I'm an aircraft mechanic with over 25 years of experience in my trade. I have more time wrenching on cars than that, although not as my livelihood. I have never had an engine (of any other make, foreign or domestic) do this to me. I generally know what I am doing when it comes to mechanical things. I took care of this car from day 1. Oil changes were on an extended interval (All the way out to 5,000 mi on Amsoil) I am not a believer in 3,000 mile oil changes. It is a waste of our resources. And my time. I have a made in the USA GMC pick-up that has been driven since new only getting an oil change once every year regardless of the mileage. At 6 months it does get a new filter and a top off of what is lost in the change. Care to guess what the mileage is in this truck? How about 209,000 and counting. Compression... not even 10% lower than spec.
I spent my youth working on all kinds of machinery. I grew up on a farm. My first car was a '69 Mustang that got fresh Castrol every 3,000. I started using synthetic oils in the mid to late 80's and have never, until now, had an engineNOT outlast the car. I guess there is a first time for everything. I really don't think the 5,000 mile oil change had a detrimental effect on this engine though.
