Oil 5000 miles +

[Loren]

You have a good mechanic. Germans "get it". While Americans are still clinging to the "change your oil every 3,000 miles" that the oil companies have been feeding us for many, many decades and are hesitant to even go to 5k, the German car makers are going 10, 12, even 15k miles between oil changes.

Doing what is required to maintain your warranty is good, but once your warranty is up, recognize that even 5,000 miles is very conservative with a modern engine using modern oils. Even with conventional oil, I wouldn't hesitate to go to 7 or 8k, maybe even 10k. With good synthetic oil, 15k without question.

My Yaris warranty isn't anywhere near expired, and I've already decided that I'm going with a 15k interval. I'm about half way through it right now and my Mobil 1 looks just like it did when I poured it in. I figure if it's good enough to be the factory interval for the Brazilian-made engine in my wife's MINI Cooper, it's good enough for my Toyota.