My last car was driven like this and lasted 24 years. It was bought used at 9 years old with 130,000 on the ODO, then it was driven like this for its last 13 years with zero problems. I expect this car to last me until I can no longer drive (I'm 55).A fair amount of good advice has been given in this thread, enough to where a reasonable person could draw the conclusion that short drives are hard on an engine. But this goes against the way you want to use your vehicle, so I think the best advice for you is to just do what you want. Since you bought a brand-new vehicle to drive such low miles, there's no reason to believe you won't do so again. In 5 or 10 years, you can just replace it with something else, and any problems that have started due to the history of the vehicle will become someone else's problem.
You guys convinced me to not go more than 18 mos. between oil changes (I was going to go longer), you also convinced me to drive a bit more (which means visiting my crazy family more - thanks! )Well okay, point being is that it doesn't matter in the OP's case. It is somewhat tiresome to have something that is fairly common knowledge to car guys get called into question over and over again, though.
Yes, so the whole oil change thing is a moot point, realistically. You could use something like the Lubricheck Oil Tester to possibly further minimize the environmental impact of excessive oil changes, that might be an acceptable compromise between ignoring the oil and possibly changing it excessively.My last car was driven like this and lasted 24 years. It was bought used at 9 years old with 130,000 on the ODO, then it was driven like this for its last 13 years with zero problems. I expect this car to last me until I can no longer drive (I'm 55).
Yes, thank you. The whole reason for this thread was because of the newness of this car. The old gal before her went much longer than 18mos between changes with apparently no ill effects, but starting out with a new car meant new thinking toward preservation.Yes, so the whole oil change thing is a moot point, realistically. You could use something like the Lubricheck Oil Tester to possibly further minimize the environmental impact of excessive oil changes, that might be an acceptable compromise between ignoring the oil and possibly changing it excessively.
My car gets up to maximum heat (a little below the center mark on the gauge) in less than a quarter mile. Wouldn't the rest of my three mile trip be enough for stuff to burn off? Does low mileage driving cause extra buildup or less?
How much are used Volts in your area? I've put almost exactly the same amount of electric-only miles on my Volt in the past week than you have entirely on that car. You seem far more fit for a car like this than even myself. Surely the trade-in or resale is still pretty high with that low of miles.I really wish that I could afford one or else I would as the thought of not having to perform that level of maintenance really appeals to me.
It came with "Toyota synthetic oil", and I plan on using Mobil1.BMW sets the interval to 10k miles or 2 years on my 3 series. 2 years seems reasonable for synthetic.
The only way to know for sure, but it seems like overkill in my situation.The best way to do or to stop wondering is send your oil to black stone oil analysis. Then you will have a better idea when to change your oil.
The only way to know for sure, but it seems like overkill in my situation.
The Sienna engine is very efficient, just look at the tailpipe, seeing Siennas passing by, I can see clean inside tailpipe.
Pulling out the dipstick on a 2004 to 2018 the oil will look clean, even after 10,000 miles.
These engines NEVER wear out, they don't contaminate the oil, they don't burn much oil and will only die if you lose radiator water or the idiot forgot to put oil in the engine.
With most synthetic oils, you will burn more because the oil viscosity is a lot lower. The only reason for synthetic oil is for fuel economy. Seen inside of 100k engine, and they look perfect.
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Not true at all. Only doing it once, only tells you what that one particular oil fill is doing in that one particular season, driving habit, state of repair, and age of vehicle.It is not overkill in my opinion. You only have to do this once and the cost is 28$
I was reading about 'stale gas' and plug-in hybrids. The Prius recommends adding 5.3 gallons/yr. to keep it fresh. I put in about 16 gal./twice a year so I'm fine.The oil isnt an issue.. you can run a year and not have an issue without a change of oil.. the oil does oxidize, so technically you'd want to replace it, but since its synth oil, you will be fine.
The gasoline on the other hand.. that is a bigger issue. You better be using stabil or something to keep teh gas fresh and keep the tank full.. the gasoline will oxidize, and when you run, its going to run like crap .. just be aware..
I use Syn-Power (Valvoline).Mobil 1 is running a rebate on the oil purchase.
Advance auto has the Mobil 1 Full Synthetic Oil & Mobil 1 Filter for $29.99
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/o/oil-change-specials
https://mobiloil.com/en/promotion/mobil-promotions/17-off-motor-oil-march-may-2018