I’ve asked a few mechanics and DIYers this question and so far no consensus.
Let’s say you’re 1000 miles away from next SCHEDULED oil change, and you’re about to leave on a 2000 mile road trip. Would you choose to change your oil 1000 miles early before the trip, or 1000 miles late after the trip?
Early, never better to exceed recommended interval.
Yah, I would do it early.
Me, too… early
Yes early and I have done it.
I’m not sure what’s going on. It says my post was deleted by author. I’m sure I never deleted my post.
Reposting
I agree with everyone who said Early
However, just because your oil change schedule specify a **date ** doesn’t mean you have to get an oil change on such date. The existing oil can go on for hundreds more miles without causing any damage.
For peace of mind, I’d get it done early so I wouldn’t have to worry about it.
My sister has a Camry with 230k miles and she’s always late for oil change maintenance.
When I checked yesterday my oil was at 56%. I thought that was a little low so I checked my journal. Only 1500 miles since my last change. Probably due to all the short trips and length of time. Still I’ll wait a little while.
Easy. Have oil change done during trip. Save Mother Earth.
Yep pull into an unknown quick change place 1000 miles from home to either underfill, overfill, tighten or not tighten the plug or filter and on your way or not.
About 1960 on vacation we stopped at a park in Wisconsin. Dad brought the oil change stuff along so we changed oil in the park on the 58 wagon. Don’t remember what we did with th3 old oil, maybe just dumped it on the gravel drive which was the custom at the time. Make sure the plug is in before putting the new oil in or expect to walk or call an uber.
I have performed vehicle maintenance for people who were on a trip, a thousand miles from home or more. You can change the oil early, on time or late, it is up to you.
I had that happen on an extended trip in the early 90s. Avis didn’t have any of the class car I rented nor the next class up, so they gave me a Cadillac Brougham. I was over the moon. They called me about half way through the rental and asked me to drive an hour and a half to the airport and trade for another car so that they could change the oil. I offered to keep the car, change the oil, and give them the receipt when I returned to car at the end of the rental. They went for it. I had that Caddy for three months.
I’m with Nevada on this one, I have serviced many vehicles while the customer was on vacation, and if your engine blows up because you went a 1000 miles over on your oil change this one time, it was about to blow up anyway.. Just make sure your oil is full, tire pressures are all good and go enjoy your vacation or whatever…
Now If not done in a while, I would have a good safety check done on the vehicle, steering and suspension, brakes, tires and all external lights checked before leaving on the trip…
I would put “other factors” into the discussion. Was the miles on the current oil stop-and-go or open highway? What about the upcoming miles? Is the current temperature at extremes? Is the recommended maintenance interval conservative or inflated? Etc. That is, I would add some judgment about the expected oil quality.
If this vehicle was well maintained, then it probably won’t make much of a difference. But I’d change it early to be on the safe side.
Oil changes are cheap. Engines are expensive. I always change mine early, even if not going on a trip.
And I’d suggest using a reputable, locally owned auto shop to have it changed. And tell them you’re going on a long trip and ask that they check everything over - belts, hoses, brakes & suspension etc.
No one can ever guarantee that nothing will go wrong. But a road trip is to be enjoyed. Leave with as much peace of mind as you can.
This is the only time the Oil Life Monitor (OLM) in the car is useful. I set my car for “flexible” OCI’s and change at 5,000, regardless of what the OLM says. But if I am faced with a trip where I might go over my OCI of 5,000 I look at the OLM to see how much life it says I have left in the oil. Since I drive mostly highway miles, lightly loaded, and typically not in crazy cold or hot conditions (nor dusty), I feel comfortable if the OLM says I have a couple of thousand miles left to go over by a thousand or less.
The OLM calculation is conservative. I have used it since my 1998 Regal and my car’s engines have run very well until we sold the cars with nearly 200,000 miles on them. Auto manufacturers are all about the bottom line. Too many engine failures due to faulty OLM calculations would lead customers to go somewhere else once the bad reputation became clear.
Who does oil change? Shop? Or you?