How Often Should You Change Oil If You Drive Less?
2 Answers
For vehicles driven less frequently, change the engine oil every six months or 5,000 kilometers. Full synthetic oil can be changed annually. Below are the reasons for regular oil changes: 1. Engine oil contains various additives such as anti-oxidation/corrosion agents, anti-wear agents, and detergent dispersants. After the expiration date, these additives gradually lose effectiveness, significantly reducing the oil's performance. This makes it unable to handle the engine's high-load, high-speed extreme operations, accelerating vehicle wear. 2. The primary functions of engine oil are lubrication, cleaning, and heat dissipation. Oil deterioration has a specific timeline: "conventional" oil typically begins oxidizing after about 3 months of exposure to air ("semi-synthetic" around 6 months, "full synthetic" approximately 9 months). Reduced functionality fails to provide proper engine lubrication, cleaning, and cooling, potentially damaging automotive components.
I don't drive much, just on weekends each month, totaling less than 500 kilometers. At first, I thought I didn't need to change the engine oil as long as the mileage was under 10,000 km. But later, an experienced driver told me that this could harm the car. Even with low mileage, engine oil can deteriorate over time, accumulating moisture or oxidizing, which reduces its lubricating effectiveness and accelerates engine wear. If you go over a year without changing it, pistons and bearings can easily get damaged, and repairs would be much more expensive. Now, I stick to servicing every 6 months, no matter how many kilometers I've driven. I also check the oil myself—if the color darkens or the viscosity changes, I change it early. In short, even if the car isn't driven much, it still needs maintenance. Engine oil isn't permanent.