Tuesday, July 1, 2008

This Blog Ain't Just For Girls!

My dad has always been very strict about changing the oil in our cars every 3,000. However, he read an article that said that it may not be necessary to change it so frequently in our modern cars...that we are wasting billions of gallons of oil because we change our oil too much!!!! The article said that your car's maintenance manual will tell you how often to change.

After I left my parent's house yesterday, I had to get gas, so while I was fillin' up I decided to see what my little book said. Sure enough...EVERY 10,000 MILES!!!!!!! That's a huge difference!

I looked online to see what other information was out there. Some people suggest to go by your car's manual, others recommend every 5,000 miles or so...which is still a little better. Here's one of the articles if you're interested. If anyone has gotten trustworthy information on this subject, please share! It would be great if we could all save a little money and conserve oil!!

Going by the 3,000 mile rule, my car's due for a change...but I think I'll wait a few thousand miles and see what happens. I'll let you know if my car falls apart or breaks down on the highway or anything. :)

7 comments:

Abba's Girl said...

I am going to check my manual. My dad was always very strict about the oil changes etc with our cars.

Rebecca said...

I guess all dads are that way, and they had to be with the cars and oil the way they used to be. Now everything is more efficent - and so the oil changes aren't needed near as much.

Coffman Family said...

Thank you for this! Phil now drives the Civic and doesn't believe me that it only requires an oil change every 5,000 miles (it's a 2001) - even though I pointed it out in the manual! I kind of make him mad when I scratch out the computer generated mileage on the sticker you get after an oil change - it's calculated to the next 3,000, but I make it 5,000!

Ashlee Liddell said...

It is totally a scam...The last time I went in to get an oil change (no, I don't change my own oil...) I was 2000 past the sticker mileage, but still within my manual's mileage.

The guy really harassed me about being "so overdue" and all the damage it could cause. After politely listening, I asked him if my oil level was low? He would never answer the question, but just kept telling me the dangers....

Just trying to make an extra buck...but really, check your manual peeps!

Melissa said...

Hmmm... First, I have to say I'm not a car expert by any stretch, but my dad is pretty good with cars. He encouraged me to go with synthetic oil a long time ago. He told me you can go (at minimum) twice the length of time and mileage of "dino" oil. So, that's how Wes and I roll. :)

Jen said...

we've got a honda pilot that lets me know when I need an oil change. I think the manual says its about every 5000 miles, but its usually even longer than that...AND my oil filter doesn't need changing every time either.

Steph said...

Yes...I saw something about that synthetic oil...I think I'll consider that next time.

And I have a honda cr-v...it does not tell me when I need my oil changed!!! Bummer! What a handy function!