Many years ago I worked in a private testing lab. We did a lot of oil testing for insurance companies who were looking for the cause of car engine failures. I would change the oil on my car every 3,000 miles. My co-worker would never change his oil on his car. I would test the oil from my car and his car an use the data as a standard to figure how many miles a client drove on there car. It would drive me crazy because I would get higher bad numbers on my oil. I asked my co-worker "How can your oil test better than mine when you don't change your oil?" He said "I don't need to change my oil because it leaks out so fast, I just add a quart every 1,000 miles."

"The Car Care Nut" is my favorite automotive channel on youtube. He works almost exclusively with Toyotas, which I drive, and he really knows his stuff. According to him, 3000 mile oil changes are especially important on Toyota engines because many of them are known to consume oil. I change my oil myself because I'm really the only mechanic I trust.

I change oil and filter around every 4,500-5,000 miles. People have told me I can go much further. But I keep hearing my Dad's voice saying "I've never seen an engine fail because the oil was too clean." I only drive about 7,000 miles per year, so it isn't a noticeable cost savings to go much longer.

Yes, let your motor run at least 30 seconds before putting it into gear. Then drive like you have an egg between your foot and the gas pedal for the first five minutes. And if your driveway is next to a freeway on ramp, let your motor idle at least two minutes before doing a full acceleration run up to 70 mph. In other words...let the motor warm up and let the oil circulate a little before making it work hard. Common sense. 😊

Exactly right! I do all my own maintenance and it’s every 5,000 or 6-months, no exceptions

I have a number of Ford work trucks. All have the twin turbo V-6 engines. I change the oil between 2,500 to 3,000 miles. The twin turbo's have a lot of blow by the pistons rings and the oil gets black fast. Oil is cheap, I change the oil in shop at less than $30 per change with a new filter.

I know someone that didn't change there oil ever. The motor finally gave it up a 170K miles. I don't know how many miles were on it when they got it, but it went like 5 years with no oil changes. I tell most my customers, changing it at 1/2 the recommended mileage is a good rule of thumb. 3-5K. No one ever does it though. They just throw their cars away and get a new car payment every few years.

I have a Lexus (2005) ES330 with 400,00 miles. I've changed the oil with Mobile 1 synthetic since it had 50,000 miles. It rides like a dream. I always say, take care of your car and it will take are of you. It's my work car I've had for 18 years. In the garage sits the weekend car which is a 2010 Lexus convertible with 44,000 miles. I love those cars!!!!!!!!

I always tell people that they should learn to change your own oil. You save a lot of money and most importantly you know that the correct oil is being used and you can use a good quality filter also.

Like he said, change your oil more often if you drive short distances where it doesn't reach NOT. Every 3 months and at the least, every 4 months. What happens is that water vapor along with raw gasoline will mix with the oil and cause carbon and gum residue damage. For some reason people care more about their hair than a five thousand dollar engine.

I hate to be the contrarian but I'm the full synthethic 10K oil change guy for over 20 years on all my and wife's vehicles. No powertrain issues, the vehicles got old, rusty and we get bored with them up here in the rust belt. I realize some engines are harder on oil. 2000 dodge caravan we traded in with 150K, 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 with hemi I gave it away with 275K miles to young friend that needed a ride and didn't mind spending time patching up/replacing rocker panels and body rust. Wife's 2007 Sonata, still going strong at 190K miles. Already got 125K miles on my 2018 Ram 1500. I bought it new and have been more conservative with it doing changes every 7 and 8k miles. Around here in rust belt you're better off worrying more about rust protection if you want to keep your vehicle for many miles. The engines always outlast the bodies on my vehicles. 😂

I work at a shop that schedules synthetic oil changes at 7000 miles/1 year. They have taken care of the same customers for 30+ years. All that is to say, yes change your oil... but don't go too crazy with it. Changing your oil 3000 miles sooner will significantly increase you cost and only slightly improve engine life.

2005 Honda Accord 416,000 miles never a problem change oil every 10,000 miles with Bosch 3312 filter

Wise young man! I maintain 6 mo. 3000 max. Never blew an engine! Clean and no smoking!

Scotty Kilmer ALSO recommends the same! Honest mechanics (a minority) ALSO recommend it! You just reinforced that practice in my auto maintenance schedule!!!

