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Well, Well, Crfo, the so-called "severe" service in most owner's manuals is still 3K, Hyundai is 3750 with "normal" interval, 7500. But the garages, the quick change places ALL suggest 3 months, 3000 miles, regardless. And, there are dozens of folks here that do it 3K regardless of all that is posted, written and proven in support of long drains because, as so many say, "Oil and filters are cheap, my engine is expensive". But the trend in the industry is 3K. It just IS. There are a few manufacturers with the oil life monitors, but then you have the Stealerships out there with their own agenda ALWAYS pushing maintenance outside the boundaries of the owner's guide. "Free" oil changes every 3K provide fine opportunities to stick the unaware (who number far higher than the aware) with maintenance they simply don't need.
I'm a long drain advocate CF, but the industry is still stuck on pushing 3K OCI because, frankly, a goodly percentage of the industry lives off it. You KNOW the folks who (or is it whom?) provide our favorite finished product, PCMO, LOVE and push the 3K OCI.
Its hard to argue with most of that. I will say though that most cars/drivers don't meet the severe service guidelines and should thus go with the "normal" interval. I did some checking yesterday and I did find a major manufacturer going with "only" a 5K OCI for normal and 3K for severe on most of their vehicles (Ford) but most others are longer. As you mentioned Hyundia is 7,500 unless severe. GM has the OLM and if the OLM doesn't go off they recommend a 1 year OCI. On my mother's Bonneville w/o OLM the manual recommends a 7,500/12mo. As seen on BITOG a lot of GM cars go well past 10K before the OLM kicks.
When you say "industry", I have to imagine you are not talking about most manufacturers, although there are still a few, but rather about dealers and repair shops. I think we (meaning most of us on BITOG) are more "in the know" about maintenance, especially in regards to oil changes, than the average consumer. I for one, put more faith in the maintenance schedule printed in the owner's manual or maintenance booklet, than the board on the wall at a repair shop/dealership. Of course, when someone is right in front of you telling you that you need to do x, y, and z, it is harder to say no, especially when the guilt trip is used. That is but one reason why I do my own maintenance and repairs on vehicles out of warranty. Even in warranty I usually do 90%+ of the maintenance.
Look what happened with cigarettes in the US. For decades the manufacturers and sellers of cigarettes denied the health risks and some even said they promoted GOOD health. Eventually the tide started to turn and some people stopped believing, then more and more people, eventually the manufacturers stopped saying they were healthy, then said they weren't bad, eventually the flood gates opened and they admitted that they were addicting and unhealthy (after being sued). Of course there is resistance, there is big money involved. Eventually, most, or every, manufacturer is going to have an OLM or at least recommend extended intervals. As some point most people are going to see the manufacturer's recommendations and compare that to the board at the shop and put 2 and 2 together and realize that a 3/3 OCI is all about the money. Really the oil change is very little to zero profit at most shops (Jiffy Lube and other high volume, lowest part bidder, $30 oil change shops excluded), its a way to get cars in for inspections which lead to gravy maintenance work and repairs. Once the public at large learns that someone is pulling the wool over their eyes, which can take a long, long time, things will shift, perhaps quickly, just like they did for cigarettes. A major difference though, there are very few people addicted to oil changes and "cutting down" will be a very, very easy proposition with no withdrawal symptoms.
I personally do my part whenever I can and have gotten several people off the 3/3 leash. When/if they don't believe, I tell them about my current and prior vehicles, I also show them their owner's manual. I've got my mom on 12 month OCIs (7,500 miles) per her owner's manual, I've got friends and neighbors actually using their OLM and others without the OLM I have doing 6+ month OCIs with quality filters and (usually) Amsoil XL oils. I've even converted a few riding buddies to yearly OCIs with good synthetics like Redline or Amsoil. When more and more people see that their engine didn't explode after 5 years, then 8 years, then 12, or whatever, they will forever be broken from the marketing hype and lies of the 3/3 OCI.
