98 Corolla - Mother Waited 8k Miles To Change Oil

Toyota used to recommend 7500 miles between oil changes. With one span of

8K, I don't think there's that much to worry about, esp with a synthetic.

Change the oil and have her change it every 4-5K.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it - doubt if she's done any damage. IIRC, for the 2 Corollas (one of which was a '98) I had before my present one, the manual suggested oil/filter changes every 7 - 7,500 miles anyway. That, plus where she's been driving - not on dirt roads, for ex. - I'd be surprised if it's created a problem.

Cathy

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Just guessing: if the car has been driven gently, then I doubt it has been damaging the oil too badly, so 8 kilomiles may equate to a much shorter distance with your average driver. And: the car's mileage was 45K, by when surely most rough spots should have been smoothed off, reducing metal dust production, AFAIK another cause of oil contamination. (Whistling past the graveyard? Hope not.)

Great, thanks to both of you!

I followed the maintance schedule for my 1988 Supra and have had no problems (don't burn oil) in what 19 years now...

Oil & filter every 10,000 miles

If it makes you feel any better, BMW recommends 15K oil changes when using mobil -1 I think it's too long, but 8K is definitely not a bad thing. Also depends on the driving. If it gets fully warmed up frequently there is nothing to worry about. I'd even stick to 8K changes then.

8k isnt bad at all. honda was recommending 7500 mile changes for the civic, using regular oil. id only be kinda worried if she went 15k without a change...

I wouldn't worry because back in the 1980s, when oil was a lot worse than it is now, Toyota's recommendation was every 10,000 miles.

According to the 1996 Consumer Reports test of motor oils in NYC taxicabs, 6,000 miles was fine, and even that oil is considered worse than the current stuff.

I know of someone who never changed oil the whole time he owned the vehicle.

Let me guess: he totalled it while driving it off the lot? :-)

Years ago a friend had a friend who worked at a local garage and he told me this story (i.e. this is a third hand story, so beware). Supposedly a girl came into the shop with a Mazda GLC (4 cylinder push rod engine) that was making some ominous tapping noises. Step one was to remove the valve cover. When they pulled it off, there was literally so much gunk built up in the engine's overhead that the gunk was molded into the shape of the inside contours of the valve cover. You couldn't even see the rocker arms for the gunk. The car had somewhere around 75,000 miles. The mechanic asked the girl if she had ever changed the oil. She responded along the lines of - "Do I need to do that? I added oil sometimes."

Ed

There was a girl near where we worked who's car wouldn't start. We used to go out for an 'afternoon constitutional', so she asked us to look at it. My friend was checking air, etc, and I thought maybe she didn't have any oil in it. I pulled the dipstick and oil was almost all the way to the top! Since I often carry a tool kit, we drained about 4 quarts of oil from the car to make it normal level!!!

We asked her who changed her oil and got THAT much oil in it, and she said "When I go to the gas station, I fill the tank and have them put a quart of oil in...!

You're worried about damage at only 8K miles? As long as the oil level wasn't low, an 8K oil change is not going to cause any damage. The non-severe service interval is 7500 miles for the 1998 Corolla. As long as some of the trips are long enough for the engine to reach operating temperature, so the water in the oil will vaporize, don't worry. If you want to be very cautious, stick to a 5000 mile interval with regular oil, or 7500 mile interval with synthetic.

Cheer's Hachi Roku!

own, or lease ;)