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My Subaru used to be in a similar situation as your Neon, in so far as all it saw was short trip driving and the engine never really got warm. I changed my oil every 3 months during that time, even though I was running a full synthetic. I’d also make it a point to, at least once a week, go out and drive around on some back roads for a couple of hours, just to let the engine get up to operating temperature and boil the moisture that forms inside the engine out. Granted, with gas being as pricey as it is now, going for a 2 hour cruise is going to be expensive, but it’s still cheaper than a new engine.
As far as additives goes, some of them are good, some of them are snake oil, but beyond anecdotal evidence, I don’t have anything to say either for or against the majority of them. I do know that running a quart of Lucas synthetic oil stabilizer in my wife’s old Saturn helped with it’s oil consumption issue, but I don’t have any scientific proof that it did anything helpful. I don’t have any scientific proof that it damaged anything either, so take from that as you will.
My recommendation would be for you to use a fully synthetic oil in your replacement engine, since from what I’ve read it can handle the short trip driving better than conventional oils. As for viscosity, stick with the recommended 5w30. I run Pennzoil Ultra-clean 5w30 full synthetic in both of my Subarus, and it seems to stay clean between oil changes. I use a 5000 mile interval between oil changes, but I drive a lot farther than I used to.
I always go with what the oil fill cap says. And look for API on the oil container. Change every 3,000 miles. If the oil fill cap was changed out, and did not say, I would look in the owners manual.
Because I change every 3,000 miles, I just buy the cheapest oil I can find that says API. If I was racing, I would used nicer oil.
Go with OEM oil filter if you can.
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