Oil Change

[Balthane]

Hello folks,

I have a 2oo2 IS 200 and would like some advice about oil changes having the mechanical knowledge of a trout.

The car has done 58k and I only do 5-6k miles per year. I have the car serviced annually in October and checked for the winter and at this service the oil is changed. Should I change the oil more often than once a year and if not are there any benefits to doing it anyway?

In view of the car's age, low trade in value and low mileage I plan to run it until it falls to bits as I hope it will last for some years. Any thoughts/comments on this?

Thank you

[noby76]

5W-30 100% fully synthetic oils should last 12months or 10,000 miles...but if you drive hard every day or use your for track days then 5,000miles should be ideal. but for normall stop start driving or motorway driving every 12months or 10,000 miles is fine but best to keep an eye on the oil level occasionally and top up if necessary.

[fjcfarrar]

I had a little Fiat that I used to thrash unmercifully, and when it got old and tired I decided to see what woulfd happen if I never did anything to it except replacing actually broken parts, no oil changes (and no parts broke), no servicing. 200000 miles later the body rotted off the engine which remained perfectly healthy. Although that is extreme and not recommended, it is fair to say that for the lightly stressed IS 200 engine, changing your oil yearly will be fine using the standard types of oil which will not break down with 12Months & 5000 miles. Fully synthetic oils have lower viscosity & better lubrication properties and could give you marginally better fuel consumption - but if your oil-pump is worn could also lead to problems because synthetics are "thinner" and some oil-pumps not originally designed for synthetic oils can struggle to provide adequate pressure and circulating oil-volume.

[Balthane]

Thank you very much for your help. Much appreciated. :)