Very True. I am too old to change my own oil anymore so have been lately   
   using several of the oil change places. At one place I told the guy you   
   can put anything you want as to whan to Change the oil again but I wiil   
   Totaly Ignore and do it according to me Driving habits and the   
   manfacturers recomendation.   
   I did fing out one thing and I suspoect it is wide sprread and that is   
   Hustiling Air Filter and Fuel Cilter changes. I wil never go back to me   
   local Pep boys and ever let one of theri Lying Thieves touch a car of   
   mine. I was told the Air Filter needed changing and when I got home and   
   checked it is was almost like new.   
      
   RN>.MSGID: 1:3828/7 b3057115   
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   RN>.CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   RN>* Copied (from: COFFEE_KLATSCH) by Roger Nelson using timEd/386 1.10.y2k+.   
      
   RN>Like the '55 Chevy, the 3,000-Mile Oil Change Is Pretty Much History   
      
   RN>The New York TImes   
      
   RN>ALINA TUGEND, On Friday September 10, 2010, 1:25 pm EDT   
      
   RN>I STILL remember learning from my father how to carefully remove a dipstick   
   RN>check the oil level in our cars. It was drilled into me - along with turning   
   RN>off the lights when you left a room and clearing the plates off the table af   
   RN>dinner - that oil needs to be changed every 3,000 miles or so.   
      
   RN>I'm not sure what I thought would happen if I didn't, but I vaguely imagined   
   RN>unlubricated engine grinding to a halt.   
      
   RN>Childhood habits are hard to undo, and that's often good. To this day, I hat   
   RN>seeing an empty room with the lights on.   
      
   RN>But sometimes, we need to throw aside our parents' good advice. In March, fo   
   RN>example, I wrote about how we should relearn the dishwasher and laundry soap   
   RN>habits we inherited from our mothers.   
      
   RN>Add frequent oil-changing to that list.   
      
   RN>"There was a time when the 3,000 miles was a good guideline," said Philip Re   
   RN>senior consumer advice editor for the car site Edmunds.com. "But it's no lon   
   RN>true for any car bought in the last seven or eight years."   
      
   RN>Oil chemistry and engine technology have improved to the point that most car   
   RN>can go several thousand more miles before changing the oil, Mr. Reed said. A   
   RN>better average, he said, would be 7,500 between oil changes, and sometimes u   
   RN>to 10,000 miles or more.   
      
   RN>The California Integrated Waste Management Board ran public service   
   RN>announcements for several years about "the 3,000-mile myth," urging drivers   
   RN>wait longer between oil changes. Although the information is a few years old   
   RN>the board has a list of cars on its Web site and how often they need oil   
   RN>changes. The concern is not only the cost to drivers, but the environmental   
   RN>impact of throwing away good oil, said Mark Oldfield, a recycling specialist   
   RN>for the agency.   
      
   RN>But the situation is not that clear cut, according to Robert Sutherland, a   
   RN>Pennzoil scientist who works at Shell Global Solutions.   
      
   RN>Rather than picking a number, Mr. Sutherland said, he recommends following w   
   RN>your owner's manual advises. I checked the manual for our 2007 Mazda5 and ha   
   RN>to determine if my typical driving included a lot of stop-and-go driving, sh   
   RN>distances, extended idling, muddy, rough or dusty roads or really humid or c   
   RN>temperatures.   
      
   RN>Hmm. Yes, to short distance and stop and go. So that meant I should get the   
   RN>changed every 5,000 miles. If I did a great deal of longer-distance highway   
   RN>driving, it would be every 7,500.   
      
   RN>The different types of driving are usually known as severe and mild (which i   
   RN>also sometimes called normal), Mr. Sutherland said, which seems   
   RN>counterintuitive since most of us probably don't think we drive in severe   
   RN>conditions. But we do.   
      
   RN>The reason, he said, is that if you take a trip of less than 10 miles or so,   
   RN>the engine and the oil are not completely warmed up. And if the oil is still   
   RN>cool, he said, it cannot absorb the contaminants that come from internal   
   RN>combustion as efficiently.   
      
   RN>"It's designed to work best when fully warmed up," Mr. Sutherland said. "If   
   RN>you're running to the music lesson, to school, the gym, that's severe drivin   
   RN>conditions."   
      
   RN>Mr. Sutherland said he has a mild commute. "It's 47 miles, all highway."   
      
   RN>What actually happens if you don't change your oil? Well, it doesn't run out   
   RN>it simply gets dirtier and dirtier. It's like mopping the floor with a bucke   
   RN>of water and detergent. The water starts out clean, but the more you use it,   
   RN>the filthier it gets. Eventually, you're making the floor dirtier if you don   
   RN>change the water.   
      
   RN>Some people remain attached to the 3,000-mile oil change and have a hard tim   
   RN>trusting the recommendations in the owner's manual. If you're one of those   
   RN>skeptics, you can send your engine oil out to be analyzed. Blackstone   
   RN>Laboratories in Fort Wayne, Ind., one of the best-known places for engine oi   
   RN>analysis, will send you a free kit.   
      
   RN>You send back an oil sample and for $25, they'll tell you all sorts of thing   
   RN>about your car.   
      
   RN>"We would compare what your oil looks like compared to the average Mazda5 of   
   RN>that year," said Kristen Huff, a vice president at Blackstone. If there is a   
   RN>lot more lead in my oil than in a typical Mazda5, for example, it means I ha   
   RN>a bearing problem, she said.   
      
   RN>Her lab runs about 150 samples a day and a fair percentage of those are   
   RN>consumers looking to find out how often they need to change their oil, Ms. H   
   RN>said.   
      
   RN>"Very often, it is the case that they're changing their oil too often," she   
   RN>said. "They do what their dad did with his '55 Chevy."   
      
   RN>Another way to get a more accurate assessment of your oil needs is to buy a   
   RN>that has a maintenance minder, like a Honda. A light on the dashboard alerts   
   RN>the driver when the system judges that the oil has only 15 percent of its   
   RN>useful life remaining. The time between oil changes varies depending on the   
   RN>driver and driving conditions.   
      
   RN>Honda has used such maintenance minders on most models for at least the last   
   RN>five years, said Chris Martin, a Honda spokesman. Previously, the owner's   
   RN>manual suggested changes every 10,000 miles in mild conditions and 5,000 mil   
   RN>in severe conditions.   
      
   RN>Still, some people stick to the 3,000-mile changes, because "the Jiffy Lubes   
   RN>the world have done a good job convincing people," Mr. Martin said   
      
   RN>It's not just the fast oil change outlets. My sticker from my trusted mechan   
   RN>states that I'll need a change in 3,000 miles or three months. But Jiffy Lub   
   RN>the largest quick oil change company in North America, is now under pressure   
   RN>change its automatic 3,000-mile recommendation.   
      
   RN>For about a year, the company has run a pilot program with some franchises   
   RN>across the country suggesting that instead of a blanket recommendation,   
   RN>mechanics tell customers what the manufacturer recommends under mild or seve   
   RN>driving conditions.   
      
   RN>"By this time next year, every Jiffy Lube will do it," said Rick Altizer,   
   RN>president of Jiffy Lube International. And the little sticker on your   
   RN>windshield will no longer simply state when the next oil change should occur   
   RN>but, "I choose to change my oil" at a specific mileage.   
      
   RN>"It's so it's not some arbitrary technician saying this," Mr. Altizer said,   
   RN>the consumer's decision.   
   >>> Continued to next message   
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