More Evidence That Doesn't Support 10K Oil Changes

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ALL of my vehicle owner manuals say 7.5k or six months. I have set my vehicles to 5k or one year. Those that don't make it to 5k in one year go two years. No evidence to back this up.
 
I've seen this same scenario play out on other boards I frequent, where someone buys an off lease or ex-rental with no, or very limited maintenance records for it's first ~3yrs/36K miles.

They may maintain it per spec from then on, but that lack of records from it's first life is going to bite you if you have a related problem. Especially if you bought an extended warranty package.
This, IMO, would be the perfect scenario for somebody who wants to keep this kind of car for a long time but still use “cheap” WM oils: drop the oil immediately and run 5k with a quart of HPL EC30 and best filter available. Then do 1-3 OCIs with HPL PCMO and good filtration. Then the engine will be much cleaner and hopefully any clogged oil rings & passages will be freed up.

Now, switch to whatever oil & filter is wished to be run. In the big picture, what’s $300 worth of oil in the life of an engine, especially when you just bought a “new” car?
 
This, IMO, would be the perfect scenario for somebody who wants to keep this kind of car for a long time but still use “cheap” WM oils: drop the oil immediately and run 5k with a quart of HPL EC30 and best filter available. Then do 1-3 OCIs with HPL PCMO and good filtration. Then the engine will be much cleaner and hopefully any clogged oil rings & passages will be freed up.

Now, switch to whatever oil & filter is wished to be run. In the big picture, what’s $300 worth of oil in the life of an engine, especially when you just bought a “new” car?
Yup - when you look at “clean up” methods dating back to the BrocL days - and of course the EC and VRP discussions today - there were many easy ways to address that soft crud along with the unseen stuff like the rings …
 
Yup - when you look at “clean up” methods dating back to the BrocL days - and of course the EC and VRP discussions today - there were many easy ways to address that soft crud along with the unseen stuff like the rings …
Yes, methods that don’t involve dumping solvents into the crankcase. Solvents don’t lubricate; oils do.

I will admit though that generally there haven’t been any immediate negative effects noted from the solvent methods but I would attribute that to the fact that all those treatments have recommended doses that are a mere fraction of total crankcase volume.
 
Hey that's not funny. This might be the singular case when YouTube is actually the better alternative!
Im on the liver king diet. 😂
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For all the folks that want to do their 10k+ oil changes on their car. Go for it, you paid a lot of your own money for that vehicle. If you want to save some money on oil changes that's up to you.

For me? Oil changes are cheap and easy so I'll keep doing mine at 4-4.5k. Might be overkill sure, but frequent and regular oil and filter changes is the best and cheapest thing you can do to keep your engine working right for as long as possible.
 
For all the folks that want to do their 10k+ oil changes on their car. Go for it, you paid a lot of your own money for that vehicle. If you want to save some money on oil changes that's up to you.

For me? Oil changes are cheap and easy so I'll keep doing mine at 4-4.5k. Might be overkill sure, but frequent and regular oil and filter changes is the best and cheapest thing you can do to keep your engine working right for as long as possible.
The debate arises when you try to define frequent and regular. There are plenty of posts on this thread that aim to educate about it.
If 8-9k OCI take you to the same spot than 4-4.5k in your application, well that's 50% cheaper. One size does not fit all.
 
The debate arises when you try to define frequent and regular. There are plenty of posts on this thread that aim to educate about it.
If 8-9k OCI take you to the same spot than 4-4.5k in your application, well that's 50% cheaper. One size does not fit all.
Maybe. But an oil change costs me less than 25 bucks when I do it myself. And with my families driving habits that's around an oil change every 4 months or so, give or take. So less than 75 bucks a year per car. The money is not an issue here when that is less than the cost of a family dinner out.

The one car cost 26k when I bought it years ago, in reality given your numbers I could save roughly 30-35 dollars in a year on oil changes. Nah, I will spend the money to try protect that investment. Maybe it won't do anything, but I'll err on the side of caution when it comes to regular maintenance items.

But you do you.
 
A UOA does not tell you much about sludge and contamination.
True. And running on blind faith because you believe what you read on a forum and think it applies to your vehicle is a fools errand imo, because you have zero data to go by. Sorry but I'll go by data vs. what someone posting on a forum thinks.
 
This, IMO, would be the perfect scenario for somebody who wants to keep this kind of car for a long time but still use “cheap” WM oils: drop the oil immediately and run 5k with a quart of HPL EC30 and best filter available. Then do 1-3 OCIs with HPL PCMO and good filtration. Then the engine will be much cleaner and hopefully any clogged oil rings & passages will be freed up.

Now, switch to whatever oil & filter is wished to be run. In the big picture, what’s $300 worth of oil in the life of an engine, especially when you just bought a “new” car?
That is my plan. This is a 120k Toyota V6 which has religiously received a synthetic 5k OC and 10k Fram Ultra.

3k OCI with a 2k HPL 30 EC (done)
1-2 HPL std Euro 5w-30 10k OCI and 5K filter change (in progress or in 2yrs-Aug 2026)
 
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Typical office Doctors that hang on to their vehicles for close to 200k and only stop driving them due to failures, aren't very successful doctors.
What on earth does this mean?

Someone who is good at medicine may, or may not, know a darn thing about cars.

A car is a pretty small fraction of a doctor salary.

Why should they spend any time worrying about it when it is so unimportant in the context of the rest of their life?
 
The V12s, I assume, held 10 quarts or more of oil. Also, why use conventional oils at all. Your point overall is excellent, that there are many variables impacting this from car to car and driver to driver.
Yes, the V12s hold 10 quarts. A big sump. And MB 229.5 oil used every time.

So, sump capacity, engine design, engine performance, pattern of use, driving style, and oil specification.

Let’s ignore the effect of all of those and focus only on interval….

Focusing on one parameter, while excluding several, equally important factors, to make a blanket statement is a failure in logic.
 
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