Boutique Oil - Low Miles...Longevity?

[AdmiralYoda]

I like using boutique oils (Amsoil, HPL, Redline, etc) in my cars for the extended OCI's and cleaning benefits from the Ester/PAO/AN's. What about engines that may take a few years to accumulate enough miles for a traditional OCI?

Think of someone's garaged supercar, hot rod, or even grandpa's Camry that might only see 1-2k miles per year. The general rule of thumb is to change your oil based on some OCI or one year, whichever comes first.

Does this apply to the boutique oils as well? I've always been curious and it would be nice if this "rule" doesn't apply. Thanks!

 

[ARB1977]

Well my mother in laws 95 BMW 540i with 17K hasn’t moved in 4 years. That oil has been sitting in the pan if I have to guess close to 9 years.

 

[cptbarkey]

Any off the shelf oil can probably handle 5-10 years, as long as its crankcase is relatively closed to resist condensation. The main problem with boutique oils is it relies on a heavy dose of anecdotes that are biased on one way or another, which i'm certain you will get plenty here, so I would chip in and say "its not worth the extra $$$".

 

[gman2304]

My wife’s 2008 2.0T hasn’t been started in over 3 months and only driven about 2,500 miles in 2 years with its crankcase full of Mobil1 5w30 EP which was changed last February. I’m planning on changing it in February of 2026. By then it might have 1,000 miles on the oil. I’ve had Redline sit for 3 years in my Harley’s and the current fill of Vr1 20w50 conventional has been in the sump for 2 years with seemingly no ill effects. I do typically “ exercise “ them a minimum of 50 miles every couple of months when weather permits.

 

[edyvw]

I like using boutique oils (Amsoil, HPL, Redline, etc) in my cars for the extended OCI's and cleaning benefits from the Ester/PAO/AN's. What about engines that may take a few years to accumulate enough miles for a traditional OCI?

Think of someone's garaged supercar, hot rod, or even grandpa's Camry that might only see 1-2k miles per year. The general rule of thumb is to change your oil based on some OCI or one year, whichever comes first.

Does this apply to the boutique oils as well? I've always been curious and it would be nice if this "rule" doesn't apply. Thanks!

Depends on what is that boutique oil made for? Racing oil have higher oxidation etc. Intention behind oil is more important than whether it is boutique or not.

 

[Drew99GT]

I think the main benefit to boutique oils is extended drains. Most modern synthetic oils at WM are gonna provide the same overall protection of changed on an appropriate interval. For vehicles that sit and get driven rarely, especially for shorter trips, changing more often seems to me to provide more benefit. If you’re driving enough that the engine stays at operating temp, I’d do 10k intervals with boutique oil hands down.

 

[Glenda W.]

I like using boutique oils (Amsoil, HPL, Redline, etc) in my cars for the extended OCI's and cleaning benefits from the Ester/PAO/AN's. What about engines that may take a few years to accumulate enough miles for a traditional OCI?

Think of someone's garaged supercar, hot rod, or even grandpa's Camry that might only see 1-2k miles per year. The general rule of thumb is to change your oil based on some OCI or one year, whichever comes first.

Does this apply to the boutique oils as well? I've always been curious and it would be nice if this "rule" doesn't apply. Thanks!

Amsoil Z Rod is made for vehicles that aren’t driven as much, like muscle cars and hotrods. It’s formulated with extra corrosion protection from what I understand.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I would change oil one time per year if the vehicle is driven at all. Then I don't think it matters if you have a boutique oil or a less expensive oil in your vehicle. Having vehicles sit without being driven is not good for them.

 

[GR_CoB]

I like using boutique oils (Amsoil, HPL, Redline, etc) in my cars for the extended OCI's and cleaning benefits from the Ester/PAO/AN's. What about engines that may take a few years to accumulate enough miles for a traditional OCI?

Think of someone's garaged supercar, hot rod, or even grandpa's Camry that might only see 1-2k miles per year. The general rule of thumb is to change your oil based on some OCI or one year, whichever comes first.

Does this apply to the boutique oils as well? I've always been curious and it would be nice if this "rule" doesn't apply. Thanks!

I used to think it's 2-3 years max.

Then around 2014-2017 time period someone from the Pennzoil officials/insiders/team threw a "5-7 years" number as being safe, and mildly backed it up, but now I can't find that info anymore. Particular discussion was about 5.7L/6.1L HEMIs that sit around a lot and Pennzoil SRT 0W-40 oil. Point was that 5-7 years is safe, as long as oil gets to full temp on every drive (1hr+), as that helps with moisture and oxidation. If short tripped, 1 year max.

But since then there was a lot of "Will it Run?" videos where the oil is decades old, heavily diluted by fuel from faulty carburetors, yet people still revive the engines and start them on that oil. Which makes me think that actual oil life may be even longer than 5-7 years, as long as there is no water mixing with the oil.

