What's the longest you've ever been without an oil change mileage wise? And make/ model/ year for reference

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EmberPaintArt@reddit

20,000 miles on a 2019 Chevy Equinox. But I did check the oil often and topped it up occasionally, which probably prevented any damage. You can go pretty long without an oil change, as long as the car has enough oil in it. It's when you go long and the oil level is dropping and the engine goes dry that it becomes a real problem.

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Agharinagh@reddit

About 30k toyota corolla 1.6. 300k on the clock sold it to an idiot who get stoped with no insurance and they craped the thing. It would do another 2-300k no problem 🙂 in my current daily work truck every 6-8k i need that thing to run good. With 400k on the clock is deserving every one of it. 😌

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unwilling_viewer@reddit

A neighbour did about 100000km between oil changes. Car was at ~150000 when he stopped _all_ servicing. He didn't actually do another oil change. Just took it straight to the scrap yard. Failed Haldex/discs and pads all round/corroded brake lines/pretty much all suspension parts/holed exhaust/losing coolant/clutch/failed AC... You get the idea. Volvo XC70 diesel manual from about 2010.

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Adventurous-Onion801@reddit

A car with 150k km shouldn't have a completely fucked haldex and suspension. There's Volvo "quality" for you.

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unwilling_viewer@reddit

250000. It was immaculate at 150k. Just did another 100k without touching it.

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Adventurous-Onion801@reddit

Eh. Still probably pretty low for the suspension to be completely fucked, but better.

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unwilling_viewer@reddit

Bushes and shocks were shagged, at least two springs had gone. People who leave a car for 100000 without servicing do *not* look after them. It was also used for towing quite a lot.

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IchiroZ@reddit

Over 50k miles. Not my car but a box truck from work. Told and reminded the manager many times about oil changes and other maintenance (brakes, wipers, tire rotation, fluid changes, etc) work needed. None were done. Eventually quit that job before the truck got another oil change.

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Aggravating_Bag8666@reddit

~10k miles in my 12 mazda 3. Was many years ago now, engine still runs like a clock at 175k

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michalfabik@reddit

Slightly over 21,000 km IIRC. 2004 Citroën C5 1.6 HDi. The service interval is 20,000.

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Little-Helper@reddit

1.6 HDI is a dirty engine, should be getting oil changes 10k tops, 8k is the most optimal.

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michalfabik@reddit

I changed the oil the same time every year which was usually after 15-20K km. I never had an engine issue, it was still going strong at 300,000 km. (Then I sold it for unrelated reasons.) I don't know, maybe it could have lasted a million km but it will only last 500,000 due to my long oil change intervals? I don't think many people expect a car to last that long (or something else breaks sooner) but you do have a point that if it helped the car last longer, maybe someone wouldn't have to buy a new car because they could keep driving this one. *shrug*

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Little-Helper@reddit

It sounds like you've been driving long distances, and with yearly oil changes you've done the car good. I believe 500k is the upper limit for the engine, can't ask for more from this little motor. The engine itself isn't bad, it's the components around it that are troublesome, EGR, air doser, PCV, turbo feed system, poor oil ruins them causing issues downstream.

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twopacktuesday@reddit

I had a 1996 Nissan 200SX SE 1.6 (GA16) that leaked oil so bad that I didn’t change the oil properly, pretty much ever. Every 50k miles or so I’d put 2 quarts in to “flush” it, as most of the oil would leak out within 40 miles. I had it from 130k miles to 326k miles and it still ran fine after I sold it. Nissan doesn’t make em like they did then.

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SaltyAppointment@reddit

4500 miles WRX STI

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B5_S4@reddit

My current daily is just short of 300k miles and the shortest interval I've done is 9600 miles. Every change I send off a sample and they've never told me to reduce my interval. I'm running 14.5k miles before my next change.

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GronkIII@reddit

No more than 5000 miles. 2007 Honda Accord K24.

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2878sailnumber4889@reddit

Got my first car for $900 bucks, it was as old as I was and had been several people's first car before it was mine, it had heaps of dents, I didn't expect it to last long, 4 years and nearly 100,000km later it was still going strong so I got it serviced. Only to have it stolen a few months later. 1985 Subaru Leone.

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Another_Slut_Dragon@reddit

I had a customer with a Honda Accord make it 80,000km until the engine shit the bed. Then she sat in the service department SCREAMING that no one told her cars needed oil changes. The service department of course being full of giant signs talking about cars oil change intervals. The service manager also discussed the mail she received for a free oil change and showed her the service intervals in the manual in her glove box.

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HondaForever84@reddit

Which engine?

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Another_Slut_Dragon@reddit

It was around a '98 accord 4 cyl so I guess the 2.3 but I don't remember if it was a vtec model.

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Beard_Hero@reddit

Not me personally, but I did an oil change on my father's truck for him. Asked when was the last time the oil was changed and he said "I don't know, look at the oil change sticker." Which was several years old and 30,000 miles previous. Just 10w-30 conventional oil or what not. So I put a quality synthetic in there. Come to find out, I spurred the old man into action and 4,000 miles later he changed the oil back to cheap 10-30 conventional even though the stuff I put in didn't need changed for 12k-15k miles. Money well spent. haha. 2002 Nissan Frontier with the 4-cyl KA24DE engine. Still running to this day, surprisingly.

