Did you know that the people making car motor oil have been keeping a dirty little secret from you? That’s right, for years now they have kept all of us trapped into believing that if we fail to change our oil every 3,000 miles, our engines will seize up, smoke will start bellowing out of our engine compartment, and our vehicles will be nothing more than scrap on wheels. Well, they lied.
Of course, I would never say that you should not change your car motor oil at all. At SOME point you will have to change it. In fact, I know of individuals who never changed their oil, and the effects CAN be catastrophic to an engine. Even if the engine doesn't seize up entirely, severe wear can be caused by excessively long oil drains - and, when I say "excessive", I'm specifically referring to oil changes which are pushed well beyond the limits of the oil and/or filter.
I make this distinction because it IS possible to extend oil drains to 15, 25, 100, even 200,000 miles or more WITH the right filtration and the right oil, and that has been proven by thousands of individual motorists AND commercial fleets in various vehicles ranging from compact cars to over-the-road 18 wheelers. Oil analysis doesn't lie, and if the analysis comes back indicating that the oil is good for continued use, then it's good, no matter how many miles are on the oil.
Now, in the vast majority of cases, even with the best filtration and the best oil, an oil change will eventually be necessary, but, not every 3,000 (and possibly not even every 30,000) miles. Even with some pretty bargain basement API SM oil, most drivers could go at least 4-5,000 miles without a change in most modern vehicles. Move to a higher quality oil with better NOACK and HT/HS scores and fewer saturates in the basestock and you might increase that by 50% - 100%.
I guess the point is, in this back and forth "discussion" between auto manufacturers (who continue to recommend longer and longer drains) and oil manufacturers (most of whom continue to recommend 3,000 mile changes) it's tough for a motorist to know for sure just HOW frequently their car motor oil should be changed. The age of your car, how you drive and the quality of your oil and filter can DRASTICALLY affect the answer to that question.
Consider reading "The Motor Oil Bible" in order to fully understand the intricacies related to this question. I guarantee that you'll have alit less anxiety over this issue, once you have the facts and understand the factors that are most likely to affect your car motor oil drains.
The Motor Oil Guy
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