Originally Posted By: pezzy669
I drive about 5-6k miles a year. I follow Mazda recommendations for time (4 months) while I am still under the powertrain warranty - once that expires I will probably just go semi-annual. The dealership I use always has coupons for $29 oil changes so the thrice yearly is not too painful.
Edit:
My driving habits are 3 miles to work and 2.8 miles coming home. ~20-25 stop lights/signs each direction - all city driving with a max speed of 40 MPH. Weekends I may put 10 miles on the car. Take one long trip every 3-4 months which is about 200 miles round trip in one day.
Judging by the oil analysis people post here, short trips really chews up the oil. Just sitting in the sump idle for several days at a time, not so much. I'm a little surprised that mazda makes you change the oil three times a year. Ford gives me a year. How could there be such a spread from one manufacturer to another? Since I drove 7,500 miles last year, I would be changing at less than 3K intervals.
Anyway, since based on the original poster's screen name I assume you are a Ford owner, Ford has something like 11 different oil change intervals if you count the ones that are implied by the extended maintenance plans they sell. The thing I noticed is that they tend to all gravitate to 5K miles.
I have decided to go to the limit prescribed by the Oil Life Monitor or the one calendar year limit whichever comes first, pay for a definitive TBN/TAN analysis and go from there. You might consider doing the same.
I am also a short tripper in a cold climate. I have noticed that the oil life monitor is ticking off one percentage point every 58 miles or so this winter for my short-trip driving. So, if you aren't wanting to pay for an analysis, a 6K interval should work. As a practical matter, you will take an occasional longer trip which would extend your oil life considerably. That would be your margin of safety.
