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Old 09-12-2010, 08:51 AM
 
20,187 posts, read 23,780,739 times
Reputation: 9283

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I have been doing this for about a decade... I told people I only change my oil every 10,000 miles and they laughed at me... they told me I was ruining my car... it runs as good as the day I got it... still got another 4k miles before the next 10k oil change... I have heard stories of people never changing their oil and drove it to 200k miles or people who change every 20k miles and their cars are still running at good performance...

Link (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Like-the-55-Chevy-the-nytimes-3825041162.html?x=0&mod=pf-family-home - broken link)
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Old 09-12-2010, 09:04 AM
 
Location: Durham, NC
3,576 posts, read 10,622,421 times
Reputation: 2289
I'm one of them. I had a Buick that I drove for 100K miles without a single oil or filter change. Never had a single mechanical problem.

Right now, with a synthetic oil, I like to go 7500 miles between oil & filter changes.
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Old 09-12-2010, 09:37 AM
 
4,709 posts, read 12,637,846 times
Reputation: 3813
Good for you. Keep doing it.

I'm going to keep doing what I do (every 3K)...I get laughed at too....but I learned a LONG, LONG time ago to ignore the laughing hyenas.
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Old 09-12-2010, 10:03 AM
 
Location: WA
5,640 posts, read 24,887,387 times
Reputation: 6573
Sounds reasonable to me... I change oil once a year and don't even pay attention to number of miles.
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Old 09-12-2010, 10:18 AM
 
Location: Eastern NC
20,868 posts, read 23,448,216 times
Reputation: 18813
I have heard horror stories of poeple having to rebuild or replace their engines because they never changed their oil. Sludge is a bad thing for cars and oil does break down and gets dirty and dirty oil will stick to the cylinder walls. So keep messing with fate. On eday it will get ya. For me I change it every 3k to 4k miles.

And older cars with less tolerances in the motor could probably get away with less oil changes but not newer vehicles.
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Old 09-12-2010, 10:34 AM
 
256 posts, read 893,030 times
Reputation: 227
Do what works for you, but I'd rather pay the $30 two or three times a year than take the chance of ruining my car which will cost a lot more to fix. Besides when the oil gets changed, either you or the person changing it may see other things under the hood that might need to be fixed sooner rather than later.
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Old 09-12-2010, 10:41 AM
 
Location: Earth
4,237 posts, read 24,721,610 times
Reputation: 2274
I've known two people that pushed their engines to 10k on the same motor oil before their engines grenaded. One of the engines dropped 2 rods. Not sure about the other one, but regardless the engines were both done for. Bottom line: oil is the lifeblood of your engine. As it ages it loses it's lubricating properties. Running your car to 10k between oil changes = leading the engine to an early grave.
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Old 09-12-2010, 10:47 AM
 
Location: La Jolla, CA
7,284 posts, read 16,624,314 times
Reputation: 11675
For a reminder about engine sludge, I occasionally look back at this well known thread.
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Old 09-12-2010, 11:03 AM
 
35,309 posts, read 52,099,295 times
Reputation: 30999
10,000 miles is a convenient time to change the oil as its easy to remember on the odometer.
Todays oils are easily good enough to last 10K in an engine with virtually no deterioration, for those that feel a placebo effect by changing your oil every 3K is in some way saving your engine,shame about the wasted resources but hey its your money.
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Old 09-12-2010, 11:06 AM
 
Location: La Jolla, CA
7,284 posts, read 16,624,314 times
Reputation: 11675
I personally know a woman who has cratered two cars purchased brand new (so far) as a result of failing to change the oil. Numbers 1 and 2 didn't make it to four years without major mechanical failures.

Her reason: "I couldn't afford to get the oil changed." Probably because all her money was eaten up having to buy new cars... which she blew up because she didn't care for them... which required purchasing a new car again...
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