Many years ago I worked for Rolls Royce for a short while and we did everything at 6000 mile service intervals. Lots of the 'old lady/'s' still are around and driving well. Higher balancing and machine tolerances have seen vehicles go further and last longer, especially with Japan leading the way. For example Honda Suzuki and Toyota bringing the finer mass market motors to the table first. There are other factors effecting Longevity: Constant short journeys, can be reduce vehicle life and how we drivers operate the vehicle. Aircraft pilots bring the engine to temp up, BEFORE take-off and pilots limit max power used after take-off. So too, how we drive or operate our cars needs respect for longevity. High RPM forces add to vehicle wear as we know. So, over a lifetime of study for what its worth, I personally change my oil at 6000 miles. I let the car idle a little before moving off and drive carefully till reaching full operating temp. I also never rev the car as I switch off it off. If I've driven hard, it's allowed to come down to a normal operating temp. before switching off. Good fuel in the tank and good quality engine oil used. I have seen folk hard on cash or not mechanically minded abuse a vehicle only for it to, 'hang on in there,' but often note two things. Firstly it was looked after by the previous owners, secondly it's often a well machined vehicle. So my Moto is an old one: Treat the car well and it will serve you well.

I change my oil every 6 months, which for me is only 1,500 miles. I do it myself 👍🏻

I change my oil one's a month ! I live in the city.I HAVE 259 THOUSAND MILES

"But todays' oils are so much better." Famous last words of a customer at a repair shop. "What...I need an engine...but I changed the oil every 10,000 miles?" "It says so on the bottle."

Great video buddy. People are ignorant when they do oil change at higher intervals. Oil is cheap, engine is expensive.

We change oil in our cars and trucks because it cannot renew itself. Our body constantly filters and replaces our blood cells every day. Our cars cannot renew its oil the way we renew our blood. The oil loads up with dirt and carbon and the additives disappear over time. That's why we change our oil. The sooner the better.

Well presented, produced and edited. I have a 99 Taurus with 366K 3.0 Vulcan cast iron original block and bottom end (did heads sometime back due to an accidental overheat) It runs like a top, uses no oil to hardly measure and still gets better than 25 mpg on the road. Oil changes you ask? Every 3000 miles. I rest my case.

Yep I do it every 8K Kms(5k miles), sometimes sooner if it sits for a while, basically twice a yr. Good to know more about the short commutes bc you would think it warms up fast enough but actually not.

Great video. Fantastic advice. Pity people don’t listen. Did 4 hundred thousand miles in my 3.8 Buick. Oil changes every 4000 miles

I drive about 100 miles a day round trip to work, i have a 01 Dodge Ram that I use full synthetic in, I change it every couple months

I've had several vehicles in which extended oil intervals were performed (bought them used). I continued changing the oil every 7,500 to 10,000 miles. In the majority of them, oil consumption issues developed. I've vowed never to do that again; my Toyota dealer said "every 10K", I said, "no thanks" and change the oil every 5K miles with a high quality synthetic oil.

Great video, i watched The Car Care Nut video months ago. I've changed my oil & filter at half distance for the 35 years i owned cars and motorcycles. My current car is 19 years old with 144,000 miles(5000mile oil & filter changes). Out of curiosity, i sent off an oil sample at 137000miles, 5,000 mile oil life for analysis (€98 for oil analysis), results were excellent, like the engine when it was new from the factory. Your recycling centre takes your waste oil folks. Oil & filter change DIY costs me €40.

Exactly! I try to do all the maintenance myself that I can. 5,000 to 6,000 miles or 6 months is about all I let oil changes go. I prefer to do it myself but not having a garage sometimes is difficult. Still I never trust quick oil change shops as one messed up an oil pan on my old Honda Prelude. Since it's only me or a trusted mechanic. Now I have a 2020 Toyota Tacoma. It's the first vehicle I ever bought brand new. It's getting maintained well in hopes it will last me 10 or 15 maybe more. It will be paid off before the end of next year and I'm looking forward to no car payment for a long time so I can spend some time and money on other things. Taking good care of a vehicle is very important. I've learned over the years if you treat it well it will serve you well.

