Is it absolutely necessary to have an oil change for your car every 3000 miles?

No...depending on your type of driving. Generally the manufacturers warranty suggests something entirely different. Ford for example goes with a 5000 mile interval while GM has 2 schedules...one for a mountainous city driver and the other for a flat more rural driver. The 3000 mi rule of thumb was originated years ago when oil quality was not as good. Use your own judgement as to what fits you best...i would say if you drive your vehicle frequently then use somewhere in between 3000-7500 depending on your type of driving.Is it absolutely necessary to have an oil change for your car every 3000 miles?
it depends on how dirty your oil is when it reaches the 3000 mark.Is it absolutely necessary to have an oil change for your car every 3000 miles?
There was just a report on ABC or NBC about this. Oil companies came up with the 3000mile change time. I used to be a mechanic for a rental company and we changed the oil at 5000 miles for rental vehicles and 10000 miles for delivery vehicles. 200 hours for heavy equipment, which far exceeds the 3000mile area. Oil is WAY better than it was even 10 years ago.
Its not absolutely necessary, but remember that if you keep up on the maintenance then the car will last longer and run better trouble free down the road. However you have to change it sometime as you will run the risk of blowing your motor
Proper maintenence makes sense.


The oil changed every 3k ensures your doing all you can to take care of it.


Oil breaks down with use and as well,condensation enters the crankcase ...


so YES in answer to your question.


PLus ,keep receipts to show its been done regularly,showing date,and mileage,just in case a warranty issure comes up.


assuming the car is under warranty.


If you dont maintain it properly,per manufacturers recommendations and an issue arises with an engine failure due to lack of maintenence,the warranty on that part will be void.
No it is not. Most modern automotive lubricants don't breakdown as fast as they did in decades past.





3000 miles is way too soon. I go about 6000 but rarely over 7500.





It also depends on the type of driving you're doing and the car. If you have a work truck that is under constant heavy loads I'd change it more often. Same with a high performance engine.





The oil companies came up with that arbitrary number so they could sell more product. Just like the shampoo companies that say ';lather, rinse, repeat';. They only want you to ';repeat'; so you use twice as much shampoo.
it depends on your driving habits, if you do a lot of ';stop and go'; driving, in other words you take the car for short trips on a daily basis then the recommended is 3000 miles, however if you do a lot of highway driving then 7000 miles is fine.
easy answer is NO!! unless you are ragging it.


Also depends on the vehicle that you have and the size of the oil sump, You must 'top up' your oil when you find it is low and this will help, check at regular intervals!!! ie after long journeys and as it states in the highway code every time you want to make a journey.





look in the user guide book that came with the car and that will give you the information, if the hand book is not available do waht i do and phone a garage ( proper one ) and they will help
you can let it go some but not much. its more of an estemate.
My Corsa should do 20000mls or 1 yr between services.Not many people do that sort of mileage in a small car in a year. I do about 12000 annually ,so tend to change oil after about 16 months or 15-16000mls. Runs as smooth as new.The oil companies just want to sell you more oil.My previous car , a Rover Metro was treated in a similar way for 9yrs. Sold it with 98600mls on clock, engine gave me 49.6mpg and never burnt any oil. Body got a bit scruffy ,but met new owner 2yrs later.He had done another 16000mls and was still happy with it.
PK:





It is not necessary with the new oils that we have now. But it is a very good idea to change at 3000 miles. I had a 07 Cobalt that said change oil at 50000 yeah 50000 miles. Only a fool would wait that long.





By the way if you have Wal~Mart do it have the oil plug checked for being tight after you leave. Also use only the oil recommended by the manufacturer. It should be 5w30 or so.


By the way again stay away from synthetic oils


once you use them they say not to go back to


reg oils.
Just check your oil often, and make sure it looks good. I'm convinced that the 3000 mile rule is basically made up my oil companies and mechanics to f**k us out of our money.