I've been telling my mechanic this for years, but he says it's just cause I'm cheap; California officials say you're probably changing your oil too often.
Yep, you heard me. Officials at CalRecycle; the Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery in California; say frequent oil changes do not necessarily mean better performance or longer engine life anymore, as auto technology advances now allow vehicles to go farther without maintenance.
How often do you change your oil? Every 3,000 miles? Toyota now recommends an oil change every 5,000 miles for a 2005 Tacoma pickup, while General Motors suggests a 7,500-mile interval for its 2007 Chevrolet Malibu. Sweet, this is going to cut down on my maintenance bill!
So why does it matter? If Californians changed motor oil according to manufacturer specifications, oil consumption in California would shrink by 10 million gallons per year, according to CalRecycle. Wow, that's a big difference. Here's the rest of the story from the Orange County register.
2 comments:
Sure it true if you live in a warm state an never do short trips you can go a lot further between oil changes, but the book that comes with your car shows a shorter time for cold short trips. My dad always said for a longer engine life oil is cheep.
I got curious so I looked up my car's book online (I rode the bus today so don't have my car/manual with me) to see the manufacturer's recommendations. Curiously, it doesn't have any, but says the onboard computer will alert me when it's nearing time to change my oil. So far I've been doing oil changes every 3,000 miles and haven't seen the 'alert' come on, so I think I'll wait longer this time and see what happens. My dad would probably say the same thing though (just using a lot more words- he likes to talk) so I may end up going back to every 3,000 miles.
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