I never changed the oil on my Craftsman push Lawn mower for 18 years. Ran like a champ.

I do my oil changes every 3 months because I do a lot of short drives. My work is only 4 miles away.

I change the oil every 6 months and I only drive my car at the weekend. It's inexpensive and easy to do.

You're information is 100% correct. Doing long OCI's is really bad for an engine. I drive a 2006 Matrix with 210,000 miles and just did it's 42nd oil change with full synthetic. This car turns on the maintenance light every 5k. It still runs like a new car. Also, almost every vehicle driven meets special conditions criteria and therefore should have the standard OCI cut in half (i.e., 10k OCI becomes 5k).

4-5k seems to be the sweet spot for most cars. Good oils last longer. Been running valvoline extended protection and after 4200 miles oil is in great shape. Easily does 5k. But wouldn’t go past that. Also every 6 months regardless of miles is a good tip as well

Been changing my synthetic oil 10000 Miles for YEARS and been fine. Had a Volvo c30 got up 180000 miles on it (bought it 93000), the car was fine. Just changed the oil when Volvo said in the manual.

Very true, also government is pushing for ever thinner and thinner oils too, emissions and mpg bs;)

My Grandmother inherited her Sister's 2003 Grand Marquis with 38,000 miles. She went to have the oil changed and they told her the oil was black and to not change it and she took it to a 2nd shop and they refused to change it as well. She said screw it and she just drove it. She made it to 136,000 miles on the same oil in 2017 before the timing set ground down and one chain ground through the timing cover..It had no oil left in the engine. She gave the car to my cousin and he put a new timing cover on it, new timing set, and cleaned the oil pump pick up screen and it still runs like new... Great video...

Great advice, like the car nut guy says, oil is cheap and engines are expensive. I change the oil on my new Tacoma myself every four months minimum. I plan to keep my Tacoma a long time.

I’ve changed my oil and filter every 3-5,000 mile intervals. Vehicles are almost 10 yrs old I’ve never had oil consumption of any measurable amount.

I own a 22 Camry XSE, did a break in oil change at about 500 miles, went to the dealer and they said I was nuts, and I told them I'll pay for the oil change, and they ended up do it for free. Went back for my 5K oil change, they said I just did mine at 500 miles; and I told them I know, and now I'm here for the 5K and I'll pay for it; and they also changed it for free. Both times, when I picked up the vehicle, I popped open the hood to check and see if they did change the oil, (compared them to the photos that I took before heading to the dealership) and both times the oil was clean. The service advisor asked if there was a problem, and I said no, just making sure you guys are honest, nothing is ever free especially when the Toyota recommends their oil changes every 10K. My car is now due for its 10K service, so this one "should" be free as well since its part of their Toyota care.

Years ago a buddy of mine bought a 2014 Silverado from an individual. He brought it over to use my tools to do an oil change and I kid you not.....the oil would barely come out....it reminded me of chocolate styrofoam....I actually had to pull it out.

Totally agree with what you say,,And also if you are running a forced induction engine,,you should change your oil every 3 thousand…

I quite agree!!! It keeps the engine happy!!

I've found that 1/2 or less of recommended mileages is best--this for engine, trans, anti-freeze, diff and suspension lube, (where applicable). Don't forget brake fluid flushes (every year or two).

Absolutely 👍 I do charge my oils my self every 3000 miles mobil 1 I owned 2 Mercedes one of them have 250.000 miles and runs like new just regular maintenance plugs coils that’s it

Oil is cheap, engines are not. I prefer six months or 5000 miles, whichever comes first. Ford Boss Rich is cool.

Everyone is doing at 4-5K miles but they should also remember that a genuine oil filter is also important in this regard.

The Car Care Nut services both of my Lexus's and I drive 150 miles to his shop. He's a top flight mechanic and probably the best in the business.

We do very short trips like you mentioned, and I find even 5000 miles is too long, at least during the winter months! In winter, (-30 to -40F) it turns to a clay colour pretty fast. It will clear up if we go on a long trip like 500 miles, but since we don't, it is oil changes sooner for sure. I keep an eye on it and do my own oil changes with synthetic always. I pre-buy my oil when it goes on sale, as well as premium oil filters when they too go on sale so the price is actually not bad.

