I agree with all this. But why 3000 miles? What is the magic of that number? Going with the logic of your post, why not change it every 1000 miles? Or 500?
Because someone at some point (with the engine and oil technology that was current at that time) decided 3000 was the “right” number. And that was at least 20 years ago because I have been driving for that long and it was 3000 when I got my first car. So we’ve held to this 3000 number over a 20 year period even though technology surrounding engines, oil, manufacturing, materials, quality control, etc have all advanced significantly.
So no, I have no beef with anyone changing their oil more regularly than the oil life monitor and the scheduled maintenance schedule suggest. But the main benefit of holding to that likely outdated standard of care is probably just peace of mind and not much else. But there is a LOT of value to peace of mind, that’s why I have life insurance.
(important disclaimer: I am not an engineer, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night)
I don't think I ever mentioned 3000 Miles. I was only saying that on a brand new engine or a rebuilt one I would do it before 1500 or 2000. After that 3000 is actually too early. You're correct the 3000 came into play a little over twenty years ago. But it is actually a scam! The industry has convinced the American people to change the oil every 3 months or 3000 Miles simply because Jiffy Lube and the likes of the Quick Change Oil places wanted to build an Empire which they did. There were those things on almost every corner and multiple ones in every city. Now a lot of it has died off and they have disappeared down to probably less than half of what they used to be or maybe even 25%.
At no time that engines actually need their oil changed every 3000 Miles however one benefit was the older cars tend to use or leak more oil and for people who are too lazy to pull the stick and check it or add to it having it done every 3 months could save some engines.
We have been spoiled by engines since the late 80s with not using or leaking oil. We can go an entire 3 to 3500 miles and not be over a quart low on the stick. Some use hardly any in that length of time. In the old days this didn't happen. In the old days you would blow up your engine or at least turn a corner and have the oil light flicker on it cuz you were down to very minimal amount of oil. But remember Society changed. And these old days you had full service gas stations that check and topped off your oil for free and then later on they started charging it for it but they still did it.
Garages used to fix cars and happened to do an oil change while you were there. People did still take their cars in to get their services but it was nothing like the massive industry created by the Quick Change Oil places
The 3-month 3000 Miles was just to keep them making more business and allow me to build more stores.
We must remember that during these exact same times all of the manufacturers were saying to change the oil every 7500 miles or 5000 miles. Very few manufacturers recommended 3000.
So the magic number was probably just what they figured the people would believe.
I will give them some credit as there might have been some thought put into it about what I said earlier about how long it takes for the car to get down to a level that it's starting to get a little dangerous. Had they have said 5 months 5000 miles I would have been more into a danger level than 3000.
So maybe there was a little bit of logic behind it but mostly it was let's make it as short as possible so we can make more money by changing oil more often.
The dealers and smaller garages didn't really want you to come in any more than you had to for oil changes and Lube is because they didn't really like doing them and they didn't make that much money. It's almost a lost leader for some of the shops. That's why they would run their 9.95 oil change specials. They did it at Cost or just slightly above cost so I can get you in there to pick out everything else your car needed to get your future business.
