Is it really necessary to change the oil in your car every three thousand miles?

Question

Although it is recommended that you get the oil changed in your car every three thousand miles, is it really necessary?

Answer 1

Depends on the car. Have known some to run for 10,000 miles without a change and very infrequent top-ups.

Older cars it is more important to prevent wear so I would change the oil more often. Modern cars are quite well designed and could go for many many miles after the service interval without an oil change.

Answer 2

When it comes to intervals consider your driving habits for oil changes. If you drive in the city you will want to change oil more oft ten because of starts and stops. Reason for this is automobile engines do not have the luxury of a circulating oil system when the engine is not in use. Along with this every time you start a engine that is cold you do an equivalent of 250 miles damage to your wear parts. So if you are a city driver every 1500 to 2000 miles, highway 3000 to 5000 miles between oil changes.

Consider using a better oil filter like K&N or Mobil 1 as you will see benefit from day 1 using these filters.

Answer 3

its a good idea.   Depending on your driving habits, this can change (ie. if most of your driving is on the highway, you can go longer between oil changes).  

Answer 4

I have a 2001 Honda Civic. Oil change with Syntheitc every 7,500-9,000 miles. It has 217,000 miles and doesn't use any oil..  I would say most newer cars can go around 5,000 between oil changes. With synthetic you can go as much as 7,500 miles between oil changes.  

Answer 5

HI,

Don't know what type of car you have of what type of driving you do. Yes it's a really good practice to change your oil and filter every 3000 miles. Think of it this way, spend $30.00 bucks every 3000 miles to save your engine from abnormal wear or spend $6000 for a new engine........  

It's your choice.

Tommy

Answer 6

only if you want your car to keep running

Answer 7

It is not necessary to change it at 3k miles but if you want the best performance from your car you should change it at 3k... otherwise you can change it at 5k or around there.  

Answer 8

I would say that's way over the top - most modern cars have oil change intervals of between 10,000 & 12,000 miles. Modern synthetic or semi synthetic oil doesn't degrade like mineral oil, so 3,000 miles is ridiculously excessive.

I still have the handbook for my 1979 pick up, it only recommended 6,000 mile intervals back then!

Answer 9

yes if that is what the automaker has recommended or if the oil manufacturer recommends it. I learned the hard way I didn't change my oil properly and ended up having to put a new motor in my car. It was cheaper to buy a new vehicle. My current ford f-150 has 218,000 on it runs great looks good and gets oil changes every 3,000 miles or 3 months religiously. I wished I would have put a $30 dollar oil change into my car versus having to spend $8,000 for a new vehicle. When you don't change the oil it breaks down to the point where it won't lubricate everything properly. That is when you have major problems. Take the time to change the oil. Its cheaper in the long run.  

Answer 10

actually its all a conspiracy cars don't even need oil

Answer 11

When I purchased my new car, I was advised that the oil change recommendations were every six thousand miles; however, I'm still a bit old fashioned and continue with every three thousand.  That seemed to work really well with my last car as it was still running well after 15 years!  The only reason I purchased a new one was because it became a "Nissan Sandwich" in an accident.