OCI for older cars with low annual mileage?
- Thread starter monel777
- Start date
Toyota says 6 months with dino, 1 year with synthetic. You can often get synthetic on sale at a price competitive with dino.
Honda says max 1 year if the oil light doesn't come on. But if you change it early, you still have to reset the minder.
Honda says max 1 year if the oil light doesn't come on. But if you change it early, you still have to reset the minder.
Thanks, should have said I use synthetic in both.
In your situation, I would change the oil and filter once a year.
In a warmer climate no issues going a couple years, especially with cars out of warranty. Winter time where I’m at and I’ll change it in the spring just to get the condensation that builds from shorter trips. My rogue only has a few k on the schaeffers that’s in it and it’s got the froth under the oil cap. I can’t wait to get that crud out. I’m going back to just running cheap synthetic nov- April.
Do you drive each vehicle 5K per year or is that 5K total shared between the two? Is your accumulated mileage low because the vehicles sit idle a lot? When you do drive are the trips short or long? Lots of short trips where the oil doesn't warm up is considered to be a form of severe service where your owner's manual will tell you to cut the OCI in half.
Patman
Staff member
If you’re only driving 5k a year don’t overthink this too much. Look at it this way, even if your engine dies an early death at 100,000 miles, that still means you have 20 YEARS before you have a problem. By then you’re likely to have gotten a different car.
I vote for changing it once every year (right before the cold winter weather)
I vote for changing it once every year (right before the cold winter weather)
I usually change it every spring, as i live in cold winter climate, and I think the oil gets the most abuse in the winter with condensation, idle time and fuel dilution, therefore i think spring is the best time to do an annual oil change. Now if you live in Phoenix or L.A. a fall/autumn oil change may make sense to me. Just my opinion.
Patman
Staff member
That makes sense as well but if you live in an area with cold temperatures in the winter you want fresh oil in the fall just because the winter rating of your oil will slip as you get more miles on it. In other words if you started out with a 5w oil in the spring, by the time you get to the end of fall, that oil is likely to be a 10w oil and you could have a harder time starting the engine if you end up with an extremely cold morning that winter. Although it is less of a problem if the oil you started out with is a 0w oil.
Agree, but this is when i suggest dropping the oil in the fall and just change to oil and not the filter or do two oil changes a year. Spring and Fall changes. Oil I my IMO needs to be changed in the spring on an annual change. Makes me sleep better LOL, just me
Each go about 5K per year, short trips around a rural town, maybe once a year longer trip in Toyota, serval 100 mile trip.
I've gone over 18 months on Dino no problem sometimes when i haven't driven a car much.
But usually i just do it once a year regardless of anything since neither one of my cars sees more than 4-5k miles a year, usually.
But usually i just do it once a year regardless of anything since neither one of my cars sees more than 4-5k miles a year, usually.
Good reply - if the OP wants a bit more of a warm feeling , then consider that once a year oil change with a M1 EP oil of your choice or ditto with the Castrol 25K mile extended performance oil .
5K is a good change interval anyway for your usage. The short trips are the tough part. So given you drive about 5K each year, just change it based on the 5K miles, which is also close to the the 1 year. If you park inside a garage, it is better as you do not get as much of the cold condensation issues.
Just as a point, my old classic cars get oil and filter (if they have one, some do, some don't) changed on miles, not time. Parked in temp controlled garage, and could be a few years before I change the oil on them.
Just as a point, my old classic cars get oil and filter (if they have one, some do, some don't) changed on miles, not time. Parked in temp controlled garage, and could be a few years before I change the oil on them.
I’m with the ST yearly crowd. However make sure to stay on top of other things like tire pressure and inspections. I don’t think a yearly inspection is a good idea on older vehicles. If the OCI is what prompts you to check other items then maybe 6 months is a good timeframe.
Annually, or even longer. I go close to 1.5 years in our Tundra, but remember I live in a pretty mild climate.
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