But there is no way I'm personally ever letting my oil go more than 5k miles or 2 years.

 

[D1dad]

At that rate it makes the boutique oils even cheaper on a per year basis. I like the idea of my cars having the best lube, riding on the best tires and stopping with the best brakes. I probably don’t need it anymore than I need 4 battery chargers. Given your climate is like mine, somewhat. I’d give it a good long drive now and again if you’re going to go longer than a year. Which you could. My snapper push mower sees about 2 hrs use a year and I change the oil every 2 or 3 yrs and it’s 20 yrs old.

 

[irollo]

Well my mother in laws 95 BMW 540i with 17K hasn’t moved in 4 years. That oil has been sitting in the pan if I have to guess close to 9 years.

How do you know an Elephant's Foot hasn't formed???

As far as other cars, isn't the concern that you're trying to get the engine to it's full potential ~ 250k, 500k, 1.00mil miles? If so then a) wouldn't the 'damage' of old oil be fairly small to non-existent/non-measureable and b) it would take 100 years to hit those miles. If the idea is to keep the engine in good shape to keep the car attractive/saleable a buyer would probably be satisfied with yearly changes despite it arguably being more harmful. I guess my point is what's the end goal for the engine: keep it in a time capsule, have a useable car and just taking care of preventative maintenance, keeping the vehicle ready for the next owner?

 

[ARB1977]

How do you know an Elephant's Foot hasn't formed???

As far as other cars, isn't the concern that you're trying to get the engine to it's full potential ~ 250k, 500k, 1.00mil miles? If so then a) wouldn't the 'damage' of old oil be fairly small to non-existent/non-measureable and b) it would take 100 years to hit those miles. If the idea is to keep the engine in good shape to keep the car attractive/saleable a buyer would probably be satisfied with yearly changes despite it arguably being more harmful. I guess my point is what's the end goal for the engine: keep it in a time capsule, have a useable car and just taking care of preventative maintenance, keeping the vehicle ready for the next owner?

Not my call. It’s her car. She has no clue.

 

[irollo]

Not my call. It’s her car. She has no clue.

She won't give you the keys lol I wouldn't be shocked if it's fine, kind of my point, a buyer sees a 30 year old car with 17K, the oil probably isn't too much of a concern unless it's 30 year old oil.

 

[ARB1977]

She won't give you the keys lol I wouldn't be shocked if it's fine, kind of my point, a buyer sees a 30 year old car with 17K, the oil probably isn't too much of a concern unless it's 30 year old oil.

Lol. I did drive it some while she was living with us. It stayed in our garage. The battery had a three week window. Past that window it wouldn’t start. She lived with us for almost a year and a half…don’t recommend that at all, lol. Once the car reach 25 years old you can get vintage plates. All is required is a state inspection every 4 years. Hasn’t moved since we took it to her house 4 years ago.

 

[JAG]

I’ve had bottles of opened motor oils several or more years old that simply had what was originally virgin motor oil get on the outside of them. That later turned into a tacky film. That’s from some combination of evaporation of more volatile components and oxidation. I wouldn’t want that happening inside my engine.

I’ve had used motor oil sit in a clear jug for months or years. The particles that the dispersants held onto sunk to the bottom of the jug forming two layers. I wouldn’t want that happening inside my engine.

For the former matter, running the engine frequently enough will help revitalize the thin films of oil with healthier sump oil. For the latter matter, changing the oil soon enough so the dispersants aren’t holding onto so many particles will decrease the tendency for them to settle and the depth/concentration of the settling if it does. Oil is relatively cheap, so I don’t see the wisdom of going more than maybe two years with the same oil unless it’s an engine you aren’t trying to maintain to a high extent. A UOA will not indicate whether either of the above situations is happening.

Truly good, boutique, long drain oils will help in both the dispersancy and oxidation resistance categories.

 

[drowned12]

Blackstone says that 12 months is a made up number and it's really mileage based. There's probably some upper time limit where the oil settles out or maybe enough ambient temperature cycling can let water condensate in, but I wouldn't worry much pushing to 3 year intervals. Most important though is not short-tripping less than 5 miles.

I put 2 years on my oil filters, skipping every other oil change because my mileage is so low. Makes my annual oil change more "for fun" than anything else. Plus it's on a Fumoto valve so draining that doesn't even need tools or a floor jack.

 

[userfriendly]

Depends on what is that boutique oil made for? Racing oil have higher oxidation etc. Intention behind oil is more important than whether it is boutique or not.

What’s a boutique oil?

 

[Lawnman23]

What’s a boutique oil?

Essentially anything you don’t find at Wally World, AutoZone, Fleet Farm, brick and mortar retail stores.