There is no uniform standard for oil change interval. In fact, how much oil should be changed is almost a century's topic. Because it's really diverse. It is said that mineral oil should be replaced every 5,000 kg or half a year, and semi-synthetic 7,500 kg or 9 months, totaling 10000 kg or once a year. Some people say that it is less than 10000 miles in the United States, which translates to 16000 kilometers. Therefore, this is the 4S shop and automobile factory in China deliberately teasing you to change it earlier. Of course, my friend who just drove 3000 kilometers got a call from the 4S shop and asked me to change the oil.
There are too many similar statements, and I think everyone may have their own standards. Maybe you are listening to a friend. Maybe I saw it on the internet. Besides, maybe this is what you want. I admit that people are lazy, including myself. When someone tells me the answer directly, I don't want to think about how the answer is derived. After all, it is right. I have my own ideas about the oil change cycle.
Why change the oil regularly? The oil is changed regularly because its various properties are attenuated in use, and finally it can't meet the needs of the engine. But this attenuation is a gradual process, not that it is still very large at 9999 km, but that it is not at 10000 km. There is no clear boundary, so the oil change cycle is incorrect. If there is no serious obsessive-compulsive disorder, there is no need to really decide our oil change cycle. It should be determined by the decay rate of oil performance.
So, how fast does oil decay? There are two main influencing factors, one is the use environment and the other is the quality of oil products. Let's talk about the use environment first. Some people say that Americans have a long oil change cycle, which is one-sided. The correct statement is that Americans with good car environment should have a longer oil change cycle. You should know that there are many middle-class people living in the suburbs in the United States. If their car owners drive on the expressway, the environment of their cars is very good, so their oil attenuation rate is very slow and the oil change cycle can be longer. Most car owners in China use cars in urban areas, and most of them are idling in traffic jams. When idling, the mileage does not increase, but the engine is also rotating and the oil is decaying, so the oil change cycle is relatively short. So, don't ask whether the wind is rain. When you discuss the oil change interval with others, first make sure whether your car environment is the same.
The factors affecting oil quality are also mentioned. According to the most popular saying in the workshop, the quality of engine oil is divided into mineral, semi-synthetic and full-synthetic, so the oil change cycle is also changed according to this classification. This seems reasonable, but in the previous video, this classification method is not strict, and it is a sales strategy printed on the packaging of oil manufacturers. If you don't believe me, you can go to the official flagship store of Castrol or Schell yourself. Surprisingly, you will notice that all those are gone. Instead, it is all kinds of synthetic oil and synthetic technical oil. Synthetic technology is a new term, which sounds good, but it is actually the original mineral oil and semi-synthetic oil. Since the classification method is changing with each passing day, how reliable do you think it is to distinguish the oil change cycle on this basis?
When changing the oil, please follow the instructions and maintenance manual. At this point, some people may be confused. The environment of the car is not clear. The quality of oil is also unclear. So, how much oil do you want to change? In fact, you just have to follow one principle. This is the time it takes to change car manufacturers. So we need two authoritative reference books. One is the vehicle manual. One is the vehicle maintenance manual. Those are all from car manufacturers. First of all, please make sure that the oil you use meets the certification standards in the manual. Because the cycle written in the maintenance manual is the correct oil you use by default. Then open the maintenance manual and follow the oil change interval. For example, my car uses the oil certified by Volkswagen VW50200 standard according to the requirements of the manual, and then the maintenance manual says that the oil should be changed every 1000 km or 1 year. I basically obey. It is done in this cycle.
Please don't pay too much attention to the influence of vehicle environment on oil change interval. This cycle of the maintenance manual takes into account the car environment suitable for most people in China, so as long as there is no traffic jam on the road and no high-speed driving every day, the maintenance cycle can be shortened or extended appropriately. The adjustment varies from person to person, and there is no problem within plus or minus 30%. Moreover, there is enough margin in this cycle. White is not the upper limit, but the lower limit of the period. Many people will be particularly nervous if they don't maintain their cars for more than a few kilometers for various reasons, which is actually unnecessary.