I thought UOA pretty much showed that 10k miles was okay? Of course if you drive the car pretty hard 5k might be better... :thumbsup:
I may be old school (been working in and around cars for about 18 years) but I STILL say the 10k swap is A) based on the assumption that most people don't keep their cars that long and B) some sort of "save the world" environmentalism to reduce the used oil in the world (but we 'recycle' it don't we? LOL)
Is there any HARM in doing it every 10k? Nothing immediate, but it will shorten the life. dirty oil causes more wear, wear reduces engine performance and life. While synthetic oil stands up to abuse better, that does not change the accumulation of particles from internal engine parts and dirt slipping past the air filter. Heck, in Japan they don't EVER change the oil in cars for 30-40k miles. They just pull them after that and sell them over here cheap. it's not about a sudden explosion, it's about wanting your car to go 150k plus or pass 250k with ease and minimal issues.
As to the first oil change, an engine develops a decent amount of particles as the new parts wear into each other. You do NOT want that stuff to hang out in the filter and maybe slip through and cause damage.
And seriously, an oil change on our cars is $60 (if you do it yourself), you just paid $30k for a car, is $60 REALLY too much to protect it?