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skullfrucker@reddit

I used to lease a fleet of Dodge Ares K cars in the mid 80s. I owned a private rent a car agency. We never ever changed the oil. Just topped it off when they were returned. Most of them reached or exceeded 100,000 miles without issues. I would turn them back to Dodge and do it all over again every 4 years. I wouldn't do this with my own vehicles but that's how it worked in the old days. That 2.2 L engine was bullet proof and got great mpg for the times.

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Swamp_Donkey_7@reddit

10K miles on a Leased Benz with a 9 quart oil pan.

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Uxoandy@reddit

I had an old 2000 Jeep Cherokee that we bought, and during the time we had it, I started making significantly more money and wanted a newer truck. My wife said I should drive the Jeep until it dies, and then I could buy a new truck. That son of a bitch would not die. I never gave it a tune-up . I even quit changing the oil. It became personal. I was driving it like a rental. Jumping it, and shit. And I’m talking about a year-and-a-half. Finally, she said, “Just go buy your truck.” I did, and the Jeep sat for maybe a year. A neighbor came by and asked if I would sell it . I put the key in and started right up. 250k miles. No smoke or rattling. My new truck is long gone, but the neighbor still drives that jeep

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ThePurch@reddit

My Golf TDI used to go 20k km between changes, with Blackstone Lab reports confirming I could have gone longer.

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_eg0_@reddit

Those TDI can easily do their 30k km with a proper driving profile.

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ThePurch@reddit

Yup. Mine were highly modified, dyno’d at double the stock HP/Torque and regularly pushed hard so I felt 20k was enough. I often miss those cars, but don’t miss the German engineered obsolescence that came along with them.

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gotcha640@reddit

40k km, company diesel focus. I would call and ask for a service appointment, guy was busy/on vacation/replaced. Occasionally I would get an appointment and he wouldn't show. When I went to turn the car in a year later, it had to be serviced before turning in. Approximately 1/2 a pint of very black oil came out. Also the air filter was hideous. This was in a desert working in a chemical plant. If I had realised it was never going to be done, I'd at least have pulled the air filter and tapped the sand out of it.

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Gatesy840@reddit

22,000km Vw golf 1.4. Wife didn't tell me it was due

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NothingLift@reddit

10k kms no matter how much of a shitbox it was 15k kms on new cars in warranty period where thats the manufacturer interval

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OrdinarySecret1@reddit

Mitsubishi Outlander 2018. About 10,000 miles. Not happy about it, but I was broke as fuck and never had time to go get it done.

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Psilonaughty@reddit

my 99 corolla went a good 50,000km inbetween

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NinjaBilly55@reddit

I thought I was the only one.. I had a Ford pickup that had 410,000 miles on it before it went to the scrapyard..

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XOM_CVX@reddit

I've seen 35,000 miles on a Chevy Blazer before the engine seized up.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit

1995 lincoln town car i went 8,000 miles without changing the oil. It burned it though so over the course of that time I added probably 3 quarts

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No-Stranger2657@reddit

I had a 06 Mustang that went like 12k without one

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BitOfAZeldaFan3@reddit

2010 Mini Cooper S. Longest I've gone is about 8000 miles, purely because I waited until an even 105,000 miles so I could do oil changes every 5k on an easy to remember schedule. Before that I was doing them fairly randomly anywhere from 3000 to 7000 based on vibes and guesses.

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Potential_Stomach_10@reddit

1994 Toyota Camry. 25,000 and it had 175k on the clock

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EatThe10percent@reddit

I used to drive a lot and had a Prius (a few) and never changed the oil before 10k, usually 15k - had all of them well over 200k when I got rid of them and never had issues. Engine miles is not the same as tire miles on those though.

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ingannilo@reddit

My 2014 Mazda 3 called for 10k. Naively I trusted that, and I'm reality I treated it like the 3k guideline from my dad for cars we owned in the past, in the sense that sometimes I'd do it a bit early and sometimes when money is tight or time is short, I'd let it go a bit longer. Longest I think was 12k. So, yeah that engine blew up at 140k. Developed a rod knock around 130k that I convinced myself was loud lifter tick, hoped the next oil change would heal it. Changed oil. Engine jettisoned rod. I deeply regret not changing oil every 5k. I loved that car and it was by far the nicest and newest car I've ever had. It was worth more the year it died than I paid for it seven years before. Alas.

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jules083@reddit

Bought a 2002 Nissan Sentra off a coworker for $400. Pulled the drain plug and about 2 quarts of what looked like black coffee came out. Asked him at work the next day about it. He said he had the car for like 4 or 5 years and never changed it once, just added oil when he remembered to check it.

