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happy123

happy123

Beginner (19)

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Submitted 827 days ago...

andrew

andrew

Contributor (99)

Whats the truth about changing your oil?

I think they say "the shorter of 3000 miles or 3 months". Is that true? In some years in the past I've only driven 3,000 miles a year and only replaced the oil in my car once. I always felt bad about this for my car, but never had any sort of engine problems.

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Answer 1 / 4 - Submitted 827 days ago...

UpNorth49

UpNorth49

Beginner (12)

Depends on the car make and model and how new it is.

My 2004 Honda Accord is 5,000 miles and I want to say 6 months. I drive my car so much That I replaced it last in about half the time if you went only by time.

I think it is good to chance the oil, without it, you can have alot of problems with the engine.

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Answer 2 / 4 - Submitted 827 days ago...

Jodi-Mesa

Jodi-Mesa

Brain (2,795)

My dad always taught me to keep up on cars maintenance and I have had very few problems which I think has saved me a ton of money over the years even though the cost up front can be a little more. For hondas they actually say 5000 miles or 5 months which was great! It won't kill your car, but if there is a little problem it's easier to fix before it breaks a major component!

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Answer 3 / 4 - Submitted 827 days ago...

happy123

happy123

Beginner (19)

I think this tends to be one of the biggest debates in the auto industry and i here different opinions all of the time. I usually change my oil every 3,000 miles because of the amount of city driving and short trips I take. However, i think others will tell you 4,000 - 5,000 miles is perfectly ok.

I believe it depends on many factors such as the age of the car, your driving conditions, and many other factors.

Here is an interesting article:

http://www.moneybluebook.com/the-3000-mile-oil-change-myth-save-your-m oney/

 
Answer 4 / 4 - Submitted 827 days ago...

andrew

andrew

Contributor (99)

Thanks happy123. That is just what I was looking for!

Answer accepted.

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This Question was awarded 827 days ago therefore you can no longer post an Answer. However you may post a comment below.

 
Comments
Comment 1 / 12 - Submitted 821 days ago...

DatsCool

DatsCool

Contributor (168)

I agree with happy that you can probably go longer than normal, but I'm sure it's someone's job somewhere to figure out when it is the best time to get an oil change based on tons of information. So I don't eat anything after the "best used by" and I get my oil changed every 3,000 miles. Call it blind faith :)

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Comment 2 / 12 - Submitted 821 days ago...

jreberry

jreberry

Authority (306)

Companies like Jiffy Lube reccomend i change my oil every 3,000 or 3 months and because i rarely drive, i only put on about 500 miles a month. So do i really need to change my oil every three months if i only put 1,500 miles on my truck. Last year i only put on about 5,500 new miles.

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Comment 3 / 12 - Submitted 821 days ago...

sidelko

sidelko

Brain (3,439)

It is important to make sure that you do have clean oil and get it changed regularly. but to also make sure that they actually do put oil back in your car.

My last car, had the engine die on me from what me and my mechanic think was *insert company here who I don't want to bad mouth publicly* not putting oil back in the car after changing it. I had some other work done and thought it might be related to that, and took the car back to them after the engine died on me. So who knows if that was the cause or not.

Oil changes are something important for your car.

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Comment 4 / 12 - Submitted 821 days ago...

Jodi-Mesa

Jodi-Mesa

Brain (2,795)

Yeah you still should get your oil changes. They say 3 months because the integrity of the oil actually changes, so even if your can just sits in the garage or the driveway, you should still get the oil changed to get the most life out of your engine!

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Comment 5 / 12 - Submitted 793 days ago...

railroader19

railroader19

New User (7)

It's good to change your oil every 3000 miles or so because small traces of carbon from your combustion chambers get into your cranckcase and actually become acidic and cause corosion inside your engine. It wont kill your engine, but it's not really good for it. Given the amount of miles you drive and how long your vehicle sits, I would change it 2 or 3 times a year. Buy the cheaper oil and it won't cost you an arm and a leg.

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Comment 6 / 12 - Submitted 793 days ago...

Jodi-Mesa

Jodi-Mesa

Brain (2,795)

Yeah - I think railroader should be our new car expert - that's good to know!


This answer was edited by Jodi-Mesa 793 days ago.

Reason: aaa

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