How long should I wait between oil changes?

What does your owner’s manual say?

Mileage is the most usual suspect.

I agree with @marinelife. I wouldn’t really trust asking only the dealership as they are there to make money

Newer cars, 4–7,000. Older cars, 3–4,000, or so I’ve heard. Or check your oil to see how dirty it is.

Also depends on the oil the car uses. Some use a full synthetic. Some don’t. Also depends on your driving habits too. Your manual will tell you. Today’s cars usually 5k-7500 though.

At least every three months or for mileage the guidelines are 5,000 to 7,500 miles for cars made in the last three years.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5210681_reset-oil-change-light-lexus.html. According to this, a red indicator comes on when it’s due, which makes sense. I have a ‘97 Park Avenue that has a oil change reset and it displays how much time is left on your current oil. So a Lexus should have that covered.

Great question! I have always followed the 3k guidelines, but, right now I am about 600 miles over, going in soon, but, I have also heard that the 3k thing is not true. That most cars can go well over.
This is the first time in forever that I have said ” screw it, an extra thousand miles won’t really matter.”

What confuses me is that even though I am about 500–600 miles over the sticker milage from my last oil change my gage display says I am still at 38% on the “oil life index”.
WTF!
Cars! haha

3k is probably a bit conservative. The dealers are hoping most people won’t want to mess with it, so it is more money for them to do more oil changes than is really necessary. Dealers are a big rip off. Maybe some dealers want to be able to sign off on an oil change to be a condition of some of these generous warranties.Or they will pressure new owners to let them do it.

Highly variable, even for cars of the same make/model due to driving conditions.

For instance, my ‘85 Corolla recommends every 3months/5K miles under severe conditions (which most people fall into) but I run into problems if I go much past half that. On the other hand, I have seen Dodge Darts go without oil changes for years.

@Coloma That is more an indication of the condition of your oil, and the 3K guideline is merely the minimum mileage you will go before you may have broken down your oil, at which point you should change it just in case. If your engine is in decent shape and you don’t drive like a fucktard then you should be able to go further.

@Blackberry If I went by that, I would be doing oil changes every 1½ weeks/500 miles at best! Trust me, after 26 years and 230K miles, my 4A-LC engine can make oil pretty damn black in a hurry.

Changing your engine’s oil every three thousand miles is not necessary. They just want your money, sooner. Your auto’s manual will advise you on oil change dates.

My 2000 Toyota Solara only requires an oil change every 7,000 miles, according to its manual.