Oil Change after only 2k miles in the past year

[IamVAguy]

I usually change my oil every year. However, this year I have only driven about 2k miles. Almost all my driving is highway and I don't do short trips. What is your opinion on waiting for more miles to accumulate before changing my oil/filter?

 

[jadmt]

for me personally no short trips and only highway miles I would not worry about waiting another 6 months....especially if you are using quality oil

 

[N7turbo]

If it isn't the first change (I see you have a 2018), and I didn't have warranty concerns, I would personally skip it. The oil won't expire just from being in the car for a year.

 

[BoomerZoomr]

I am in the same situation, being retired and only driving a few thousand miles a year. I change the oil in our vehicles every 12 months. It’s convenient for an iPhone reminder and it follows the owners manual. I think the issue with time isn’t necessarily the oil breaking down, but contamination.

*edit* I guess another consideration is how long you plan to keep the vehicle

 

[JDC]

Same here. I drove my 2024 CX-30 only about 2,500 miles from August 2024 to August 2025 although my miles were mostly on city street instead of highways. I just went with what the dealership recommended which was oil change at 5,000 miles or one year which ever came first. I don't know that it needed changing after such low mileage but since it was a "freebie" I had the service performed.

 

[N7turbo]

Same here. I drove my 2024 CX-30 only about 2,500 miles from August 2024 to August 2025 although my miles were mostly on city street instead of highways. I just went with what the dealership recommended which was oil change at 5,000 miles or one year which ever came first. I don't know that it needed changing after such low mileage but since it was a "freebie" I had the service performed.

Yes, that is how you should handle a new car and especially the first oil change after break-in. But OP has an out-of-warranty 2018.

 

[Lazy2.5]

I would keep it.

 

[Mazdiod2]

The same situation I have... I change it when it's convenient. I use good oil and I don't believe it suddenly goes bad in exactly a year.

 

[GFrosty]

IMO, fluids are one of those things with a "time" component to the change-out (coolant, brake, transm/diff, oil). 2Kmi isn't much, but it's at the 1yr point. Whatever chemical residues and changes have occurred in the oil will be sitting for, what, another year prior to swap? On my own vehicle, I'd probably not go beyond a year with oil. I consider it a small maintenance price for good peace of mind.

That said, though, I suspect the others are correct that going beyond 1yr on such low mileage probably won't be the end of the world, particularly if top-notch oil is being used.

 

[N7turbo]

The oil won't change with time unless we're talking several years for the additives to condense into a sludge at the bottom of the pan. The only thing you would need to worry about is a buildup of water if it's parked outside and experiences a lot of temperature and humidity fluctuations, which should be easily burned off with highway miles. I've never seen someone attempt to actually quantify this, but I would like to see hard measurements.

 

[BoomerZoomr]

Kind of comparing apples to oranges here… but I have the same situation with a Honda generator that is stored in a closed garage. It gets run 10 minutes per month to exercise it… so two hours of runtime each year, which isn’t much. I change the generator oil every 12 months. Owners manual says every 6 months or 100 hours of runtime. When I drain the oil (synthetic), it is much darker colored than new oil. I am not sure exactly what causes oil to become dark with such little runtime.

It’s hard to say what my auto engine oil looks like after 12 months and just a few thousand miles, since I don’t change it myself. Looking at the dipstick isn’t quite the same as seeing it drained.

 

[IamVAguy]

Thanks for your replies. I have Penzoil Platimum 0W-20 in it at the moment and a Wix filter. Guess i'll wait another six months or after winter.

 

[sm1ke]

Personally, even out of warranty, I would change the oil once a year regardless of mileage. My reasoning is that over the years, the mileage interval for oil changes has gotten longer, most likely due to improvements in the engines and improvements with the oils themselves. I went from 3k to 5k to 7.5k intervals as I moved to newer cars, with updated engines, but if I remember correctly, the time interval hasn't changed, regardless of the engine mileage, the number of cylinders, or the age of the vehicle. It's always been every 6 months, or every 12 months. That recommendation appears to be the same for almost every manufacturer, regardless of the recommended oil's weight/viscosity rating.

Most sources claim that engine oil degrades over time, collecting contaminants and in some cases collecting moisture from temperature swings. I would be inclined to trust that and change the oil accordingly, but if you wanted to, you could take an engine oil sample and send it in to a lab for a used oil analysis. They would be able to provide a recommendation based on the actual data from your specific use case, environment, and driving habits.. but then the cost/time spent collecting the oil and mailing it in may cost almost as much as an oil change, so it may not be worth it unless you don't see your use case changing in the next few years.

 

[BoomerZoomr]

I wonder if one reason manufacturers have gone to less frequent engine oil changes (transmission=no change) is so there is less used oil to contend with.

 

[cxha]

I wonder if one reason manufacturers have gone to less frequent engine oil changes (transmission=no change) is so there is less used oil to contend with.

Probably one of many reasons under the guise of going green. Also, they no doubt have studies that tell them that very few owners keep their vehicles long enough to suffer the negative consequences of extended oil change intervals.

 

[N7turbo]

I wonder if one reason manufacturers have gone to less frequent engine oil changes (transmission=no change) is so there is less used oil to contend with.

That is exactly it. All fluids: engine oil, transmission, etc.

 

[Speed3.5]

It's cheaper to change engine oil especially since its been in use for about a year even though you've driven less then you could've vs letting diluted engine oil sit for longer period of time.

 

[BoomerZoomr]

I am saying kinda jokingly… when manufacturers made cars that lasted 100K miles or so (in the ol' days), the manufacturers produced maintenance schedules to get the most they could out of a car. Then cars started going hundreds of thousands of miles, and the manufacturers probably said… we need to dial this back a bit.

 

[Yo'sDad]

I wonder if one reason manufacturers have gone to less frequent engine oil changes (transmission=no change) is so there is less used oil to contend with.

Exactly, less oil and fluids to be put into the environment. EPA regulations call for this.... wish I could find those regulations on the books.... can anyone help here?