VeeshanVault

Alright, so I was watching TV the other day when I saw a commercial about Mobil's new oil that they have out. Three types. One that lasts 5,000 miles, one that lasts 7,500 miles, and one that lasts 15,000 miles.

Normally this would not catch my eye, but I am in need of an oil change. I tend to put it off more in the winter because I do not enjoy changing my oil in the snow. I am about 1000ish miles over what I should be due to multiple trips to New York last month.

What I am wondering is if anyone has any experience with these type of oils. Are they worth it? I assume I will still have to change my oil filter every so often, since the oil is only as clean as the filter can make it, but that is a non issue. But are these talking about highway miles?

The 15,000 mile oil seems to be a pretty big stretch. I do not know if I would want to keep it in there that long. However I travel a lot and it would be nice to not have to worry about it during the spring/summer months.

Thanks for your input!

Edit: Finished an incomplete sentence.

The only reason to change your oil isn't just because it loses it's viscosity. Putting new, CLEAN oil in is probably the biggest reason to change your oil so often...

if you drive highway miles you only need to change your regular oil every 5,000 anyway. i've driven company cars and 5,000 was what the manufacturer requred anyway to maintain the warrenty. they tell you 3,000 to get you in more often. i'm going to check it out myself though since i comute and 90% of the mileage on my car is highway.

The 15,000 variety is probably a very expensive synthetic. One quart of that probably costs as much as 5 quarts of regular stuff.

I use oil strained from cans of Tuna.

Additionally, it's likely that waiting 5,000 miles to change your oil will void your warranty. Change your oil a minimum of every 3k-5k no matter what your warranty or oil says. It can only help.

You may have a synthetic lubricant that doesn't break down, but acids, fine particles and other combustion by products still build up in it. Without special filtration they'll eat your engine even if the oil itself is fine. A special spin on filter wouldn't do it IMO, industrial engines generally have large oil purifiers attached to them and go long periods between changes. It's a lot more than a filter, they put additives in over time to reduce the acidity and such as well. And as others have said, it'll void your warranty.

I read a consumer reports article a while back that compared synthetics vs. regular oils in NYC taxis with 3k mile changes, at 100k they couldn't tell which was which during inspection.

Mobil One Synthetics have been around for a while, and are a pretty good product. And yes the purpose of Synthetic is to make an oil have consistent viscosity for longer. They do however cost more money.


This new 5k/7k/15k thing is just a lame marketing scheme though.


You said you don't like changing your oil in the winter because it's cold. For what you would pay for synthetic oil, you could just go to jiffy lube and pay someone to do it.

I used to have a friend who worked at jiffy lube. They made him a manager.

I would NEVER want that guy to work on my car.

We also recommend that drivers consult their owner’s manual while their vehicle is under warranty, and follow the guidelines set forth there.

That's from their site, so basicly, Mobil is saying that if your car is under warranty, then stay with what your manual says (3k or 5k etc).

Snake Oil is the common term used. I have always done my own maintanance on my vehicles and I can say that, without a doubt, I'm sure that 15k miles of the same oil will be detrimental to your engine. It may not happen now, but it will happen.

Search the web for viscosity breakdown of oils tests, there are a few public ones where the test is controlled enough to be reliable.

you will see, that after only 1000 miles, the oil loses a good portion (I think 30%) of its viscosity, then steadily loses more over the next 2000 miles (but at a much slower pace). That is where the "change your oil at 3k" comes from. At 3k miles, "most" oils have been broken down by heat, and gasoline and exhaust deposits that come from combustion engines, and just wear the oil out.

A 15k oil will have additives in it that are SOLIDS, albeit very fine ones, that act as a "friction inhibitor" (fancy term for lubricant). The amounts of these solids are regulated by the government, and that's how you conform to an SG or CL or whatever rating they have out now.

Racing oils do not have a rating, because they have too much of the solids in them. The solids are not bad for your car NOW, but they are bad for it LATER, when they build up in certain areas, and actually increase heat in the engine. I'll bet this oil has a large amount of what's called ZDDP (Zinc dialkyldithiophosphate). This solid breaks down at 90 degrees Celsius....

But hey, build your own conclusions. I don't think $20 every couple months is a big deal to guarantee my engine won't break down because of an oil issue.

I'm sure this stuff will work fine for a year at a time...as long as you are not planning on keeping the car forever, why the hell not?? You'll know soon enough anyways, and just keep an eye out for blue smoke out the exhaust, and the smell of burning oil coming from your car when you park it. check the dipstick often for color. If its runny and black, its thru, if its thicker (like new oil is) and brown, keep runnen'.

Use Amsoil...look it up and do the comparison. I use Amsoil...and for my Lambretta and Stella (2 Stroke 150 and 200cc) I use Amsoil Interceptor synth. The stuff cannot be beat.

