I have a 2008 Corvette Z08, with an 8qt capacity. I used to drive the car 5-7K miles a year, but due to changes over the last few years, the car goes out only 500-1000 miles per year. I normally change the oil once a year in the winter anyways and I changed the oil back in December like I usually do and it looked almost like new. I run M1 51-30 and wondered if I actually need to still change it once a year if i'm driving less than 1000 miles in a year.
Do I need to change the oil yearly?
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Well, you're going to get a ton of different opinions on this. I mean, if all of your driving is like you stole it then, YES! Otherwise, once/year may actually be too often by some standards especially with only 1000 miles.
Are most of those miles putting around town or very spirited/track driving? If not, I might go 18-24 months or 2,000 mi. I agree, if the few miles it is seeing are under pretty easy conditions it seems like a waste.
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A fellow E 28er has 2 535i s. The toy, which travels less than 2 K and the 600 miles a week commuter with 550K miles on it. The the toy's annual drain became top off for the DD.
Patman
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With my old 2005 Corvette, I was only driving about 4000 miles a year so I was changing it every 2 years and the oil analysis results showed it was fine. If you're driving less than 1000 miles per year, I would say you could most likely go 3 years in between changes, but I would also recommended getting a used oil analysis done to make sure it's safe. Also make sure that every time you do drive the car, get the oil fully up to temperature so any moisture is removed.
With my new Corvette, because of the warranty, I need to change the oil every year, even if I drive it a small amount. But I don't think that's going to happen, I will most likely be putting about 6000 miles a year on it for the first 4 years, and then I retire in 2022 and will be doing at least double that (we'll be driving it to Florida every winter, plus doing tons of road trips)
There is another option you could do as well, if you have an older vehicle out of warranty that takes 5w30. You could drain the oil out of the Corvette every year, catching it in a clean container, and use it in that other vehicle. That way you'd kill two birds with one stone.
Originally Posted By: Alex_V
Are most of those miles putting around town or very spirited/track driving? If not, I might go 18-24 months or 2,000 mi. I agree, if the few miles it is seeing are under pretty easy conditions it seems like a waste.
I used to freak out over oil a lot, old cars that had gray foam all over the inside of the engine, (Chrysler 1960's Slant 6!!)
But I have a garage queen too, decided to test the oil and found the results were way better then I expected!
Total Base Number of the oil was 4.2 after 9 yrs in the garage and 5,000 miles on it before I parked it!
I run it twice a year for a car wash, I finally did change it.
1 year on oil after it's been aging in the ground for 200 million years, won't be a stretch!
However if you see water in the oil, foam, etc, then change it but also fix the root cause!
One factor to consider is the temperature fluctuations the car goes thru while sitting. Obviously, the greater the temp changes, the more I would change it every year.
I sent in samples every year from my Peterbilt. It was still fine after 3 years according to Blackstone.
Keep that low mileage oil and not waste it by dumping too early.
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Doesn't GM recommend an oil change at least once a year, regardless?
That's what I would go by.
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Well, you're going to get a ton of different opinions on this. I mean, if all of your driving is like you stole it then, YES! Otherwise, once/year may actually be too often by some standards especially with only 1000 miles.
Originally Posted By: Alex_V
Are most of those miles putting around town or very spirited/track driving? If not, I might go 18-24 months or 2,000 mi. I agree, if the few miles it is seeing are under pretty easy conditions it seems like a waste.
Originally Posted By: andyd
A fellow E 28er has 2 535i s. The toy, which travels less than 2 K and the 600 miles a week commuter with 550K miles on it. The the toy's annual drain became top off for the DD.
Originally Posted By: Patman
With my old 2005 Corvette, I was only driving about 4000 miles a year so I was changing it every 2 years and the oil analysis results showed it was fine. If you're driving less than 1000 miles per year, I would say you could most likely go 3 years in between changes, but I would also recommended getting a used oil analysis done to make sure it's safe. Also make sure that every time you do drive the car, get the oil fully up to temperature so any moisture is removed.
With my new Corvette, because of the warranty, I need to change the oil every year, even if I drive it a small amount. But I don't think that's going to happen, I will most likely be putting about 6000 miles a year on it for the first 4 years, and then I retire in 2022 and will be doing at least double that (we'll be driving it to Florida every winter, plus doing tons of road trips)
There is another option you could do as well, if you have an older vehicle out of warranty that takes 5w30. You could drain the oil out of the Corvette every year, catching it in a clean container, and use it in that other vehicle. That way you'd kill two birds with one stone.
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Keep that low mileage oil and not waste it by dumping too early.
Originally Posted By: i_hate_autofraud
I used to freak out over oil a lot, old cars that had gray foam all over the inside of the engine, (Chrysler 1960's Slant 6!!)
But I have a garage queen too, decided to test the oil and found the results were way better then I expected!
Total Base Number of the oil was 4.2 after 9 yrs in the garage and 5,000 miles on it before I parked it!
I run it twice a year for a car wash, I finally did change it.
1 year on oil after it's been aging in the ground for 200 million years, won't be a stretch!
However if you see water in the oil, foam, etc, then change it but also fix the root cause!
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
One factor to consider is the temperature fluctuations the car goes thru while sitting. Obviously, the greater the temp changes, the more I would change it every year.
It would be nice if we could establish a time deadline irregardless of mileage, but too many differing opinions here.
I vote, Don't pull the plug!
My wife has a 2006 Cadillac sts bought new, has 85k. Since it was new, she won't let me change the oil more often than every 2 years. I tried to tell her it needs to be changed once a year like I do all of my vehicles. But no, she knows better, she say's mobil 1 is good for atleast 5k! Should I tell her its good for more than that? lmao, no! I'm going to do some UOA on my vehicles, maybe I can start going 2 years, but I'm not telling the wife that!
I'm a typical low yearly mileage kind of bloke; maybe 6k/year. Wifey is even lower at £3k/year max.
I used to own a Kia and partly bought it for the 7 year warranty. However to maintain the warranty, you need to get the car serviced every year. In the UK, this is a significant cost (typically £250 or $US 350 a pop!) relative to the diminishing value of the car.
So I purposely traded in the Kia for my Suzuki which just has a 3 year warranty. During the warranty period, I'm getting the first two yearly services done but after that, I'm moving to getting it serviced every other year. The recommended OCI is 12.5k miles, the dealer uses Petronas (Group III) Synthium 0W20 and the bulk of my driving is moderate (55 mph) jaunts up & down the motorway. Oil is remarkably stable & long lasting under such conditions so I'm going to be fine. I'll probably check the dipstick every once in a while and top up as necessary.
What about oxidation of the oil? Its not like its in a bottle all sealed up, air tight...
Isn't oxidation the reason car makers say to change the oil after X miles or Y months?
Patman
Staff member
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
How does GMs oil life monitors handle this?
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