Stop Changing Your Oil   
      
   By Philip Reed, Senior Consumer Advice Editor, Ronald Montoya, Consumer   
   Advice Associate | Published Aug 24, 2010   
      
   Oil chemistry and engine technology have evolved tremendously in recent   
   years, but you'd never know it from the quick-change behavior of American   
   car owners. Driven by an outdated 3,000-mile oil change commandment, they   
   are unnecessarily spending millions of dollars and spilling an ocean of   
   contaminated waste oil.   
      
   Although the average car's oil change interval is around 7,800 miles - and   
   as high as 20,000 miles in some cars - this wasteful cycle continues   
   largely because the automotive service industry, while fully aware of the   
   technological advances, continues to preach the 3,000-mile gospel as a way   
   to keep the service bays busy. As a result, even the most cautious owners   
   are dumping their engine oil twice as often as their service manuals   
   recommend.   
      
   After interviews with oil experts, mechanics and automakers, one thing is   
   clear: The 3,000-mile oil change is a myth that should be laid to rest.   
   Failing to heed the service interval in your owner's manual wastes oil and   
   money, while compounding the environmental impact of illicit waste-oil   
   dumping.   
      
   Scared Into Needless Service   
   Part of the blame for this over-servicing lies in our insecurities about   
   increasingly complicated engines that are all but inaccessible to the   
   average driver. Pop open the hood of a modern car, and a mass of plastic   
   covers wall off the engine. On some vehicles, the only thing an owner can   
   easily access is the oil cap.   
      
   "Vehicles are so sophisticated that oil is one of the last things that   
   customers can have a direct influence over," said Matt Snider, project   
   engineer in GM's Fuels and Lubricants Group. "There's maybe some feeling   
   that they're taking care of their vehicle if they change their oil more   
   often."   
      
   The 3,000-mile myth is also promoted by the quick lube industry's   
   "convenient reminder" windshield sticker. It is a surprisingly effective   
   tool that prompts us to continue following a dictate that our fathers (or   
   grandfathers) drummed into our heads: It's your duty to change your oil   
   every 3,000 miles - or your car will pay the price. But as former service   
   advisor David Langness put it, the 3,000-mile oil change is "a marketing   
   tactic that dealers use to get you into the service bay on a regular   
   basis. Unless you go to the drag strip on weekends, you don't need it."   
      
   Because busy car owners seldom read their owner's manuals, most have no   
   idea of the actual oil change interval for their cars. And so they blindly   
   follow the windshield reminder sticker, whether it's an accurate indicator   
   of the need for an oil change or not. "I just go by the sticker in the   
   windshield," one well-to-do, educated Denver Lexus owner said. "Otherwise,   
   how would I know when to change it?"   
      
   A career Navy mechanic who bought an Edmunds.com long-term car just   
   shrugged when he was told that the vehicle had safely gone 13,000 miles   
   between oil changes. "I'll just keep changing the oil every 5,000 miles,"   
   he said. "It's worked well for me in the past."   
      
   Our oil change addiction also comes from the erroneous argument that   
   nearly all cars should be serviced under the "severe" schedule found in   
   the owner's manual. In fact, a quiz on the Web site maintained by Jiffy   
   Lube International Inc. (owned by petrochemical giant Shell Oil Company)   
   recommends the severe maintenance schedule for virtually every kind of   
   driving pattern.   
      
   The argument that most people drive under severe conditions is losing its   
   footing, however. A number of automakers, including Ford and GM, have   
   contacted Edmunds data editors to request that the maintenance section of   
   Edmunds' site substitute the normal maintenance schedule for the severe   
   schedule that had been displayed.   
      
   About the only ones that really need a 3,000-mile oil change are the   
   quick-lube outlets and dealership service departments. In their internal   
   industry communications, they're frank about how oil changes bring in   
   customers. "Many people...know when to have their oil changed but don't   
   pay that much attention to it," said an article in the National Oil and   
   Lube News online newsletter. "Take advantage of that by using a window   
   sticker system [and] customers will be making their way back to you in a   
   few short months."   
      
