QOTD: Where Do You Change Your Oil?

We, along with Quaker State, gave away some oil this month.

That got me thinking about something -- not what oil you use (that might be a future QOTD), but where you get it changed.

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Hammer Time: What's In Your Oil?

Two hundred thousand miles.

It’s a beautiful moment for many a car owner.

As for me? Well, I admit that I cheated when I saw that number flash by in my wife’s car back in March. Like many an enthusiast, I had bought it used and was planning on keeping her daily driver for the long haul.

The question for me was, “How long would the long haul be?” Since I buy, fix and sell a lot of vehicles, and have deeply imbibed the fluids of wisdom at the Bob Is The Oil Guy web site, I decided to live my life on the wild side.

I performed an oil analysis.

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The Oil Change: Who, What, When, Where, Why… And… Huh?

Oil changes.

Should they be done every 3000 miles? 5000 miles? 10,000 miles?

Or should you pay a premium and go for that ultra-long marathon of 15,000 miles with the right oil and filter combination?

Those of us who drive our cars for quite a while are usually focused on mileage above all else. But what about those vehicles that we rarely drive?

Should the Sunday drivers and infrequent haulers of rubbish be given the same regimen?

What about using time as a yardstick instead? 6 months… 1 year… 2 years?

Everyone thinks the answer is different. But for most vehicles, it’s the same.

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  • Eliyahu Toyota has looked at the state of the world and decided that hybrids are the best fit for currently achieving environmental and regulatory goals. Their hybrid production is now across many of their models. Honda is following suit. They will both likely also produce some electric vehicles. The best path forward is likely higher fuel taxes, with some tax credit offsets for the lower tax brackets. This would encourage a move toward more fuel efficient vehicles. The US big 3 auto makers are the ones with the most to lose here-they are the late adapters-coasting on trucks.
  • 28-Cars-Later Used Teslas are getting very cheap, but buying one can be risky - Ars Technica Teslas are very connected cars, and many of their convenience features are accessed via smartphone apps. But that requires that Tesla's database shows you as the car's owner, and there are plenty of reports online that transferring ownership from Hertz can take time.Unfortunately, this also leaves the car stuck in Chill driving mode (which restricts power, acceleration, and top speed) and places some car settings outside of the new owner's level of access. You also won't be able to use Tesla Superchargers while the car still shows up as belonging to Hertz. Based on forum reports, contacting Tesla directly is the way to resolve this, but it can take several days to process; longer if there's a paperwork mismatch.Once you've transferred ownership to Tesla's satisfaction, it's time to do a software reset on the car to remove the fleet version.So apparently the state maintains title but so does Tesla in a way, and they cripple some features until they feel satisfied in unlocking them to you. How long till they brick it by satellite because, reasons? But yes, rah! rah! BEV! - its not a tool of tyranny at all, honest. Edit: Comment from the Ars forum: Happy MediumArs Tribunus Militum 19y When I got to the section that stated that THE CAR WILL BE FUNCTIONALLY CRIPPLED unless you get Tesla's acceptance of you buying the car, I got incredibly infuriated. How in the hell is this going to work going forwards? Is Tesla literally going to be approving every single resale of its cars from now until the car is totaled? Jeezus, connected is one thing, but having final ownership authority in the hands of the manufacturer and not the seller/purchaser seems horrible. 28's thoughts to Happy Medium.
  • Tane94 Subie has a cult-like devotion to its products, so it can do no wrong by being a late adopter in offering EVs. Mazda has rebranded itself from zoom zoom to affordable near luxury, with success. Toyota is most vulnerable to losing sales from not having EVs. The hybrid early adopters who made Prius their high-visibility flag bearer now have to look to another brand for a distinctive EV to righteously show themselves off.
  • Jrhurren The EV haters would keep complaining until prices hit $0, at which point they would proceed to complain some more.
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Remember the Mitsubishi Pajero? 😆