Good maintenance or throwing money away - oil changes?

B0bbyEwing

Superb. That seems pretty unanimous then. I'll knock out the winter change & leave it as a summer job then. 

I was thinking with the low miles I do it was best but if its not really going to make a difference then that's fine. 

The petrol used to do even less. About 4 miles of 30mph zones & then back but my wife has changed her job which means she can walk to work & only now uses the car for either the gym, the weekend shop or if she has to go somewhere out of the blue which isn't often. 

We're debating moving to just one car but for now I switch between both for work which gives the petrol a run out (& is slightly more economical than my diesel). If my wife doesn't need hers in the morning then I'll take it but if she does then I'll use the diesel. 

400ixl

For that mileage per year with modern engine component tolerances and assuming your vehicle takes fully synthetic oils it is probably overkill and an annual 7k oil change is sufficient.

Herzlos

If you're only doing 4 miles a week in the petrol car, then you'll be much better dropping to a single car (likely the petrol) and pay for a taxi on the rare occasions you both need a car.

By the time you factor in tax, servicing, mot, insurance, depreciation etc the per mile cost must be incredible.

molerat

In the old days of mineral oils then likely not a bad idea but nowadays with synthetics a bit of an overkill.  

B0bbyEwing

Herzlos said:

If you're only doing 4 miles a week in the petrol car, then you'll be much better dropping to a single car (likely the petrol) and pay for a taxi on the rare occasions you both need a car.

By the time you factor in tax, servicing, mot, insurance, depreciation etc the per mile cost must be incredible.

It's something we were thinking about.

The tax is £200 something per year
Insurance for her I forget, £200, £250 maybe. Call that £500 for the pair.

It's fairly reliable so maintenance isn't too bad on it (or hasn't been too bad). MOTs obviously cost something. Fuel is not much of a factor because I'm just juicing a car. I'm either covering 20 miles in the petrol or diesel but it's the same 20 miles that'll be getting done.

So £500-£700 say per year. The car is already paid for.

It becomes more of a question when the car dies & it becomes - do we replace it or not because then you have to buy a new car.

I say new car, people here will be thinking £10k-£20k and beyond. I should really say another car because I'm thinking £2k-£3k tops.

Mr.Generous

The trouble with very low mileage is the oil doesn't get hot enough to evaporate condensation from the motor, and the water ends up mixing with the oil. When the water/coolant is hot the oil is still nowhere near hot enough to do its job properly. I'd suggest at least once a week doing a 10 mile plus journey and working the engine to get it hot if you want to reduce the oil changes. Doing your own oil changes you probably do a few bits and bobs mechanics wouldn't - a spot of oil or grease where you see it needed etc. For the cost of it I'd stick at it. Nothing prolongs engine life like oil and filter changes. I do a few more miles and some longer trips so I'm a once a year man - I buy a few 5ltrs of oil at a time online, filters etc from Carparts4less or Eurocarparts - a typical service will be less than £50.

B0bbyEwing

B0bbyEwing said:

If i gym on a work day then typically after the 3 mile it'll then be around 10-11 mile, approx. half of which is motorway & the other half 50mph zones.

No gym but work would be 10 mile to work, maybe 3 mile 30mph with the remainder 50mph ....... then same back.

Mr.Generous said:

The trouble with very low mileage is the oil doesn't get hot enough to evaporate condensation from the motor, and the water ends up mixing with the oil. When the water/coolant is hot the oil is still nowhere near hot enough to do its job properly. I'd suggest at least once a week doing a 10 mile plus journey 

Not wanting to come across rude but that's where I stopped reading.

For the record though I work 6 days a week if that helps.

And just checked it out. From the gym to work is 13 mile, 2 more than my approx. of 11.