   Another National Oil and Lube News article tied the frequency of oil   
   changes to success in pushing related products and services. For a midsize   
   SUV, the stepped-up oil change intervals will bring in $1,800 over the   
   life of the car, the article says. "A few extra services [or oil changes]   
   can go a long way toward increasing the amount of money a customer will   
   spend during the lifespan we estimated here," the article concludes.   
      
   Today's Oil Goes the Distance   
   While the car-servicing industry is clear about its reasons for believing   
   in the 3,000-mile oil change, customers cling to it only because they're   
   largely unaware of advances in automotive technology. Among 2010 models,   
   the average recommended oil change interval, based on a normal service   
   schedule, is about 7,800 miles - more than double the traditional   
   3,000-mile interval. The longest oil change interval is 20,000 miles, for   
   all Porsches. The shortest oil change interval is 5,000 miles in some   
   late-model Toyotas, but the carmaker has begun shifting its fleet to   
   10,000-mile oil change intervals using synthetic oil.   
      
   "Oil has changed quite a bit and most of that isn't transparent to the   
   average consuming public," said Robert Sutherland, principal scientist at   
   Pennzoil Passenger Car Engine Lubricants. Synthetic oils, such as the   
   popular Mobil 1, are stretching oil change intervals, leaving the   
   3,000-mile mark in the dust. "The great majority of new vehicles today   
   have a recommended oil change interval greater than 3,000 miles," said   
   Mobil spokeswoman Kristen A. Hellmer. The company's most advanced   
   synthetic product (Mobil 1 Extended Performance) is guaranteed for 15,000   
   miles.   
      
   Today's longer oil change intervals are due to:   
      
       Improved "robustness" of today's oils, with their ability to protect   
   engines from wear and heat and still deliver good fuel economy with low   
   emissions   
       Tighter tolerances (the gap between metal moving parts) of modern   
   engines   
       The introduction of oil life monitoring systems, which notify the   
   driver when an oil change is required and are based on the way the car is   
   driven and the conditions it encounters   
      
   For 2010 vehicles, 14 of 35 carmakers are now using oil life monitoring   
   systems. One GM car driven by Edmunds went 13,000 miles before the   
   monitoring system indicated the need for an oil change. We sent a sample   
   of that oil to a lab for analysis. The results showed the oil could have   
   safely delivered at least another 2,000 miles of service.   
      
   Oil experts and car manufacturers are solidly on the side of the   
   less-frequent oil changes that these formulation changes make possible.   
   "If customers always just stayed with the 3,000-mile recommendation,   
   there'd be these great strides in the robustness of oil that oil companies   
   have made [that] wouldn't be utilized," said GM's Matt Snider. Consumers,   
   he said, would be "throwing away good oil."   
      
   Chris Risdon, a product education specialist for Toyota agreed, adding   
   that oil technology advances that permit fewer changes are a tool to   
   protect the environment. "If you're doing it half as much, that's 5 quarts   
   of oil times 1.7 million vehicles a year - that's a tremendous amount of   
   waste oil that's not being circulated into the environment."   
      
   Waste oil is a problem exacerbated by too-frequent oil changes, according   
   to the California Integrated Waste Management Board, which has campaigned   
   against the 3,000-mile dictate. The agency says that 153.5 million gallons   
   of used oil is generated in California annually, but only 59 percent of it   
   is recycled.   
      
   Our Fit Gets Taken for a Ride   
   To see what might happen to the average car owner, we took a 2007 Honda   
   Fit to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. The car has an oil life monitoring   
   system, and the system has recommended the past two oil change intervals   
   at 5,500 miles and 7,600 miles on non-synthetic oil. In both cases, an   
   engine oil analysis revealed that the oil could have provided at least   
   another 2,000 miles of service.   
      
