the book sez 15,000miles. every mechanic i've ever spoken to (in my entire life of all sorts of different cars) says 3,000miles.

i want to be safe, of course. but 1/3rd the oil life vs what the factory recommends is huge.

what gives?

 

Porsche uses full synthetic...and just like every other high end new car the oil change interval is AT LEAST 15K miles...some new cars are 20k miles....The 3000 mile interval was before full synthetic oil. Some still change it at 3000, some at 7500, some at 10,000, and most at 15,000....do what you want. I think Porsche knows what they are doing when they say 15,000 miles....

 

What gives is the good ol' american corporate rippoff. I was brought up in the UK and most cars quote a 12k interval there. I moved to California 13 years ago and I was simply amazed by how many people were taken in by the 3000 mile numbers given here. Just greedy oil changers / jiffy lube making numbers that the gullible public (and a bunch of mechanics) has taken on board.

Kind of like valentines day and diamond engagement rings, just a figment of some marketing dudes imagination.

 

I would stick to changing your oil every 3K miles if the vehicle specified it only! Oil changing places like Jiffy lube are pushing it because it equals more $$$. Funny how they justify it and most people bit. Personally I go by the color of my oil and once it starts to get cloudy...oil change is due. Majority of new cars are at least 5K oil change intervals, but oil places will continue to push every 3K.

 

exactly what he said.

 

recently someone posted here that porsche was about to revise its 15k recommended oci downward to 10k. anyone know if there is any truth to this?

 

+1. I usually go between 12-15k miles between changes......Mobil 1 of course.

 

Timing of oil changes has less to do with oil breakdown as it does with dirt in the oil. Almost immediately after an oil change, the oil begins to accumulate metals from wear, dirt from intake and other contaminants from the cleaning process. The more oil your engine burns, the dirtier you oil will become and the greater chance of sludge forming.

Dirty oil will do more engine damage than will a low quality, clean oil. Your oil filter does not stop all of these contaminants from circulating through your engine. Frequent oil changes are always better, especially for those engines driven in dusty areas such as farm country.

 

I second that .
Toyota just recently settled a class action lawsuit involving ~ 3 million of their cars , including Lexus due to sludge related engine failures .

How you treat your engine all depends on how long you plan to keep your car . Lol

I use Mobil 1 synthetic 0-W40 in my Porsche and change it ~ every 5 k miles (cheap insurance )
Here is what sludge looks like in a BMW engine .

 

Couldnt have said it better.If you have a K&N or EVO intake I wouldnt go beyond 5k

 

anyone that has any sort of high flow air filter should not follow the recommended (15k) interval.

 

that is a great point about the oil containing dirt and crap from the cleaning it does as it goes through your engine. But even with a CAI...dont you think 5K oil change is still excessive? If factory says 15K...and I would hope those Porsche engineers understand DIRT as well as OIL BREAK DOWN...and you live in "farm country" and have a CAI...I would even think HALF interval oil changes would be A LOT.

I think maybe 10K changes make sense...as a middle ground to be safe???

 

I don't have a calculator handy, but wouldn't "middle ground" be 7500 miles and NOT 10,000?

 

An alternative to guessing is to test the oil, and change it when it needs to be changed:
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/index.html

 

I was typing one thing and thinking something else...ugh...been a rough morning.

I may be the only Asian guy that is this bad at math....