changing oil

do i really need to get my oil changed every 3K miles on a brand new car? my last car i was able to change it every 7K. im taking a road trip tomorrow and my "service" light is on because it at my next 3K, but do i really need to get it done before tomorrow?

Re: changing oil

my dad is a mechanic and has been for over 20 years. He changes the oil in my car (2003 chevy) every 5K miles and I drive a LOT (over 20K miles per year) He uses synthetic oil though, which he says has a higher burn temp.

The only thing I would be concerned with is that you said it's a brand new car. If it's still under warranty and you don't get it changed every 3K will the warranty be void if something happens with the engine and it's oil related ?

IMO......

If not - my suggestion would be to check the oil - make sure it's not low. If it's not synthetic, touch it to see if there's any grit/dirt in it, and smell it to see if it smells burnt. If either of those are true I personally would change it. If it's full, and both of those aren't true, I would maybe get an extra quart to bring with me and check it again before the road trip back. If it is synthetic and it's dirty when you wipe the dip stick, then maybe get it changed too.

Have a safe trip !!

Re: changing oil

Read the manual. It should be in the back near the maintenance section. We thought we had to change the oil every 3k as well. After reading the manual, we saw it was every 6k (or something like that!) and we started going by that.

Re: changing oil

thanks for the info