   On this occasion, we told the Jiffy Lube service advisor we were   
   considering synthetic Mobil 1 because we heard it could extend our oil   
   change intervals. The service advisor said the synthetic oil could enable   
   the Fit to go 4,000 or 5,000 miles before the oil "burned out." The Mobil   
   1 oil change had a price tag of $92.39. The technician also took the   
   opportunity to upsell us, recommending a cabin air filter for $49.99. The   
   total for our visit, after a $15 coupon, was $132.72.   
      
   When the car was returned to us, the sticker in the window called for an   
   oil change in 3,000 miles, not the 4,000 or 5,000 miles the service   
   advisor had promised.   
      
   If we were foolish enough to follow Jiffy Lube's 3,000-mile change   
   schedule (which is essentially the advice given by all quick oil change   
   outlets and dealership service departments), the Fit would undergo four   
   unnecessary oil changes per year (assuming 15,000 miles per year of   
   driving), wasting $369 and 15.2 quarts of perfectly good oil. Over five   
   years of the car's life and 60,000 miles of driving, this would amount to   
   $1,847 and 125 quarts of wasted oil. This does not include other   
   "upselling" items at each visit, such as cabin air filters.   
      
   Defending the 3,000-Mile Interval   
   The quick oil change industry justifies its perpetuation of the 3,000-mile   
   standard by saying that most people drive under "severe" conditions. Jiffy   
   Lube's quiz, mentioned earlier in this article, is one example of how that   
   notion is reinforced in drivers' minds. An oil change company   
   representative said the 3,000-mile recommendation is meant to be just that   
   - a recommendation.   
      
   Scott Cudini, innovations manager for Jiffy Lube, repeatedly called the   
   3,000-mile interval a good "fallback position," meant to be a guideline   
   but not a hard-and-fast rule. He added that Jiffy Lube technicians would   
   initiate a "dialogue" with customers about the oil change intervals that   
   apply specifically to their cars.   
      
   "In most cases," Cudini said, "even if customers' cars have been plastered   
   with that 3,000-mile sticker, they may have been told by the service   
   advisor that, 'By the way, Sir/Madam, your interval is 5,500 miles.'"   
   Based on our experience at Jiffy Lube and other quick-change outlets,   
   technicians rarely initiate dialogues that could provide accurate   
   information about oil change intervals. In fact, according to a Jiffy Lube   
   spokesperson, the system for supplying technicians with answers only gives   
   them information from a vehicle's severe schedule.   
      
   The quick-change industry's deep fallback argument in favor of frequent   
   oil changes is that they are a hedge against trouble. You can't hurt your   
   engine by changing your oil too often, so doesn't that imply that it might   
   actually help it? Well, no.   
      
   Steve Mazor, manager of American Automobile Association's Research Center,   
   said that more-frequent-than-necessary oil changes will not "gain any   
   additional life for your engine or any improved fuel economy." He added,   
   "In reality it will make little or no difference to the performance of the   
   vehicle."   
      
   The Right Time To Change Your Oil   
   So where does this leave the car owner who was raised on the perceived   
   wisdom of the 3,000-mile oil change? For a full discussion, your next stop   
   should be our related article, "When Should You Change Your Oil?," which   
   will save you hundreds of dollars over the next few years and fully   
   protect your car and its warranty, while limiting the use of a natural   
   resource.   
      
   The short answer, meanwhile, is to consult your service manual or Edmunds'   
   maintenance section to learn your car's actual oil change schedule. If   
   your car has an oil life monitoring system, don't try to second-guess it.   
   Understand how it works and follow its guidelines. To probe more deeply   
   into this subject, consider sending a sample of the oil from your next oil   
   change to a lab such as Blackstone Laboratories, for an inexpensive   
   analysis. Our last suggestion? Rip that sticker off your windshield.   
      
   c Edmunds Inc. All Rights Reserved. This information was extracted from   
   www.edmunds.com and is subject to the terms of the Visitor Agreement at   
   http://www.edmunds.com/about/visitor-agreement.html.   
      
      
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    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian  (1:387/22)