Do You Really Have to Change Your Car's Oil Every 3000 Miles?

Do you really have to change the oil in your car every 3000 miles?

Probably not, but many people aren’t aware of that. Check your manufacturer’s manual to find out, and you can save money and petroleum by doing it less frequently.

The Check Your Number campaign, begun by California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery last month, encourages people to question the myth of changing their oil so often, noting it would save 10 million gallons of oil a
year in the state if people followed the owner’s manual.

"Oils have gotten so much better as have engines, which are much more refined and well controlled in the sense that they don’t have the leaks and the ways in and out for dirt and other things, and tolerances and seals are also much better," Brett Smith, a senior analyst for the Center for Automotive Research told the NY Times.

General Motors recommends oil changes every 6,000 to 7,500 miles, and Chrysler recommends every 8,000 miles or every six months, for new cars. Honda’s alert system also takes driving habits and other factors into consideration.

"For modern cars, every 3,000 miles is too often. It’s wasting time, money and petroleum," Steve Mazor, manager of the Automotive Research Center at the Auto Club of Southern California, affiliated with the American Automobile
Association. "In owner manuals in many cases there are two schedules, one for people who drive under normal conditions and another for severe. For many people in Southern California the conditions are severe because it’s hot and there’s a lot of stop and go. But even with that, 3,000 miles is too often," he told the NY
Times.

Mr. Danzinger said some quick-oil change establishments have informally joined the campaign. "But with others, they put that little sticker in the windshield, and it doesn’t matter what the owner’s manual said; it’s the next 3,000 miles," he said.

At the Check Your Number website, you can enter your car’s year, make and model and it tells you how often to change the oil: