What's more important when it comes to an oil change - time since the last one or distance traveled?

For those of us who drive our car's minimally, do you stick w/ doing oil changes every 3 months (even if you've only driven a few hundred miles)?

What's the rule of thumb on this? When I had my Prelude, I did it based on miles - so I might not be doing an oil change for 6 or 8 months. I heard this wasn't a problem, and then I've had people say I shouldn't do that.

What do you think?

~Kim~

 

Kim, I will still change the oil every 3 months. You don't do any harm to the engine by changing the oil every three months, even though you don't drive 1,000 a month. Remember by changing the oil every three month, you will have new clean oil in your engine. How much does an oil change cost? $25! The oil change cost is peanuts, but you will have your engine running clean. In other words JUST DO IT.


Chris C.

 

Hey Chris!
Thanks for the response! I got pretty lazy w/ the Prelude, but I want to stay on top of this w/ the S. Actually, I'm not worried about the cost of an oil change, I plan on doing it myself b/c I don't trust anyone!

On a different note, I know there are lots of schools of thought on when to change to synthetic oil. 10,000 mi?

 

I use synthetic so i change my oil every 5,000 miles...

 

But what if you don't drive 5,000 miles for a year or so? Do you wait that long? Also, isn't a benefit of synthetic oil the fact that it's less resistant to break-down? Wouldn't that mean you could wait a longer time period than when you use just plain oil?

~Kim~

 

I use synthetic oil too. But I change mine every 3,000 miles no matter what.


Chris C.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SC-SUZUKA
[B]Kim, I will still change the oil every 3 months. You don't do any harm to the engine by changing the oil every three months, even though you don't drive

 

Ya, synthetic has been known to last up to 10-15,000 miles, although i would NEVER go that long!

My car is my daily driver so I just change it every 4-5 months.

 

I would change the oil, but not bother with the filter until you've driven the 3000 miles.

 

I do it by miles. I don't drive my car hard, so I don't find a need to change it every single three months. Sometimes I don't make 3500 miles in 3 months, it could take me 2 months more. Who knows? I say it's all how you drive the car, and just make sure to check the oil every so often to insure that it isn't running low. Oh and especially since your car is new.. make sure to check it ALOT more often cause it likes to guzzle some oil. As always this is just my opinion, and what my daddy taught me. OH and NO i don't have my dad do my oil change, I actually take it to the dealer and i still have regular oil in it.