Gee, the longest I ever went was probably 20,000 or so…back at a very dark time in which I was neglecting auto maintenance, all my bills, and my personal heath…for reasons I won’t get into, but are probably fairly obvious.
I got over that, and resolved to take much better care of myself AND my posessions.
So, I suppose the merits of a “brag thread” re: skimping on maintenance is lost on me. Why not, instead, have a thread about “what’s the longest you’ve gone without bathing?” Or brushing your teeth? Or what’s the most expensive tool you’ve ever left out in the rain?
6K miles on dino oil 5w30. this was on a pontiac sunfire 1996. fuel pump went out at 195K miles i was so wishing to hit 200K, but it wasn’t worth 800 buck to replace the fuel pum.
when i am lazy, i just alternate oil filter replacement so sometime a filter will go 10K miles for me. not recommended to others, but i’m happy with the results.
“It would be nice when people talk about oil change intervals they also added the type of oil. 5k on mineral oil and on some cars, 10k on full synthetic are considered equivalent by some manufacturers.”
California tested extended oil change intervals using mineral oil and found that added buffers like ZDDP prevented oil breakdown adequately. They extended the oil change interval on their fleet of Chevy Cavaliers to 10,000 miles based on TBN degradation. Cali also found that the store brand Car Quest oil filters worked as well as the Fram X2 extended oil change interval filters guaranteed for 7000 miles.
The most I have gone is 7500 miles on both my Accord and Silhouette. The Accord does not have an OLM and the Olds does. It just happens that the Olds gets below 10% life remaining by 7500 miles. I usually do it between 10 to 20% remaining oil life. My daughters have gone 10,000 miles with a Cobalt and Cruze, both with OLMs. They were below 10% life remaining at the time.
My friend had a Honda Passport on lease. He treated it badly. Neglected everything. He pulled over one day and asked if i could help him check out a oil light. I looked at it and it had low oil. I put 3 quarts in to get it back to proper level.
Oil looked really dark so i asked about his last oil change, he told me never…it was a lease. I looked at his odo and he confirmed that 24K miles since he drove it off the lot w/o a single oil change.
Change my perspective of wanting to buy a leased car.
“Why not, instead, have a thread about “what’s the longest you’ve gone without bathing?” Or brushing your teeth?”
You beat me to it, meanjoe. That is exactly what I had been thinking.
It IS possible to go for extended periods of time w/o bathing–as long as one doesn’t put a lot of value on either employment or friends.
And, it is possible to go for extended periods of time w/o brushing one’s teeth–as long as you don’t care about…having bad breath, losing some teeth, and winding up with malnutrition because you can’t chew your food properly.
Similarly, it is possible to go for extended periods of time w/o changing oil, but I am no more eager to risk the consequences of that type of decision than I am to risk the consequences of poor hygiene and lax oral care.
Similarly, it is possible to go for extended periods of time w/o changing oil, but I am no more eager to risk the consequences of that type of decision than I am to risk the consequences of poor hygiene and lax oral care.
I think if you go longer periods every once in a while you’re fine. But prolonged periods is the killer.
Meanjoe, I think you’ve made an excellent point, and I concur. There’s nothing to be proud of in going as long as possible without changing oil. It’s actually the antithesis of something the brag about. It’s something to be embarrassed about.
The reality is that many people ignore oil changes because it’s not in their nature to be worried about it. And many of them never experience engine damage to learn otherwise.
“There’s nothing to be proud of in going as long as possible without changing oil.”
I agree, and I think that extended oil change intervals can be very useful under the right circumstances. But it’s all in the details, and people who are detail oriented don’t seem to brag much.
This post …
should somehow be linked to these other similar subject posts…;
’‘Should you change your oil every 15k…’’
’‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it…’‘
and
’‘Factory scheduled maintainence…’’
Maybe not. @Whitey’s thread on extended oil changes is hypothetical, while @WheresRick’s thread is about what we really do. Splitting what-if and what-is has value.