Oil changes- when do you get them?

[sdmp3]

When to do the 1st??

I have about 2000 miles on my MP3, but the car's oil has been in there since Sept (or longer) when it was at the dealer.

What's a good rule of thumb for many months before changing the oil? What happens to oil over time?

thx

-sdmp3

 

[Brubeck]

The duration thing brings up a good point. I like to make sure I change mine every 3 months. That's probably overkill, but I definately recommend at least 2x/year. Try putting 5W30 in in October and then putting 10W30 in march.

Of course, I change mine too often. Every 3000 miles, or about 1.5 months. I know it's too often, but I don't think you can do too much damage by changing it more frequently.

I just changed the oil in my wife's miata, not because of the mileage (1850) but because it was a 2001 and still had the original factory oil/filter. Also I wanted to get rid of the dino and put Mobile 1 in. I'll keep her on a 3 month schedule just to keep fresh stuff in her. She sure did run a lot smoother afterwards.

 

[Carl]

My dad's Buick has an RPM sensor for changing oil. Oil depreciation is not based upon milage or time. If you like to race above 5000 rpm all the time, then you will cook your oil sooner than 7500 miles.

Toyota had a problem with their 2.2 L 4 bangers for 92-98. Seems that owners would actually listen to their owner's manual and change their oil every 7500 miles as stated. Well those owner's would burn up their engines around the 100 k mark. They tried to keep it hush-hush because Toyota means quality, right? They tried to replace as many engines as possible (prorated of course, with minor labor charges to those that qualified).

So go ahead and change your oil every 7500 miles. I plan on keeping my car beyond the 50k 36 mo period.

As for tires needing to be rotated every 3750: it seems awfully labor intensive. I hate tires as you will see in the photo section soon.