Car not driven much: change oil only once a year?

[hungt1999]

My Corolla 1996 is not driven much since the last 2 years because my wife stays home with our young kids and does less than 5000 or 6000 km per year to do local grocery errands mostly.

Can I change the oil only once per year in that case or change it at least twice a year?

[TI-CAVA]

i think twice a year is the best option, remember that short trips are worse than long trips to the engine... use synthetic oil

[Rip The E Brake]

Originally Posted by TI-CAVA

i think twice a year is the best option, remember that short trips are worse than long trips to the engine... use synthetic oil

Only if the miles are relatively low, under 130k.... anything after that, a switch can cause more harm then good.

You should change it as directed... every 3k or every 3 months. The longer oil sits, the longer it will draw gunk and built up crap in the engine into the oil and allow it to circulate to other places, and oil can go rancid if it sits long enough.

[cipher93]

My car was typically changed twice a year when we only put around 5k a year on it. this mainly due to condensation that can build up in oil over short trips and repeated/heating cooling it goes through over the year. While the oil can go 5k KM, I would say it could probably only go 5 months in comparison.

[Bitter]

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ start sending them samples, they'll tell you how long.

[hungt1999]

I will change it at least every 6 months then even if within 6 months, the car is driven only maybe 2000-3000 km. Since I am doing it myself, no big deal, just 10 minutes and less than $20

I was asking because I was thinking changing at 2000km is a waste, I never thought about condensation.

[speedy25]

Originally Posted by Rip The E Brake

The longer oil sits, the longer it will draw gunk and built up crap in the engine into the oil and allow it to circulate to other places, and oil can go rancid if it sits long enough.

Hahahahaha! Thats a HILARIOUS description!

-SP

[PhatRoyale]

[Bitter]

by that reasoning i should be able to clean my engines by just letting fresh oil sit in them for about a year! wow.

[CJCride]

Originally Posted by speedy25

Hahahahaha! Thats a HILARIOUS description!

-SP

Thanks I sensed that, yet I just woke up, so scrolled by it.