Can I Run Euro Oil for 2 Years with Very Low Mileage?

[daveatthebill]

Hey all,


Just looking for some opinions or insights on oil change intervals when it comes to Euro-spec oils (like Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30, etc.) in a low-mileage situation.


I barely drive my car — maybe 2,000 km (~1,200 miles) per year, mostly easy driving. I use a high-quality Euro 0W-30 oil that meets all the right specs, and the car is stored in a garage with no extreme temps or conditions.


Lately, dealers and manuals seem to be pushing for annual oil changes regardless of mileage, but I remember a time when it was more mileage-based. With how little I drive, changing out perfectly clean, high-end oil every year just seems wasteful.


Does engine oil really degrade that much over time if the car is rarely used? Is it actually harmful to stretch it to 2 years in a scenario like this? I'm not trying to cut corners — just trying to understand if the once-a-year rule is based on real degradation or more of a blanket recommendation.


Anyone else doing extended intervals on low-use cars? Any input appreciated!

---

 

[BrendanC]

Hey all,


Just looking for some opinions or insights on oil change intervals when it comes to Euro-spec oils (like Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30, etc.) in a low-mileage situation.


I barely drive my car — maybe 2,000 km (~1,200 miles) per year, mostly easy driving. I use a high-quality Euro 0W-30 oil that meets all the right specs, and the car is stored in a garage with no extreme temps or conditions.


Lately, dealers and manuals seem to be pushing for annual oil changes regardless of mileage, but I remember a time when it was more mileage-based. With how little I drive, changing out perfectly clean, high-end oil every year just seems wasteful.


Does engine oil really degrade that much over time if the car is rarely used? Is it actually harmful to stretch it to 2 years in a scenario like this? I'm not trying to cut corners — just trying to understand if the once-a-year rule is based on real degradation or more of a blanket recommendation.


Anyone else doing extended intervals on low-use cars? Any input appreciated!

---

just make sure you take it out on the highway every once in a while for 30ish minutes to get the oil nice and hot and i don’t see an issue with it.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

It should be fine. The Euros love long OCI schedules, so 2 years would be no problem

The important thing is to make at least one long trip a month, at least 10 miles and 30 minutes between startup to shutoff, with some highway miles.

How you drive it as as important as how much you drive it.

If all 1200 miles were short trips, then no, 2 years wouldn't be a good idea.

 

[JRay’07]

Is your vehicle equipped with an oil life monitor? If so, follow its recommendation. Otherwise, refer to the maintenance schedule outlined in your service manual.

 

[daveatthebill]

Is your vehicle equipped with an oil life monitor? If so, follow its recommendation. Otherwise, refer to the maintenance schedule outlined in your service manual.

Issue is it tells me to change after I hit 1 year

 

[ripcord]

Two years is fine. Just think of it this way... Even if it causes a little extra wear to let it go 2 years (and I really don't think it will), you are putting so few kilometers on it you'll never wear the engine out even if you keep it for decades.

 

[JHZR2]

Hey all,


Just looking for some opinions or insights on oil change intervals when it comes to Euro-spec oils (like Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30, etc.) in a low-mileage situation.


I barely drive my car — maybe 2,000 km (~1,200 miles) per year, mostly easy driving. I use a high-quality Euro 0W-30 oil that meets all the right specs, and the car is stored in a garage with no extreme temps or conditions.


Lately, dealers and manuals seem to be pushing for annual oil changes regardless of mileage, but I remember a time when it was more mileage-based. With how little I drive, changing out perfectly clean, high-end oil every year just seems wasteful.


Does engine oil really degrade that much over time if the car is rarely used? Is it actually harmful to stretch it to 2 years in a scenario like this? I'm not trying to cut corners — just trying to understand if the once-a-year rule is based on real degradation or more of a blanket recommendation.


Anyone else doing extended intervals on low-use cars? Any input appreciated!

---

I certainly do. My 2004 Saab was the first that permitted it from the manual. It was 2 years or 25k km, as I recall.

Two years is definitely within the realm of extension. The biggest unknown is moisture and fuel load from low use likely resulting in more short trips relative to the long ones. So UOA might be worthwhile to verify that you don’t have an abnormal fuel or moisture concern…

 

[JRay’07]

You can purchase some UOA kits and test your oil periodically after the 1 year mark.

 

[edyvw]

Most Euros are now on a 2-year schedule.
But it depends on the engine. What vehicle is it?

 

[perkz]

Hey all,


Just looking for some opinions or insights on oil change intervals when it comes to Euro-spec oils (like Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30, etc.) in a low-mileage situation.


I barely drive my car — maybe 2,000 km (~1,200 miles) per year, mostly easy driving. I use a high-quality Euro 0W-30 oil that meets all the right specs, and the car is stored in a garage with no extreme temps or conditions.


Lately, dealers and manuals seem to be pushing for annual oil changes regardless of mileage, but I remember a time when it was more mileage-based. With how little I drive, changing out perfectly clean, high-end oil every year just seems wasteful.


