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I normally always change my oil at 3000-3500, but on my Lexus, the dealer said 5000 is fine and recommended, so I normally let it go to 5K now... I used to do 3K changes on it, but it got too costly.
Basic rule is that oil in some cars is dirty at 3000 and with others it will last longer.Look at it and if still seems rather clean at 3000 I dont see why you can not go another 1000 to 15oo.Just be sure its not low and dont forget that an engine ran hard and hot will get dirty faster and the heat can break down the oil. Also if it has aluminum heads and uses the new small filter and only take 4 quarts to fill it the oil should be changed more often.
It's hard to judge the condition of oil by looking at it. Granted, if it's coal black and thick as molasses it's past time for a change but on most cars theres a half pint or more of old oil still in the pan after it stops draining, plus oil in the lifters, rocker arms, under the intake on V6 and V8 engines and any external coolers never drains. It doesn't take long for new oil to look dirty.
A lot of 'newer' cars have a system designed to monitor your system for when the oil needs to be changed.
My '02 'burban has this. Once I got a change oil notification at 2500mi. It may have been a fluke but I heeded the warning none the less. Most other times it will go off somewhere between 3k - 5k miles. This past time it went off at 3500mi.
Many of the monitoring systems are pretty accurate keeping track of the number of revolutions in each temprature range as well as time since last reset. Much better at estimating oil life than any rule of thumb. Oil tests show that under good conditions it may be used for 15K to 20K miles and seldom needs to be changed in less than 6K miles when used in engine without problems.
Since my cars lack such features and are driven less than 12K miles a year, I find that an annual oil change is adequate.
I think it is laughable how many people still cling to the 3,000 mile oil change. What was good for grandpa in his 1965 Buick is good enough for today's vastly different engines and oils?
It is wasteful to change oil more frequently than necessary. The best reference for each engine is the manufacturer. The dealer, or Jiffy Lube, are completely unreliable sources of information. Their motivation is not aligned with you - the car owner.
The correlation of oil changes to 250K mile cars is statistically not sufficient for me. Those owners were motivated to keep their cars a long time. They were likely meticulous in most aspects of car care - frequent oil changes being just one of them.
Taxicab tests done over ten years ago by Consumer Reports showed very little wear differences in brands of oil with very heavy duty driving.
I agree that the oil filter is very important. As many sites show - Fram in general makes hideous quality filters. There are so many others that are better.
On my Hondas I use their Maintenance Minder - I change the oil at 5% life remaining. I change my own oil using M1, Valvoline Synthetic, or Supertech (Walmart) synthetic. Usually use a Purolator Pure One filter. When I had a Jaguar S-type 4L I changed at 7500 miles using good dino oil with the Jaguar filter. The Jaguar interval was 10K miles. On our F250 V10 - we changed oil every 5K as Ford said using dino. We never had any engine failures - but that doesn't prove a damn thing because I think engines just aren't as fussy today as oil fanatics think they are.
Location: Just East of the Southern Portion of the Western Part of PA
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The old 3000 mile rule is pretty much bogus for the typical driver. The only people who should really heed to this rule are those that drive in harsh or extreme conditions (taxis, offroad, ect).
Good point about the Pure 1 filter, if you take a look on Bobistheoilguy.com, you will find the Pure 1, NAPA Gold, and a few other filters that pass the more stringent SAE filtration test are at least better thought of than Fram. Way back Consumer Reports did an oil filter study, it was somewhat unrealistic as I recall, they were using new dino oil with a prepared dirt additive of known amount and particle size, they ran the oil through the filter using a pump, and measuered the amount of dirt in the result. Fram did pretty well at the time, they were using a finer filter media than their competitors. But this was back in the 1980's sometime. If you have seen a Fram filter cut open, you know they use cardboard for the end frames of the media.
Mahle and Mann filters, frequently seen on German cars, are made by a part of the same conglomerate as Purolator.
A good air filter and a good oil filter are important to keep dirt particles out of the oil, and/or remove most of the ones that get into the oil before it goes to the main and big-end bearings, cam bearings, etc. The best oil in the world won't prevent wear caused by a particle big enough to bridge the gap between moving parts.
Several manufacturers make an upgraded or premium filter now, even Fram - but just having cut open a few "orange cans of death", I just don't much like Fram. The cheap filters are typically $2 - $3, while the good ones are typically $5 or more, although sometimes you can find Pure 1 filters on sale at Bi-Mart or similar discount stores.
The old 3000 mile rule is pretty much bogus for the typical driver. The only people who should really heed to this rule are those that drive in harsh or extreme conditions (taxis, offroad, ect).
5000 is a much more realistic mileage rule.
Which brings up another question. Will my warranty be voided if I don't follow the 3000 mile recommendation? (this is a warranty bought with a used vehicle).
Because I drive my car less than 5 miles on most trips, and don't drive them on the highway, the Honda Accord manual claims I drive in extreme conditions, here where the temperature hardly ever goes above 90 and it gets to freezing maybe 4 times a year at night, zero snow, zero ice. Honda recommends I change the oil every 5000 or every 6 months whichever comes first. I therefore end up changing the oil roughly every 2800 miles, 6 months.
The typical schedule according to the manual would be every 10000 miles or every year whichever comes first.
I tend to trust the manual, even though I have routinely heard people say that changing the oil every 7000 or even 10000 miles should be fine.
Which brings up another question. Will my warranty be voided if I don't follow the 3000 mile recommendation? (this is a warranty bought with a used vehicle).
Well, if the warranty specifies a 3000 mile OCI, to keep the warranty in force, you have to be able to prove you did 3000 mile oil changes - take a look at your paperwork...
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