes fall apart and go through the motor. Most other manufacturers use a steel or metal end cap. I'm not a fan of Fram either.

On oil change intervals... I've been changing the oil on my 2009 WRX every 5,000 miles and running synthetic. When I change the oil, it still looks clean. The factory interval for the 2009-10 Subaru models with the 2.5L Turbo is 3,750 miles on dino oil. Now get this: 2011 Subarus with the very same engine (seriously, there's no difference in anything!) has a new oil change interval of 7,500 miles, and they use a Subaru-branded synthetic. There's no special additives or anything, either.

I drive a lot, and mostly highway driving. I put at the very least 350-400 miles on my car a week. I was thinking of stretching my oil changes to 7,500 miles like the 2011 models do. You guys think that's a bad idea?

In reply to SilverFleet:

Not a bad idea: lot's of highway driving is relatively easy on oil - no worry about condensation/moisture build up, and running at ~stoich means no problem with fuel dilution.

With the quality of todays oils, changing at 3000 miles is a waste of money and old fashioned.Plus you are adding to the price of gasoline On my 2011 Fiesta, Ford says change the oil every 10'000 miles. I am currently at 9800. I am curious if the light comes on at ten or later. i will change it at ten k.

I do it between 3000 and 4500 miles. Castrol GTX 10w30. My camaro gets a K+N filter and the gf's grand am gets a Bosch filter.

~10K-15K Mobil 1.. in my truck if the oil starts to look bad i will swap out the filter.

Well, since we're necroposting...

5k-6k mile OCIs in the '07 Mazdaspeed3. I've had Blackstone analyze a batch and they say I can go much further, but I prefer to stick to a set schedule. I use Pennzoil Ultra 5W-30 (general consensus is this is the best oil for the Mazda MZR engine family) and either Purolator PureOne or OEM filters.

3k-3.5k mile OCIs in the N/A '87 RX-7. I used Castrol GTX 5W-30 but I am planning to try the G-Oil "Bio-oil" on the next oil change. I will send a batch to Blackstone for analysis after it has run 3k miles. Purolator PureOne filter.

05 civic si - every 10k miles which is Honda's non-severe interval. Pens.plat; according to the oil analysis it could easily go 15k miles b/t changes.

Have your oil analyzed by Blackstone labs at your favorite oil change interval and you will be able to tell for sure if your oil change interval should be shortened or decreased.