Oil change frequency on lightly driven car

[Ken]

Hey forum,

I wanted to ask about changing oil on a car that only averages about 250 miles a month, I use mobil1 full synthetic oil/filter and I was advised that it’s not a good idea to go too long without changing the oil (time wise), and that the oil breaks down simply from “sitting” in the engine, does not make much sense to me if the oil is rated for 7000+ miles, and I use a high capacity mobil1 filter.

Again, the car gets light use and is not raced, so is it okay if I wait a whole year (or more) to change my oil? The car is my moderately modified ’90 Integra LS (no Vtec).

Thanks for reading.

Topic

[college man]

The oil does not go bad from sitting. What is a concern is when a car sits and is not driven
we get condensation in the motor and other parts which causes rust. In your case at least
the car is driven and getting up to temp. The way you want the schedule should be fine.

[Alexander B]

I try to stick to either once a year, or whatever miles interval, whichever comes first.

My track car just gets an oil change at the beginning of season, it probably does 3k a year.
My daily driver every 12k (which is about twice a year..)

[James P Grosso]

What the others said. On my lightly used summer car only car (like 2000-3000 miles/year), usually just change the oil in the spring. I don’t know if I would trust changing it every 2-3 years because of the condensation issue, and really, it’s not a big expense. A tank of fuel costs more than me changing the oil.

[Author]

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