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My wife's BMW 328 is driven less than 2k miles per year. I'm not comfortable going 10k miles between changes, as that would be 5 years. I have the oil changed annually with the required state inspection, as long as it's in the shop anyway. BMW-approved oil is required, all of which are synthetic.
My wife's BMW 328 is driven less than 2k miles per year. I'm not comfortable going 10k miles between changes, as that would be 5 years. I have the oil changed annually with the required state inspection, as long as it's in the shop anyway. BMW-approved oil is required, all of which are synthetic.
The hidden flaw is not to leave an oil filter in service for too long. One year is way too long to leave an oil filter in service. Change at at 6 month , add a quart of fresh oil to replace the oil lost in the filter, and motor on knowing you are safe until that year end change.
VW recommends 1 year if you don't reach the 10,000 miles before then with synthetic oil. Seems pretty reasonable. 6 months is pretty short but maybe that's necessary with natural oil
I have a vehicle I drive maybe 300 miles a year tops. I run synthetic, and I usually change it in the fall after the driving season is done. Reason being that you always want to try and store a car with a fresh oil change.
I drive about the same as you - 5k/year. I use the Walmart Supertech full synthetic, which is about the same price as name brand conventional oil, and I change oil and filter once per year, not every 6 months. My wife drives about 8k/year and I do the exact same thing to her vehicle. Once every 6 months is a waste of money unless you are driving 10k miles. I know all the arguments why to change it sooner but this is my opinion and what I do.
What is the year make and model of your car?
If it's at all new(last 15 years), I bet you $0.93 that the owner's manual will list mileage and time intervals.
The hidden flaw is not to leave an oil filter in service for too long. One year is way too long to leave an oil filter in service. Change at at 6 month , add a quart of fresh oil to replace the oil lost in the filter, and motor on knowing you are safe until that year end change.
Why? What happens to an oil filter over time that renders it bad while the oil is still good?
-Buy oil that meets manufacturer specifications. For a few vehicles that may force you into a synthetic (based (like some of the 0-20 specs, and most of the new Dexos v2 stuff), but many won't (now I see it's an F-150). Unless you are doing some serious towing or hauling, no need for Synthetic, just meet the required spec.
- Every oil manufacturer, and I believe every vehicle manufacturer has a time for oil changes if the mileage is not reached. A few are 6 months, many are 1 year. It's not necessarily the oil that is the issue, it's the additives that break down after some heat cycles, moisture and time. I've seen a bunch of oil analysis results that indicate low mileage usage cars (unless used for only short trips) can probably push 18-24 months (sometimes more) on an oil change (instead of a year or whatever the manufacturer recommends) but there is definitely a time component that will vary how on oil and how the vehicle is driven. A year is probably a good, but conservative goal.
-Changing oil filter (only) at 6 months on a car that hasn't been driven much is a waste of time/money.
I only put 400miles/mo on my car (work from home) and I let the car tell me when to change it. Pretty much once a year. Full synthetic is all I have ever used in my cars.
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