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Binford6100User@reddit

Got an '84 Cutlass Supreme on trade with some BMW seats. Didn't want the car, but got the seats I wanted if I took the car. I tried my damndest to kill that car. Drove it into snow banks, hour long interstate runs at 70mph in 1st gear. Everything damn thing. Part of that was completely ignoring the fluids. Beat the pants off the car for 2.5yrs and about 40k miles without even so much as checking the oil, much less changing it. Sold it for $500 to a friend that needed a break. He drove it for another 2yrs without touching it either.

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run_uz@reddit

Followed the BMW 15,525mi interval on the dash once. Changed the filter at 7500mi. Went back to 7500 intervals after that

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Ironic_Papaya@reddit

When I was a teenager went 80k without an oil change on an 08 Sentra. Started burning oil and blew the engine not long after.

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Concrete_Grapes@reddit

27k miles. The bus I was driving, the shop (corporate owned) put in the dumb fucking idea that they would change it every 3 months, regardless of miles. They did that assuming a fleet average of 65 miles a day. I drove. 263 miles a day, minimum, often up to 294. Daily. Uh, on a personal vehicle, 22k miles on my car. Leaks worse than a flour sifter as a jello bowl. Changes its own oil for free every 1500 miles. A decade ago I bought a used Kia, with 130k miles on it. They had never changed the oil. I'm not kidding. Original oil filter, oil drain plug pristine, literally still painted to the pan. Original (and broke pulling it off) timing belt too. How that thing survived, idk. It had no oil in it. I added two quarts, and it STILL had nothing on the dipstick.

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Accomplished-Fix-831@reddit

2010 Suzuki alto SZ4... got it an oil change is 2018 and then went to university and my family kept using it without an oil change it was sold as for parts or repairs in November 2024 having never had an oil change since i last did it about 30,000 miles ago... it was MOT'ed failed then had most of the suspension and engine mounts replaced then pasted MOT... Tho it was an underpowered not usually abused engine with huge safety tolerances... i still wouldnt wanna look inside the engine so see what state it was in... Repairs would of cost more than the car itself if sold which is why it was sold as for parts or repairs

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_eg0_@reddit

My 2016 B9 Audi A4 with the 3.0 engine got 30,000km oil change intervals. They were dont pretty much spot on. 6 times before I sold it. It wasn't a beater. It was a good car for good times and well taken care off.

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Khman76@reddit

My wife's car for nearly 3 years and 20k...She forgot about maintenance when I wasn't there often and she was driving her car nearly everyday - short trip less 10km. Schedule is every 10k... Anyway, the engine blew a spark plug 2 years later...

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Bulky_Dingo_4706@reddit

Ah, women. Driving cars without realizing what maintenance is.

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Far-Fun5775@reddit

My Tesla Model S went 6 years / 93,000 miles without an oil change before I sold it...

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Dans77b@reddit

I had a Civic that went for about a decade without an oil change, probably close to 100k miles. I bought it off my mum for £250, so wasn't really worth the effort. I think it may have had one oil change early on in that decade, but I think my dad had the wrong oil filter, so it was oil only, same filter. It never smoked or burned much oil, but ended up dying of unrelated causes.

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thepumpkinking92@reddit

That depends. Car with a good engine? About 6000 miles was my worst. I'm usually very consistent with maintenance at 5000 miles. My wife just didn't inform me that it was due. Then I had a car that burned through a quart of oil every month or so. Figured that was getting enough fresh oil with every top off that it didn't matter much. Don't think I ever changed the oil in that thing. Ran just fine until there was a huge mechanical issue. (That mechanical issue being an 18 wheeler side swiping me, ripping the rear axle from the frame. Which i found to be a pretty big problem. Engine was fine, though. Drove it up on the flatbed at a fun \ \ angle.)

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Tiny-Fisherman4747@reddit

30k miles. I paid $1200 for 1997 Jetta 2.0 I was using it for food delivery. I put ~60k miles on it total before I parked it somewhere and bought a new car. Every bearing, joint and staft was in need of replacement by that point. Engine was fine though, besides a vacuum leak that created an occasional misfire.

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Jacksonriverboy@reddit

My first car, a VW Polo, probably went about 40,000km without an oil change. None of the diesels I've owned subsequently went beyond their service schedule.

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TheWhogg@reddit

11,000km. And then the guy that bought it drove it home at 200km/h for about 22 hours. Almost certainly I’ve never let a car go this long before but the oil was as new.

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CanoegunGoeff@reddit

My 258,000 mile 1998 Toyota RAV4 that I drive nearly 100 miles a day, uh, well, it *does* have oil in it. It’s overdue by uhhhhh … idk, I’ll change the oil soon I guess. It’s a Toyota. It’s fine.

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Affectionate-Act6127@reddit

I ran my Corolla for 12-15k, about once a year for 4 years. That was with Kirkland 0w20. No issues.

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Cryatos1@reddit

12,000 miles. 1981 Porsche 928, it was rated for 15,000 mile change intervals from new. After all, it does hold 10 Qts of oil lol. Oil wasn't burnt or sludgy at all, just darkish like normal used oil.

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