Changing Your Oil Every 3,000 Miles And 5 Other Car-Care Myths
2009 December 21
Save buying a home and having children, buying a car is probably the most significant financial commitment you’ll ever make. Naturally, you’ll want to do your best to keep that car in excellent condition. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of bad advice out there specifically designed to empty your wallet into somebody else’s. Here are 6 common car-care myths that could be costing you money.
6 Common Car-Care Myths
- You should change your oil every 3,000 miles – This is probably the most persistent of all car-care myths. Not surprisingly, the 3,000 mile myth is perpetuated almost exclusively by the oil service industry in an effort to boost revenue. Since that little sticker on your windshield says 3,000 miles, people tend to believe that 3,000 miles is some sort of magic number. If you drive more than 3,000 miles without changing the oil, your engine could explode! That’s complete and utter nonsense. Modern vehicles are generally designed to go between 5,000-7,000 miles between oil changes with no mechanical consequences whatsoever with the caveat that heavy drivers (all-city driving or those who haul heavy loads regularly) might need to change their oil slightly more frequently. Your car’s user manual will tell you how often the manufacturer recommends you change your oil and there’s really no need to do it more often than that. My car’s manual (a Toyota) recommends 5,000 mile intervals. I’m not aware of a manufacturer that recommends you change your oil as often as every 3,000 miles.
- Not getting your service done at the dealership will void your warranty – Completely false. Dealership service departments are generally the most expensive option, so you’ll generally want to avoid them (unless it’s free, of course). I’m not sure who started this rumor, but there’s not a hint of truth to it. So long as you keep detailed records of all maintenance you’ve had done on your car, there will be no impact on your warranty. You can even do the work yourself if you know what you’re doing, just be sure to save all your receipts so you can prove exactly what was done.
- You should let your engine warm up before driving – Many people believe your engine will last longer if you idle the engine until it’s warmed up before hitting the road. There is precious little evidence to back this up. While it’s true that a warmed-up engine is more efficient than a cold engine, modern engines warm up much more quickly while driving than idling (it only takes a minute or so). Idling your engine accomplishes nothing but wasting gas and spewing extra fumes.
- Premium fuel is better than regular fuel – In general, only hotter-running, high-compression engines found is high-performance vehicles benefit from running premium fuel. Unless your car’s user manual specifically recommends high-octane premium fuel, there is absolutely no benefit whatsoever from using it. The vast majority of cars on the road run fine on standard 87 octane fuel. Purchasing premium fuel for these cars would be a waste.
- Inflate your tires to the pressure on the side of your tire’s sidewall – The number listed on the sidewall is the maximum pressure your tire is designed to safely hold, not the recommended pressure. The recommended pressure should be listed in your car’s user manual.
- You should flush the coolant with every oil change - Most car’s need to have their radiator coolant changed every 60,000 miles or so, the equivalent of many oil changes. Consult your car’s manual for specifics.
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Interesting article. I just checked my tire pressure since I just put on my winter tires – it wasn’t listed in the manual but rather on the car itself.
I gotta remember about the oil change thing. I usually forget when I’ve had the oil change done.
What is don’t like is how they always find something to fix when I get my oil changed. But I guess I do like to keep everything in working order, so I let them fix it.
@Four Pillars – winter tires? Do people still rotate seasonal tires? I thought about that a few months ago when I got new tires , but the cost to rebalance twice a year was not worth the cost of just leaving the tires on and getting new tires when they are 3/4 of the way gone or not good enough for the winter. Maybe this concept will make a comeback with the deepening recession.
My Dodge minivan says to change the oil every 3000 in the manual, but I usually wait for 5000 like you say.
In that case, I might be inclined to go with what’s in the manual. Then again, 5,000 miles might be fine if you use top-quality oil.
okay i work at a oil change place and who ever says change it every 5000 are stupid because the oil filters themselves are only made to go 3000 unless you geta boush or mobil one filter or some type of $10.00 filter. so yeah whoever say go 5000 miles on your oil change is wrong. because after 3000 the oil breaks down and then if you go over its just cycling dirty oil over and over again
That’s only if you use the super cheap oil filters, and even then you can probably get by with 5,000 miles. $10 is a very small price to pay for a decent oil filter that will get you an extra 2000 miles per oil change, though.
I thought the same as you regarding oil changes. The manual on my ‘05 Toyota quoted 5,000 miles for oil changes. I usually changed about every 5-6,000.
Well, now I need a new motor in my 5-year-old van due to not changing the oil enough. I’ll give you two guesses as to whether or not my PLATINUM extended warranty will cover it…
I’m being quoted over $4000 for the USED motor that will have more miles on it than my current engine, which has less than 60K miles on it….