How often do you change your oil?

[Alan Mendelson]

When I got my first car (the late 1960s) the rule was that you changed your motor oil every three thousand miles. But we didn't drive much back then, did we? There were no 60-mile daily commutes. And oil prices were low considering that the price of a gallon of gas was under 30-cents.

I remember when Mobil 1 synthetic oil first hit the market in the early 1980s and we were all excited about going 7500 miles between oil changes.

Today oil change recommendations are all over the map. The window sticker that my shop puts on my car says 3,000 miles but my car manufacturer suggests 6-8,000 miles.

I know that consumers don't rush to pay for an oil change when it costs $40 or more to fill the gas tank.

So how often do you change your oil and what recommendation do you follow?

[Lucky(St)Louis]

Hey Alan.............I drive an older Honda for day to day purposes (after ditching my V-8 F-150) and I change the oil after I top it off twice. That means about every 6 months with about 4k miles driven.

Maybe you read the same recent article as I, but Edmunds.com says that car manufacturers recommended an average of 7,800 miles between oil changes for 2010 models.

[Rob.Singer]

Oil change "recommendations" are supplied by the same industry that makes money when cars are sold. Here's another instance, like trying to discover the most logical & profitable way to play video poker, where using the far mightier computer attached to your neck, will make all the sensible difference in the world.

Throughout the years I've almost always driven new to nearly new cars and I kept them nearly new by taking ultimate care of them. YOU CHANGE YOUR OIL ONCE A YEAR, REGARDLESS WHAT KIND OF CAR OR TRUCK IT IS OR WHAT TYPE OIL YOU USE. Time, not mileage, wears down the proctective properties of oil.

I have a 2009 Corvette ZR1 stored in Casa Grande, Az. waiting patiently for my 4 yr. old grandson to turn 21. In 2009 my wife & I took it on a 10,000 mile drive around the country during the summer for 5 weeks. I still did not change the oil until 12 months had passed and there was no issue even beginning to appear. Do you think a car guy like me would put a $120,000 638hp supercar at risk over oil?

I have always changed the oil in my cars & motorcycles one time only each year.