Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have 09 Toyota Corolla, in the manual it says to change oil every 5k miles or 6 months. I barely drive, so I might only do 2k miles every 6 months. Do I have to change the oil that often, or is it not as necessary? And if I change the oil once a year, would it be bad?
Most car manuals now call for mileage change or once a year which ever come first. that I have seen.Most newest call for 7500 miles because of improvements in all oils additive packages that meet specs called for. Oil does not wear out it becomes contaminated and additives wear out.
My wife and I drive a 2000 Toyota 4-Runner SUV. When we bought it in 2005 it had 55,000 miles on it. It now just turned over 180,000 miles and we change the oil every 3,000 miles regardles of how many months have gone by. The only thing we have done to it besides regular maintenance is that we changed the timing belt and water pump at 90,000 miles and I did that myself.
I have several cars that get limited mileage every year, but when they're driven, they're driven hard and for extended periods of time. all the fluids get up to temperature, so all the moisture is turning out of the system. They get oil and filter changes at least once a year whether they have been driven 500 or 5,000 that year.
I personally would follow the recommended maintenance schedule. Why risk possible damage only to save yourself 25 bucks.
I don't know where these prices come from. It costs $50+ bucks to change oil here. I always go to Toyota Dealership where I purchased the car.
Last time I decided to save money and went to Juffy Lube scamers made me replace battery saying "holy s, your battery is so low u won't be able to make it back home".
My wife and I drive a 2000 Toyota 4-Runner SUV. When we bought it in 2005 it had 55,000 miles on it. It now just turned over 180,000 miles and we change the oil every 3,000 miles regardles of how many months have gone by. The only thing we have done to it besides regular maintenance is that we changed the timing belt and water pump at 90,000 miles and I did that myself.
my loved crv Honda got in 2001 but was 2002. miles just had 30400. honda goes in for whatever 4 or 5 months. why
just one happy old Honda. Honda even gets a wash and shine,
they do check for other stuff to keep the Honda and me happy
I change at least every 5,000 miles (the recommended by my manual), but usually after a bit more. Mostly long highways drives with some WOT pulls multiple times a week, so a little rough with the motor.
I have BlackStone Labs container I'm going to send in for analysis to see just how often I really need to change it. I have a 126k miles on my motor and it still runs great.
If you have money to waste, and more importantly time to waste, go right ahead.
Oil doesn't "go bad" by sitting. Can it get moisture and condensation? Sure. But that is why today's engines are designed with thermostats that don't open until a temperature is reached so that the oil temp is above boiling (of water). Your oil temp usually runs 15-20 degrees hotter than your coolant, so with a 200 degree thermostat or whatever the oil gets hot enough to boil off water and impurities (212 deg F).
Back in the day (way, way back) car companies installed 140 or 165 degree thermostats thinking it would make the engine last longer and increase economy. They were very wrong. Many grease monkeys and hot-rodders today still believe that. If you look in those engines you will find sludge.
As a technician with many decades of experience I have never seen sludge in a modern engine with a properly working stat and PCV valve. I have also never seen an "oil related failure". Low pressure, yes...from bad oil, no.
Back in 1992 I bought a brand new truck from the dealer I worked at. I gave it a test, no oil or filter changes after the one at break in (1000mi). It was at 175k miles when I sold it, running great. I saw it for years afterwards still going great. BTW, no trans fluid changes either.
Sooooo, why do they recommend 6 months? Simple. #1, they cover there azz. #2 and more importantly, dealers and manufacturers don't make much, or anything, selling new cars. They make money on repairs and maintenance. No, they don't make much on an oil change, but while you are there they try and sell you brakes, shocks, tune-ups etc etc etc....and they are almost pure profit sales. Oil changes get you in the door.
I should have added I currently drive a 2003 Chevy Malibu with 205,000 miles. Hopefully my next vehicle will have the oil life monitor feature. If it doesn't, I'll go by the owners manual schedule.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
