I've got one car sitting in my garage that really doesn't get much use. I tend to do oil changes every 3000 miles. However, my Focus is about 2000 miles away from it's next oil change. But the oil change sticker on my car has 2/1/04 as well as the next mileage interval. So what should I do? Wait several more months (which could mean this late spring or summer) for it to hit the 3000 mile mark or go ahead and do the oil change now?
Good god are you ever anal. I have never, ever, ever owned a car where I've changed the oil any sooner than every 4,500 miles. Most of the time I try to get it changed between 5,000 and 5,500 miles, but with the Escape, I go around about every 4,500.
Every 5,000 works for me. I use Valvoline IOC, then before I get to the 3,000 mile mark, I get the free top off.
dont forget, this is a 2 part issue. first is CHANGING the oil, the other (equally important) is ADDING the oil. Changing it isnt enougfh alone, check it routinely (every few months) and make sure it doesnt get low... Believe me, you can add tens of thousands of miles to your ride..
For the one that you aren't driving much, I'd use the calendar date. There's no reason to replace the oil if it's just been sitting there, but I wouldn't wait until you hit 3,000 if you're not driving it on a regular basis. I hope you are going out and at least starting it on a regular basis, though. At least that's what my dad always told me to do if I wasn't driving a car regularly.
I change the oil in my 96 Escort about every 3-5k miles, or when the engine feels different when I'm driving (loses that smoothnes you get with new oil) It also depends on what kind of driving i've been doing on a lubricant note: how often are you supposed to change the tranny fluid? i've always been told every 80-100k miles, seems to work since all the cars my family owned never lost a tranny using this rule (one went when my cousin followed the every 25k rule at about 120k miles)
Mileage. I do a 3000 mile invertal on my Lexus, using Castrol oil and OEM Toyota filters, Fram is garbage. If you want to go further, use synthetic oil like Mobil 1, and get a oil sample test done.
That's odd though - most Lexus books will have it according to scheduled maintenance. For instance mine is every 5k miles. However once it hit 50K in mileage, I do it every 3K. In all honesty it depends on the vehicle. With sportier vehicles I would recommend about every 3k... on the dot. When I had a Merk. Cougar I did it like clockwork every 3K... but that was because it was a piece of $hit Ford. The best thing to do is try to estimate how much you drive because you don't want to have oil sitting in your engine that's like 2 years old. At the very least try to get it changed twice a year if you're going less than 8k a year without regular driving. Also... you can open the hood and actually check the oil. As for letting the car sit... I don't recommend that although that is a separate issue. Start it up, give it a whirl around the block even if you can. I liken it to if a man sits on his fat ass for a week. Get up, get the blood flowing. So... turn the ignition and drive around the block.