I use synthetic oil and change my oil in all my vehicles every 2900-3100 miles ! My 1995 Silverado with 253,000 miles is still running well on this oil change schedule.

If my car is turbo charged and I am using high quality oils (penzoil plat, liqui moly) still good to do 5k intervals yea?

The thinner the oil, the tighter the tolerances, the more you should change your oil. Most Toyotas are now at 0W-16, that's a very thin oil film.

I check the oil level and the color every time I fill up gas. Usually, the car is warmed up and I am waiting and not doing anything anyways. Once the oil starts getting darker, even if it not 5k miles since the last change I replace the oil and filter. I buy either mobile one or the 20k mile rated oil filter from Walmart and i buy the 20k mile or 15k mile rated oil from Walmart. I noticed that sometimes the oil gets dark around 4.5k miles, sometimes around 4.2k miles (usually in winter and in my wife’s car who drives shorter distances). I am also mindful of the fact that if you add an oil additive sometimes that makes the oil color darker. Then I check for transparency. In the US only about 25% of car owners maintain their cars properly unfortunately. Maybe this has changed the past 2-3 years. I hope so. New car prices are very high, IMO.

Last thing, we're only talking about a dollar a day for the extra one or two oil changes. You can't afford that? Too much of an inconvenience?

The next big racket that needs an exposé is these tiger piss viscosity CAFE oils, and how they accelerate wear because they don't offer the same shear protection as their thicker counterpart viscosity oils. Or how manufacturers tell you 5 years later it's ok to use them in your previous generation engine with 70k + miles on them 🤦‍♂️

My dad used to change the oil every 3000miles on his 72 Pontiac. I change the oil on my Colorado every 5000Km that's what i was told! But if you own a Hyundai doesn't matter it will blow up at 123,000Km 3000Km out of warranty!! Good luck!!

Thankfully both dealerships that sold my wife and I our vehicles in '19 and '20 recommended oil change intervals about 50% shorter than the factory. And we have stuck with that.

I change my own every 5,000 miles or a little under, I've seen these oils in the store that say they are good for 20,000 miles & yes I buy them, but I still change mine every 5,000 miles or a little under, I don't trust any motor oil to last 20,000 miles, my filters says it's good for 10,000 miles, but regardless of what it says I put a new filter in it every oil change, I drive a 2008 Chevy HHR LT with 270,000 miles on it, still running strong🏁

Driving habits greatly effect the o/c intervals. I have an '18 Tundra with 102,xxx on the odo and the idiot light just popped on at its 5,000 mark. I checked the oil level and it's still full and golden brown, indicative of the oil and filter doing their jobs. I'll go to about 7,500 and check it again. Its been dealer serviced since birth, so I don't mind going the extra 2,500 miles to test the condition. My habits of driving are highway/open roads, allowing the oil to fully warm up to disperse any condensation. So yep, I think I'll go a bit longer on my intervals

should i change my oil after cleaning the intake valves on my gdi engine? i didnt take anything off, i just took off a vacuum line and sprayed cleaner in it while it was running. But after that i noticed my new oil turning pretty dark

2001 VW Passat wagon (B5 generation, 1.8T "sludge/coke monster" engine with undersized 3.7 qt. sump): 2500 mile oil change interval, absolute max. When we replaced the valve cover gasket at the 18-year-mark, there was some varnish, but no sludge particles. (Owner's manual does say 3K miles for city driving, 5K miles for highway.) 2016 VW Golf Sportwagen (B7 generation, 1.8T with 5.5 qt. sump): I use the same OCI, even though the owner's manual claims 10K mi. No way!!!

And at the same time there are tons of cars with engine failure even with 5k miles oil changes. Drive sensible and maintain on time is the key. Very few drive 2-3 miles a day.

Look at any engine oil after 3-5K. It will already have lost its viscosity. It will no longer properly protect the engine.

like you said, just change the oil and filter yourself , easy job and you can use the oil of your choice, not some random oil a company might use.

I have a 2001 Civic and I change oil religiously. It has been in a minor crash where the engine was fine, the power steering pump, oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, shocks, struts, many sets of tires….lots of minor repairs. But changing the oil has kept that good 4 cylinder engine purring. I have a log book in the glove box to remind myself what I do to the car. I have fun reading that book sometimes :). Change your oil, have someone show you how to do it, or have a relative help you, or pay to get it done.