Does engine oil really degrade that much over time if the car is rarely used? Is it actually harmful to stretch it to 2 years in a scenario like this? I'm not trying to cut corners — just trying to understand if the once-a-year rule is based on real degradation or more of a blanket recommendation.


Anyone else doing extended intervals on low-use cars? Any input appreciated!

---

Like the cost of an oil change is so low it must drawf any storage garage cost so why no do it. Use a gas stabilizer, too.

 

[Jetronic]

My 2013 Alfa romeo had a 2 year or 35,000 km oci. The only caveats was the oil life monitor could ask for an earlier change (it never did) or if I did less than 9000 km per year it wanted yearly changes.

low miles per year usually means short tripping. Is that the case for you?

 

[Lubener]

It may depend on how your vehicle is driven during those miles.

I have a very infrequently driven vehicle. It's used for one tank trips during the summer which give it a good run each time. I change oil (conventional )and filter every three years which amounts to about 4k miles. An analysis done on the oil suggested I could go further which you might want to have done.

 

[oil pan 4]

Hey all,


Just looking for some opinions or insights on oil change intervals when it comes to Euro-spec oils (like Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30, etc.) in a low-mileage situation.


I barely drive my car — maybe 2,000 km (~1,200 miles) per year, mostly easy driving. I use a high-quality Euro 0W-30 oil that meets all the right specs, and the car is stored in a garage with no extreme temps or conditions.


Lately, dealers and manuals seem to be pushing for annual oil changes regardless of mileage, but I remember a time when it was more mileage-based. With how little I drive, changing out perfectly clean, high-end oil every year just seems wasteful.


Does engine oil really degrade that much over time if the car is rarely used? Is it actually harmful to stretch it to 2 years in a scenario like this? I'm not trying to cut corners — just trying to understand if the once-a-year rule is based on real degradation or more of a blanket recommendation.


Anyone else doing extended intervals on low-use cars? Any input appreciated!

---

Yeah.
I say up to 5 years if you don't drive it at all, as in drive it home from the oil change place and park it. 4 years if you drive 10% of the recommended oci and that's highway driving, if you just started it up to move it around your property, out of the garage and back in, to a near by store forget about it. 25% for 3 years, same thing, as long as you're not short tripping it.
Half an oci distance for 2 years, as long as they're not short trips.

 

[shortyb]

What vehicle is it?

Tell us this, get better advice .

 

[jsean]

Hey all,


Just looking for some opinions or insights on oil change intervals when it comes to Euro-spec oils (like Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30, etc.) in a low-mileage situation.


I barely drive my car — maybe 2,000 km (~1,200 miles) per year, mostly easy driving. I use a high-quality Euro 0W-30 oil that meets all the right specs, and the car is stored in a garage with no extreme temps or conditions.


Lately, dealers and manuals seem to be pushing for annual oil changes regardless of mileage, but I remember a time when it was more mileage-based. With how little I drive, changing out perfectly clean, high-end oil every year just seems wasteful.


Does engine oil really degrade that much over time if the car is rarely used? Is it actually harmful to stretch it to 2 years in a scenario like this? I'm not trying to cut corners — just trying to understand if the once-a-year rule is based on real degradation or more of a blanket recommendation.


Anyone else doing extended intervals on low-use cars? Any input appreciated!

---

That’s what I do on some of my vehicles that each get driven about 1,000 miles/yr (they don’t get driven if it’s too hot or on rainy day and are stored in the winter - very few days in the year that meets those criteria).
I make sure to get them on the freeway every so often to get the oil hot and burn off any moisture/condensation.

 

[Hall]

Does engine oil really degrade that much over time if the car is rarely used?

People have had oil analyses done on oil that's sat unused in engines for much longer (~5 years) and the analysis report said effectively, "looks great!".

 

[GRUMPYDUDE2]

Yes!

 

[RaymondP]

Is your vehicle equipped with an oil life monitor? If so, follow its recommendation. Otherwise, refer to the maintenance schedule outlined in your service manual.

Anybody have a resource on a list of vehicles with this feature? My late model German vehicles seem to default to an annual calendar for the OCI. although annual miles driven is less than 7K. Much of it is short trips to local stores, less than 3 miles.

 

[Hall]

Anybody have a resource on a list of vehicles with this feature?

There's no list like that. Every automaker recommends different things, between what their built-in "monitors" say or what they say (override) in the owners manual. Honda typically says change the oil when the % gets down below 15% or 1 year, whichever comes first. In the case of Honda, their monitor doesn't seem to have a clock though. Ford, on the other hand, says the same thing but in my limited experience (1 Ford we owned), the % counter will accelerate closer to 0% as 1 year approaches.

 

[edyvw]

Yes!

No.
Would I keep oil for 2yrs in my Toyota Sequoia with 5.7 V8? Yes. It is super easy on oil, port-injection etc.
Would I tell that to my buddy who owns a 2012 Buick Enclave with a 3.6 V6 (I maintain his car)? No. Because it is a fuel dilution monster, because it is known to be hard on oil, because the timing chain is an issue, etc.
That is why I asked about the vehicle/engine that is in question.