Low Speed, Short Trip Driving

[circuitsmith]

I would use a cheaper oil since contamination, not breakdown, is the limiting factor, IMHO.
If short tripping every day I'd stick with 6 months OCI.
I do mostly short tripping too, even more so with COVID, but only on weekends (don't drive to work), so I go a year.

 

[Luftmasse]

I'm really wedded to synthetics ... been using them since about 1985 or so. The difference between 5qts GTX and 5qts Edge or Mobil1 is between $6.00 and $8.00, the real expense is having the work done. Shops around here charge between $100.00 and $150.00 an hour.

Not sure where you live. But most places, if you bring your own oil to do oil change, it is usually under $25 for labor only. This is assuming you got the Camry.

 

[Gene K]

My car is used almost exclusively for low speed, short trip driving in town. Frequent idling at stop lights, running errands with several stops/starts per trip. I suppose that this is considered to be "severe" operating conditions. I change oil about every six months, about 2,000 miles. I use only synthetic oil, Castrol Edge Extended Performance or Mobil 1 Extended Performance/Annual Protection. This gets a little spendy since I have to pay a shop to do the change for me ... cost for the change, including oil/filter, is around $75.00 - $90.00.

Can I extend the interval by adding a few long trips to my driving routine, say fifty or so freeway miles? Might I be a little compulsive about the six month oil changes? Can I safely go a year using these oils? Any thoughts on changing the filter every other oil change?

Thanks for any feedback.

Manufacturers are starting to go 24 Months.

Warranty on Car?

GDI Engine?

Turbo?

If the answer is no to all.of the above you may be able to go much longer even with your driving conditions. Still it would be nice if you could manage at least one 20 mi highway run every few weeks to get rid of accumulated moisture.

Evidence suggest that time is not a major contributor to oil degradation. We have 5 year 15,000 mi OCI where the oil was still serviceable. I wouldn't be afraid to run 8,000 mi and two years if you meet the above conditions.

Buy a 5 qt jug of M1 EP for $24 at Walmart and file the $12 Rebate. Buy a Fram Ultra Filter. Now you are in about $20-25 after rebate and pay someone $20 to change your oil for you using your oil and filter. That's $45 every two years on the high side.

It would help if you would give your Make Model Year and Engine as to advice on Oil and OCI.

 

[Shel_B]

Manufacturers are starting to go 24 Months.

Warranty on Car?

GDI Engine?

Turbo?

If the answer is no to all.of the above you may be able to go much longer even with your driving conditions. Still it would be nice if you could manage at least one 20 mi highway run every few weeks to get rid of accumulated moisture.
[...]
It would help if you would give your Make Model Year and Engine as to advice on Oil and OCI.

If a 20 mile run every couple-three weeks will help, I can make that happen. Thanks!

 

[DwightFrye]

Since I retired last year, my driving is a fraction of what it used to be. I moved to a small mountain community. About 3 times a week I make a 10 mile round trip into town and half of that is coasting downhill. A couple times a month I make about a 60 mile round trip down to a nearby city. So I figure this is pretty severe driving conditions. I have a Mazda CX5 with turbo engine. I am doing 5000 mile OCI's with Mobil 1 Extended Performance and that is probably going to work out to about once a year changes. No need to overdo it with more frequent changes.
My other concern is the battery, parasitic draw is a real thing with today's complicated electrical systems. Every couple of weeks I hook up my Harbor Freight charger. On the 2 amp trickle charge mode it takes a good 12 hours until the unit indicator light turns green and shows a full charge. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this regimen will ensure that I get at least 4 years out of the battery.

 

[Shel_B]

My other concern is the battery, parasitic draw is a real thing with today's complicated electrical systems. Every couple of weeks I hook up my Harbor Freight charger. On the 2 amp trickle charge mode it takes a good 12 hours until the unit indicator light turns green and shows a full charge. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this regimen will ensure that I get at least 4 years out of the battery.

My battery is the original one that came with the car, and it's now about 10 years old. My tech says it's getting towards the end of its life, but right now it still cranks with plenty of power. I was surprised to discover that it's the original battery. My Camry is pretty simple compared to the newer cars, so perhaps that parasitic draw is far less than that of your Mazda.

 

[PimTac]

Since I retired last year, my driving is a fraction of what it used to be. I moved to a small mountain community. About 3 times a week I make a 10 mile round trip into town and half of that is coasting downhill. A couple times a month I make about a 60 mile round trip down to a nearby city. So I figure this is pretty severe driving conditions. I have a Mazda CX5 with turbo engine. I am doing 5000 mile OCI's with Mobil 1 Extended Performance and that is probably going to work out to about once a year changes. No need to overdo it with more frequent changes.
My other concern is the battery, parasitic draw is a real thing with today's complicated electrical systems. Every couple of weeks I hook up my Harbor Freight charger. On the 2 amp trickle charge mode it takes a good 12 hours until the unit indicator light turns green and shows a full charge. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this regimen will ensure that I get at least 4 years out of the battery.

Mine is three years old and no problems yet. One thing to consider is to keep your key fobs in a Faraday type pouch or container while at home. The car and the fobs communicate back and forth. This is also a security measure to keep thieves from using interceptor devices. Also, go through the settings for the headlights and have them auto-off at thirty seconds instead of longer which is the default.

In this day and age 3-4 years is pretty standard for batteries. Batteries are getting smaller and the loads on them have increased.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

You can probably do once a year and be OK