I do my cars every 7500km/5000mi approx or before, having two cars, etc. However when i drive them i'm always driving a pretty decent distance so in my case it's not so much time based. I've had UOA's done to know what i'm doing, i never ever have fuel dilution issues. I also use the most current spec oils (atleast in Australia) one of my cars spec'd Ford WSS-M2C929-A (which i know off memory was superceded by WSS-M2C946-A, followed by WSS-M2C946-A-A1/B1 & current WSS-M2C961-A1) feel free to correct me if i'm wrong. One of my other cars specs a ILSAC GF3 or API SL oil, so i went to again API SP & ILSAC GF-6A Both my cars call for 5w30 & i use the same oil in both of'em with excellent results. Mind you they're running a mid saps full synthetic oil.

I have a 2012 Toyota with 3.5 2GR-FE. Start it up and let it run about 1 second, then flog it for 3.5 miles to work. Usually gets a 1 hour drive on the weekends. Run Amsoil Signature Series and change at 7,500 miles. At 140,000 miles now. So far, so good.

when I first did my oil change myself, 8000Km, the oil came out thick. from then on I do 5-6K only. after getting the 2nd car and doing 10 km a day. I do oil changes every 2.5 months, sometime only for 600km. oil will never came to temp in Canadian winder when driving short trips. Change your oil people! go to your dealership and buy filters! for most parts, those items are cheaper than Canadian tire or other bulk stores and the sales rep normally would throw in a discount.

Depends on the vehicle, and owners guide. I have 750.000k on my mercedes I change the synthetic oil every 10k as advised no problem. 3500k oil change is bull 🐂

I purchased a used 2006 Honda Element ex with 132,000 miles on it. The paperwork history was excellent showing that it was fully maintained and oil changes every 3 to 5,000 miles at a Honda dealership. Now I have 160,000 miles on it and it uses some oil, but I always have the oil and filter changed every 3,000 miles at my "Trusty" Neighborhood Auto Repair Shop. I always have all the other fluids changed routinely as well, I admit to "possibly" being a bit excessive with the maintenance on my Honda, but I want it to continue working well for many more years because I am lower income, and have no family to help me. But honestly I see most of the people I know, really "Neglect" their vehicles and their cars keep running well and have well over 100,000 miles on most of them. I'm starting to wonder if I should not do such good maintenance on it and save some 💰 money😏

i do mine on my 2014 cruze every 6 months or up to 3k miles and most of the time i dont even hit that. but at work the custmoers we get. we get some people with kias and hyndais that just go 7k to 14,000 per change. they are so sold on the best oil and the best filter and weve had some come in where they ay they dont use the car much and they just do oil changes once a year.......

More oil, less toil. An old engineers saying.

My neighbor destroyed two engines on his crown Victoria by never checking the oil you just can't fix stupid.

AMEN BROTHER! GREAT VIDEO! 👍

I have watched over 1 thousand of videos about this topic/related to it ever since I got my first car about 10 years ago and still continue to watch the new videos being uploaded and keep in mind I used to do 10k oil changes on my beater car and reason for that was because I was being brainwashed by those videos saying oh its modern technology & oil analysis came out clean even after 10k oil sample and so on.... anyways i bought a new 2022 camry awd 3 miles and now it hit 30k miles and the first oil change I did was at 500 miles then 1k miles and after then always max 3k. Not 3.5/ 4/ 5k, Max 3k or lowered! I use pennzoil ultra platinum and toyota oem filter buying them in bulk and so the oil. I got home from work hot as an oven on the way and I opened up the cap of the engine oil at home and it was smoking and it had 1.7k miles from previous oil change but my head told me you gotta change it just look at that smoke it's begging you to change it and so I did I just freaking love doing oil change on that pony it's satisfying, cvt Transmission Fluid change already done it twice with other stuff like transfer case, rear Differential all those with amsoil signature series all done by me of course. mpg consistently 38 combined. Awd. Anyways to each their own, Nice video gentlemen. Peace ✌️ Edit: I want my car to last at least 500k Miles on original engine and transmission, with the type of maintenance I'm giving it should be easy only time will tell.. ✌️

These car manufacturers wouldn't recommend those drain intervals if they hadn't under a research if they didn't have their mechanics in their people who designed their cars make him so they could last like that

2000 mile oil change intervals (Every 2 and half months) on a 2023 Honda Civic Si with the L15CA. Constant short trips with stop and go traffic driven aggressively to redline on a daily in Normal Drive Mode after the blue idiot light goes away. 16 something thousand miles, no problems. Given it is still a new car but hey! Even new cars can break down early if mishandled under the conditions they operate in.

