Wednesday, June 11, 2008 VOLUME 8 ISSUE 24
Reprinted with permission. ©2008 LNG Publishing Co., Inc
By Nancy DeMarco
General Motors yesterday joined the California Environmental
Protection Agency and its Integrated Waste Management
Board in the state’s “3,000 Mile Myth” campaign to educate
drivers on reducing motor oil consumption by following their
automakers’ recommended oil drain intervals.
In response to research showing that 73 percent of
California drivers change their oil more frequently than
their vehicle manufacturers recommend, the Board has
launched a new public information program to educate
drivers to follow automaker guidelines for oil change frequency.
The program, said the Board, is “designed to
bust the 3,000-mile myth, the old mantra that drivers
should change their oil every 3,000 miles.”
Unnecessary oil changes, the Board said, generate millions
of gallons of waste oil per year and have the potential
to pollute the state’s natural resources.
GM said yesterday that it will support the Board’s program
to help motorists understand how frequently they
need to change their engine oil and the proper methods
of doing so. “The traditional 3,000-mile oil change recommendation
was based on engine and oil technologies of
the past,” GM said.
“General Motors and the California Integrated Waste
Management Board share the common goal of reducing
the amount of both new and used oil in order to help protect
the environment,” said Peter Lord, executive director
of GM Service Operations.
“In California alone, more than 2.5 million GM vehicles are
equipped with the GM Oil Life System,” said Ron
Strayhorn, regional service manager, GM’s Western
Region. “Owners of these vehicles can reduce the amount
of oil they consume simply by following their GM Oil Life
System, which for many drivers can be thousands of miles
between changes as opposed to the old standard.”
These 2.5 million vehicles will save 8 million gallons of oil
a year if their drivers follow the Oil Life System rather than
following a 3,000-mile oil change interval, according to
GM. With the Oil Life System, a computer-based software
algorithm, vehicles typically need oil changes every 5,000
to 7,000 or even 10,000 miles, depending on operating
conditions.
Nationally, there are 31 million GM vehicles with the Oil
Life System, GM spokesman Tom Henderson told Lube
Report. Following the System rather than a 3,000-mile
drain interval could save 100 million gallons of oil annually.
Auto manufacturers today are calling for 5,000-mile to
15,000-mile drain intervals, Jon Myers, communications
director for the Board, told Lube Report, “but quick lubes
are still saying 3,000 miles, so we need to educate drivers.”
Radio public service announcements are running in
California now, Myers said, to convey the message that
drivers need to check their auto manufacturers’ recommendations.
The Board has also set up a web site,
http://www.3000milemyth.org, with consumer information to
support the campaign.
The campaign urges motorists to check and follow their
vehicle manufacturers’ guidelines for oil changes, and
also to consider using synthetic oils that will allow longer
drain intervals.
Estimating that each driver in California drives about
15,000 miles per year, the Board noted that changing oil
at 5,000 miles instead of 3,000 miles will reduce the
amount of used oil generated by seven or eight quarts,
keeping the oil from entering the waste stream and saving
the driver about $76 per year.
“When it comes to oil changes, less is more,” said the
Board. “You’ll have more money in your wallet by changing
your oil less, and fewer oil changes mean less oil that
needs to be safely managed and recycled.”
The Board, part of the California EPA, is based in
Sacramento, Calif.
Reprinted with permission. ©2008 LNG Publishing Co., Inc
By Nancy DeMarco
General Motors yesterday joined the California Environmental
Protection Agency and its Integrated Waste Management
Board in the state’s “3,000 Mile Myth” campaign to educate
drivers on reducing motor oil consumption by following their
automakers’ recommended oil drain intervals.
In response to research showing that 73 percent of
California drivers change their oil more frequently than
their vehicle manufacturers recommend, the Board has
launched a new public information program to educate
drivers to follow automaker guidelines for oil change frequency.
The program, said the Board, is “designed to
bust the 3,000-mile myth, the old mantra that drivers
should change their oil every 3,000 miles.”
Unnecessary oil changes, the Board said, generate millions
of gallons of waste oil per year and have the potential
to pollute the state’s natural resources.
GM said yesterday that it will support the Board’s program
to help motorists understand how frequently they
need to change their engine oil and the proper methods
of doing so. “The traditional 3,000-mile oil change recommendation
was based on engine and oil technologies of
the past,” GM said.
“General Motors and the California Integrated Waste
Management Board share the common goal of reducing
the amount of both new and used oil in order to help protect
the environment,” said Peter Lord, executive director
of GM Service Operations.
“In California alone, more than 2.5 million GM vehicles are
equipped with the GM Oil Life System,” said Ron
Strayhorn, regional service manager, GM’s Western
Region. “Owners of these vehicles can reduce the amount
of oil they consume simply by following their GM Oil Life
System, which for many drivers can be thousands of miles
between changes as opposed to the old standard.”
These 2.5 million vehicles will save 8 million gallons of oil
a year if their drivers follow the Oil Life System rather than
following a 3,000-mile oil change interval, according to
GM. With the Oil Life System, a computer-based software
algorithm, vehicles typically need oil changes every 5,000
to 7,000 or even 10,000 miles, depending on operating
conditions.
Nationally, there are 31 million GM vehicles with the Oil
Life System, GM spokesman Tom Henderson told Lube
Report. Following the System rather than a 3,000-mile
drain interval could save 100 million gallons of oil annually.
Auto manufacturers today are calling for 5,000-mile to
15,000-mile drain intervals, Jon Myers, communications
director for the Board, told Lube Report, “but quick lubes
are still saying 3,000 miles, so we need to educate drivers.”
Radio public service announcements are running in
California now, Myers said, to convey the message that
drivers need to check their auto manufacturers’ recommendations.
The Board has also set up a web site,
http://www.3000milemyth.org, with consumer information to
support the campaign.
The campaign urges motorists to check and follow their
vehicle manufacturers’ guidelines for oil changes, and
also to consider using synthetic oils that will allow longer
drain intervals.
Estimating that each driver in California drives about
15,000 miles per year, the Board noted that changing oil
at 5,000 miles instead of 3,000 miles will reduce the
amount of used oil generated by seven or eight quarts,
keeping the oil from entering the waste stream and saving
the driver about $76 per year.
“When it comes to oil changes, less is more,” said the
Board. “You’ll have more money in your wallet by changing
your oil less, and fewer oil changes mean less oil that
needs to be safely managed and recycled.”
The Board, part of the California EPA, is based in
Sacramento, Calif.