Oil Change

[jwrsxts]

If a car is hardly ever driven and is garaged. Like a show car for example and driven less than a 1000 miles a year, how often is an oil change requires?

[sneek]

This belongs in Off topic as it has nothing to do with detailing

but if it was my show car I would get it done at least once a year

[gb387]

I agree, once a year. The oil is far from "used up" but its a good idea to do it.

[GMZ]

What kind of oil are you using? If you use synthetic you should be fine with once a year. I just switched to Amsoil and they claim that their oil is good for 25k miles or one year with a filter change inbetween @ 12.5K. I dont go that far though.

[steveo3002]

yeah still do it once a year...oil is alot cheaper than a new engine

[miked2]

We had a garage queen BMW Z3 that saw service maybe 2K miles a year, only in the summer. I had the oil and filter changed once a year, in the fall, prior to "storage" (not true storage, but it just wasn't driven). At the very least, I would do it every other year. The oil itself isn't going to go bad, probably, but it's good insurance, and in any case, oil filters *do* break down. Most are some sort of paper-type material. I recall that BMW had problems when they first went with "by computer" recommendation to change the oil (i.e., change the oil when the computer tells you to, usually 10-15K miles). For low-mileage cars, they had problems that after 3-4-5 years, the filters were literally falling apart, and bits of filter were getting into the engine, causing engine failures and huge warranty costs.

Other good ideas:

1) If a car isn't going to be driven for a few months, inflate the tires 10% more past what you normally do (but still within the max PSI on the tire sidewall) -- this will prevent flat spots from developing.

2) A battery tenderer is a great option to ensure that the battery doesn't get run down. We had one that just plugged into the cigarette lighter. It wasn't a battery charger -- that is, it couldn't charge a dead battery -- but a battery maintainer.

3) Make sure you still follow recommendations for brake fluid and coolant, etc., changes. These fluids degrade over time regardless of the miles driven. Air filter you can get away with going by the mileage recommendations, since if the car's not being driven, no air is going through the filter. I'd still replace it once every five years or so.

4) Some people recommend using a fuel stabilizer like Sta-bil to ensure that the fuel doesn't break down. If the car's not going to be driven over a season, I think that this may be a little bit of overkill, but it can't hurt. Definitely try to store it with a full tank, though.

[jwrsxts]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, especially Miked2, for his break down of what can go bad even when the car is not being used.