Re: Oil changes

[Stephen Carlisle <scarl1847@xxxxxxx>]

My father sold Studebakers in Maine in the early 1950s and managed a dealership there.
He used to talk about watching that "golden oil" draining out of the cars every three
thousand miles.   I never knew him to change the oil on any car we ever owned.  He would
keep them for five years and then trade to a new car, which he would service the same
way.  We never had oil-related engine problems, but I wouldn't have wanted to be the
person who bought any car he had traded.

The Mercedes dealer who sold me my BMW told me that every 3000 is unnecessary, and to
use the lights. My old Toyota recommended every 7500, and I used to change it about
every 4,000.   This time, I think I will go by the lights.

The concept of changing one's oil every 3,000 miles is as American as apple pie.  It is
right up there with the right to bear arms and the necessity of buying a house, as
opposed to renting.  Most people do not question these precepts.







Ron Brown wrote:

I ask again.  Where does this 3,000 mile thing come from?  Why not
4,000?  Why not 2,000? Why not 5378? Im truly curious as to the
origins of this American-based 3,000 mile interval that seems to apply
to every car, in every condition.




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