Economy ased OCIs

[otis24]

To a degree, perhaps the economy and price play a role in our chosen OCI. How many here have made a decision to extend OCI's purely due to a change in your personal financial situation? I have been doing extended drains for a while but due to my cuuent job situation, i will probably extend my OCIs even further. I generally do 6k mile OCIs on the Gr. Caravan using Pz Platinum. Think I will push that to at least 7500 miles. My Chev Colorado is driven about 8k miles per year. It will see one year OCI's or when the OLM says so .(Mobil1).

 

[crazyoildude]

I do once a year or 6500 mile oci's on most of my vehicles and i back that up with at least one oci a year. I am doing these extended drain intervals for two good reasons first of all oil got much better over the years and second oil got really expensive so i pretty much doubled my oci's because i can with no negative results.
Changing oil more often is a waste of oil and money. I remember the days that i was changing oil 3 months 3000 miles those days are long gone!

 

[MBS500]

Try conventional PYB for example. Seen UOA where it went to 10k.
Watch promo forum, and get FAR oils.

 

[daves87rs]

I wish I could say that economy, but I have enough oil to cover for quite a while....

I've dragged out my first long OCI...my Cavalier has yet to see an oil change since late march of 2012, coming on about a year now. Current QSUD only has 2.5k on it though. I'm still not worried though....maybe it's because I've learned from the masters here.

Guess part would be luck as well...car sat quite a bit while we bought/fixed up the house, worked like crazy for the holidays, and is avoiding salt at the moment. That goodness I threw some long drives in there....


I do not think of it as saving money, but rather knowledge that I have learned......

 

[HTSS_TR]

I had been doing long OCI 6-7k/6mo with conventional, 12-15k/12mo with syn, in the LS400 since I bought it new. The filter is changed once a year(second OC with dino).

For the E430, I follow the OLM (MB calls it FSS), it's usually 12-13k in a year.

The S2000 I do once a year at around 5-6k miles with conventional since new.

I don't think I want to extend my OCI's of my cars any further. Especially I already pay attention to sale and rebate(s) closely and most my oils were bought for less than $1.0-$1.50/qt for dino and around $2-3/qt for synthetic.

 

[andyd]

When I first came to BITOG, I was using cheap oil and filters. My OCIs were 3k miles on the dot. It works , but 5-7 k works just as well and the savings are 50% Doesnt matter what the oil is, it is way better than it was 20 yrs ago.

 

[marc1]

To be perfectly frank, I got sick and tired of the car falling apart around me. Yes, when I was younger I did short OCI's (3000 miles) on my vehicles. All this ever did was cost me extra ownership money, to make the point of the original post... so yes. My cars would age and other things would begin to show wear (rattles, creaks, switches, accessories fail, suspension wears out, rust even etc.). In the end... I would have an old worn out car that was time to sell with a good motor / powertrain. Starting in 1996 with my new K1500 I went with the manufacturer's OCI (7500 miles)... guess what, same thing happened... great powertrain but the truck was worn out (AC issues, power steering leaks, radiator, alternator, front end, corrosion etc.). I have never had a oil related failure, sludged motor, lifter gummed up etc. on anything I have ever owned... 3k OCI or manufacturer OCI. However, for many, this 3k OCI (or any shorter than recommended OCI) is as powerful as their religious and / or cultural and / or social beliefs so I respect one's choice in that matter but short OCI's are simply not for me. I will short change my OCI under some circumstances only i.e. sustained operation in a dust storm, overheating, contamination from failed head / intake gasket etc. but otherwise the manufacturer's recommendation is fine for me. I love the GM OLM feature my last 2 GM's have had. Seeing the numerous UOA's here on BITOG done with oils and engines similar to what I use has also validated my decision on this matter for me as well.

Today (2013) my driving has changed and I exceed the "time in crankcase" number well before the mileage comes up / OLM goes off, this is one I am stuggling with. In warranty I change based on time recommended from the manufacturer (typically 1 year) and out of warrranty I change roughly 2 years... hope that is ok, so far so good... I am willing to bet nothing bad will happen to my motors

 

[eljefino]

I have a huge stash of oil that I got somewhat to fairly cheaply. I also have 3-4 cars at a given time but only drive 12k a year. There are 4 seasons here with chilly winters that demand thin oil... am skating through not using synthetic like I usually do with no issues.

In a nutshell, the cars get two changes a year in april and november. April sees a x-w40 weight that I invariably got a super duper good deal on. I could run a syn all year, I guess, but abuse my oil in winter with fuel dilution and don't want to do that to fresh oil, nor nearly used up oil.

I'm finding more savings running used tires and mounting/ balancing them myself. This obviously can't be a solution for everyone or my source will dry up.

 

[Oldasco]

I know how to tighten my belt to save money, but I won't try to save money by extending OCI. If you are tight for money it is even more important to do OCI at correct interval. If you stretch out interval trying to save money, it could cost you a lot more in the end if your engine blows up because you waited too long to change oil and filter trying to save $20. If you're short on cash it would be even worse trying to replace your blown engine. Don't extend OCI.

 

[electrolover]

Times get any harder and im gonna start running ST dino and e-cores 10k

 

[Oldasco]

Probably more than anything else with my car trying to save money,I avoid making unnecessary trips in my car to save on gasoline. Oil changes don't kill me moneywise...extra $70 gas fillups do!

 

[Hyde244]

^ Exactly.

All things considered, oil changes are one of the cheapest maintenance costs for a regular car. As a person pricing out new rear wheel bearings, I speak from experience.

Extended OCIs has also been a response to improvement in technology and oil design. Oils are simply manufactured much better than they were 20 years ago, and engines are being designed for longer OCIs.

 

[gregoron]

I'm averaging 5k miles in 3 months, and I change my own oil. Yes, I'd like to save money and time so I'm doing extended OCI with cheap synth oil from Mag1 through Amazon. I plan to change it 2x per year.

 

[otis24]

On the point of gasoline, yes, I will start walking when I can. If a job change comes in the next couple of weeks, which is looking more and more inevitable, I will be able to walk to work on a daily basis. That is if I get the job that I put in for.