# Oil changes

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-changes/30580>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [May 17, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-changes/30580 "2009-05-17T06:02:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tango10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@tango10](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tango10)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-changes/30580/1 "2009-05-17T06:02:27Z")

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Is an oil change and service at every 5,000 miles enough?

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**Author:** ![Xebadaih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d07c76/32.png) [@Xebadaih](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Xebadaih)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 6:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-changes/30580/2 "2009-05-17T06:08:58Z")

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Well most owners manuals recommend 7500 miles, which is high in my mind, but 5000 should be ok. Time is also a factor. I would change it if you hadn’t reached 5000 in 4-5 months. You will also want to change your oil sooner if you do a lot of short trips, less than 15 minutes or so.

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**Author:** ![andrew\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@andrew\_j](https://community.cartalk.com/u/andrew_j)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 10:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-changes/30580/3 "2009-05-17T10:41:23Z")

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In the majority of cases a great interval and easy to remember. If 5000 miles takes more than 6 months to hit every 6 months or 5000 miles.

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**Author:** ![mshugna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@mshugna](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mshugna)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 12:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-changes/30580/4 "2009-05-17T12:46:08Z")

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You can’t go wrong if you follow the recommendations specified in your owners manual.

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**Author:** ![lion9car](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/59ef9b/32.png) [@lion9car](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lion9car)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-changes/30580/5 "2009-05-17T13:27:37Z")

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If your owner’s manual calls for more frequent changes, then, no, it’s not enough.

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**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-changes/30580/6 "2009-05-17T13:43:00Z")

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What does your owner’s manual say?

Don’t judge the needs of today’s cars with the cars from the 70’s. Modern cars and oils are whole different animals. Just stick with what the owner’s manual says. Read the part about sever service and about time as well as miles.

I need to add one thing. Don’t have your oil chagned by a quick oil change place. Just don’t do it.