Maintenance Schedules

[sexualbanana]

I know I'm supposed to change my oil every 5,000km (for the sake of easy tracking) or every 3 months. But I'm considering moving into the belt line which, with any luck, is going to cut down the frequency that I use my car. To the point where I probably fill up a tank every 3.5 - 4 weeks. Over 3 months that only amounts to approximately 1800km, so I'm wondering if that is going to effect the maintenance schedule?

In the past, 3 months and 5,000km came at about the same time, so I was never quite sure which might be more important.

[nobb]

The 5000km oil change interval is a myth spread by servicing companies to get you to spend more money on their services. If your car was manufactured in the last 15 years, it's likely that the manufacturer's recommended service interval is atleast 7500km on conventional oil.

I would go by the mileage between changes rather than the time (within reason). I would not hesitate to change oil only once a year on a low mileage vehicle. The key is to make sure youre driving long enough trips such that the engine has had time to warm up to get rid of condensation. Only when you are doing lots of short trips would I then start to consider shortening that interval.

[sidewaysD]

I would go by distance. However, if you idle your car lots in winter.. than I would go with engine hours. (usually, used for heavy duty trucks that like to idle and long drives) There are other factors you should be considering as well during winter for your oil

Idle time=oil life factor (you do this more often in winter to warm up the car etc)
Short trips=more condensation in engine/oil which slowly will begin to degrade the oil.
Number of Cold starts.

The oil managment systems in new cars these days monitors these, and estimates the oil life in precentages. It's acctually pretty darn accurate. Depending on how hard you drive you might hit the 5,000km mark or a tad bit over to 6,000km. Which seems it's hitting the standard.

[ExtraSlow]

I would change it once a year for sure. Probably best in the fall or early winter.
The reccomended OCI in my Honda is 10,000 km, and I stick to that.

Almost nothing actualy requires 5000 OCI. People call it cheap insurance, but really, how cheap is it? If you could save $100 on your liability insurance, you'd jump at the chance . . .

[Ashers]

Unfortunately Nissan goes by the 3 months/5000 KM according to the service guide. My sister has a 2013 Juke 1.6 DIGI-T, and it says that. It also has a 6 month schedule if you don't operate it in "severe conditions". I typically let her run it for 6 months on synthetic (due to the turbo, also starts way better in winter), just to keep the warranty people happy.

I do find it ironic though, considering that my Benz is 1 year/20K km, my Smart is 1 year/who-knows-how-many-km's, and my dad's Golf TDI is 1 year/16k km.