Actually 10,000 miles is ok under one condition. You do huge majority highway traveling. I forgot the source but pretty much highway mileage is half as bad city driving for the oil so if you do almost solely highway traveling you can get away with 10,000 miles. I used to do a lot of city driving and my oil was about perfect time to be changed at 5000miles according to oil analysis so it seem to align with that fact.

I’ve driven 26,000 is less than a year, i try to change it every 3000-3500, filters every 2-3 oil changes, full cleaning since i have a GDI engine.

I agree 100%, please people change your oil every 5k miles most!!

This video is so true. Oil and filter changes are cheap insurance. I bought a 2011 Scion XB in 2019. Don't know maintance before I bought it. Soon found I had an oil burner because of poor oil changes. I paid $7,000.00 for remanfactured long block engine. I now chane oil every 3,000 miles

My oil change interval is every 25k miles, im using Amsoil 0W-20 signature series. Toyota prius w/ 250k mileage😂

I change my oil and filter every 5-6k miles, sometimes more but my car is used for motorway cruise 80% of the time. I'm astonished by the amount of crap the combustion engines emit other than the exhaust alone. This would be an idea for a video: why all parts and fluids and the cost of manufacturing them is always omitted when comparing the combustion vs electric vehicles emissions?

Either the car have a strictly variable controlled oil service interval or you change much more often than specified if driving in city conditions.

Bought a new 2002 E450 6.8 V10 Triton. Went 595,000 before engine gave out. Mobil 1 Full Syn 5w30 10,000 mile intervals.

I believe the brand oil makes a huge difference

What's even crazier is that the manual/dealer call for 21K mile oil change intervals in our 2020 Range Rover Velar!! Even though I'm leasing it, it gets changed every 5K miles.

Lol I remember our family van when I was much younger went 5 years with no oil change, ever. No maintenance work, either. I still till this day have no idea how we got so lucky. It was a mercury villager. It ran like a dream. It eventually caught fire one day while parked at a store. Now As an informed adult I always take care of my oil changes faithfully and so far I’ve had no issues besides regular maintenance on my Toyota that I bought new eight years ago.

I just did a timing chain and sprockets because mine was stretched and sprockets chewed up after going 16k on an oil rotation. Never again.

10,000, 15,000 miles is not recommended? Well, if my oil analysis says go another 15,000 miles on next oil change. I will. My gawd, it’s not difficult folks!

I go no earlier than 5k and no later than 7k and I do it myself

I could not agree more!

😮 Just the cost of an engine rebuild makes the 5,000 mile oil change a no brainier

Too many people lease, or simply trade in every few years. They will spend the minimum on maintenance.

auto zone takes waste oil for free. I get the cheapest full synthetic they sell at Walmart. 6.4 qts in a 2GR-FE, oem filter for $5, costs me about $33 for an oil change (as of April 2023).

I'll take this advice and it makes sense👍, SEAT in the UK said that's rubbish advice and it's 12k on my car but to me just sounds like a good selling point rather than actual fact.

I change my cars oil at least every 3,000 to 4,000 miles. That why mi wife first new car had 290,000 miles on when we sold it to a neighbor's kid which he drove it for another 25,000 miles before he sold it. It was on a 1987 Volkswagen Golf.

Purpose of oil... Cleans, cools, seals, lubricates.

Dealerships tell people 10,000 miles for two reasons one of them is emissions the others is because they have a financial incentive for people to break their engines

Amen brother!

Oil is cheep, engines are expensive. Change your oil, full synthetic, 5000 miles or 6 months. Oil does break down over time, even if your miles are less than 5000