Change your oil to remove contaniments....i.e...little bits of the moving parts of your motor that are suspended in it. That's what causes accelerated wear.

Mobile synthetic is teh win!

I would never EVER take my car to one of those quickie oil change places (Jiffy Lube etc). From what I've seen I wouldn't trust them to work on a bicycle.

Then again after a certain recent experience with Meineke I will never use them either.. fuckers! Conrad's forever!

The last chain store I had my oil changed at never drained the old oil completely and didn't add enough to replace what they did take out....Engine block went Thud.

Synthetic soundly beats out conventional oil in every category oil is judged on other than price. Flash point, pour point- you name it. If you can afford it, go synthetic.

Its a waste of money changing your oil every 3k miles period unless you do a shit ton of heavy towing. With synthetic oil 7500 miles between changes is a very safe number unless you have some very strenous driving habits. If your concerned 7500 is to long to go change it at 5k and take a sample to have analyised. You can get the bottle shipping and testing done for 21.95 from oillab.com that way you can have peace of mind that your not going to fuck you engine up by changing it every 5k or 7500 which ever you choose.

Denadeb wrote:Its a waste of money changing your oil every 3k miles period unless you do a shit ton of heavy towing. With synthetic oil 7500 miles between changes is a very safe number unless you have some very strenous driving habits. If your concerned 7500 is to long to go change it at 5k and take a sample to have analyised. You can get the bottle shipping and testing done for 21.95 from oillab.com that way you can have peace of mind that your not going to fuck you engine up by changing it every 5k or 7500 which ever you choose.

But, as has already been mentioned here, this will absolutely void any warranty you may have with the vehicle. The first things a dealer does is check your maintanance record- if they see 5k+ between oil changes they'll laugh you out of the building no matter what you brought it in for.

If the vehicle is out of warranty you have more play, but yes, that depends on your driving habits. (Keep in mind though that a lot of short trips can be just as harmful to engine oil as heavy towing.)

My service manual (1999 Nissan Altima) says for regular service, 7500 miles and for severe service (towing, offroad, short trips or taxi service), 3750 miles.

The "requirement" for 3000 mile oil changes is a myth propagated by lube shops.

Actually almost every car/truck now has 5k+ for the oil change. Hell Chevy doesn't even use a set milage they have an engine oil life system that tells you when to change it.

Really just need to look at your owners manual. My civic is a '98 and it requests 3k oil changes for heavy use or 3,750 for lighter use. My wife's civic is a '01 and Honda changed the engine when they remodeled the car that year. Her manual states to change it at 3,750 for heavy and 7,500 for light. The '03-'05 accord 4 cylinder says 5k and 10k while the v6 is 3,750 and 7,500. So it really depends on the car. The viscosity of my wife's oil is different than the one used in my car as well(her oil recommendation is more expensive than mine).

My use is pretty hard on my car but I would be in the shop every 2 months if I did it at 3k so I usually wait until about 3,500 to change it. 7 years and 123k flawless miles and it runs like new. So check your manual.

My toyota users manual recommends oil changes at 7500 miles

i change mine every 2 months if i havent hit 5k.
Oil changes are about the price of a tank of gas, so they arent exactly cost prohibitive.

consumer reports did some kind of study with oil changes on NY City tax cabs a few years ago and basically found that time between oil changes was more critical than the amount of miles. Also, the cabs were fine even changing the oil every 7500 miles.

So even if you only drive 1000 miles in 3 months, you should probably change the oil.

Denadeb wrote:Its a waste of money changing your oil every 3k miles period unless you do a shit ton of heavy towing. With synthetic oil 7500 miles between changes is a very safe number unless you have some very strenous driving habits. If your concerned 7500 is to long to go change it at 5k and take a sample to have analyised. You can get the bottle shipping and testing done for 21.95 from oillab.com that way you can have peace of mind that your not going to fuck you engine up by changing it every 5k or 7500 which ever you choose.

Unless you have a turbo, and drive the fuck out of it!!

Voronwë wrote:My toyota users manual recommends oil changes at 7500 miles

i change mine every 2 months if i havent hit 5k.
Oil changes are about the price of a tank of gas, so they arent exactly cost prohibitive.

consumer reports did some kind of study with oil changes on NY City tax cabs a few years ago and basically found that time between oil changes was more critical than the amount of miles. Also, the cabs were fine even changing the oil every 7500 miles.

So even if you only drive 1000 miles in 3 months, you should probably change the oil.

This is very true, and important to remember.

i have a friend who NEVER changes her oil. she knows it drives me insane enough that i will steal her car eventualy and do it for her anyway, so she never learns. otherwise she would honestly go without it until it locked up.