Yep. Also, many cars have "maintenance minders" for oil changes. These are essentially multiple regressions of various engine parameters against oil analyses (done by the manufacturer) to determine when the oil needs to be changed. One can also send an actual oil sample off to a lab for an oil analysis to try to better define when the oil needs to be changed plus information on the general health of the engine. Blackstone Labs is a popular choice. Basically the big things to look at are TBN (ability of the oil to neutralize the byproducts of combustion) and viscosity. Typically, I change the oil myself when it gets to about 30% of oil life remaining on the maintenance minder.
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Originally Posted by Bill14564
And yet... for newer vehicles 10K or 365 days is the recommendation. I followed that recommendation for my previous vehicles which I traded in at 160K-200K miles. (16-20 oil changes).
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