Very Low Annual Mileage and Oil Change Intervals

[bjstick]

I apologize in advance if this is a dumb question, but I seem to get different answers depending on who I ask. When I initially purchased my deadstock 2015 Golf TDI in 2017, I was putting about 10,000 miles a year on my car and thus my first 3 services were roughly 12 months apart. Since late 2019, however, my driving has decreased substantially due to working remotely. I had my 30,000 service in August of 2020 and my car now only has 33,600 miles on it. Should I proactively do an oil change even though I'm nowhere near 40,000 miles? I don't want to spend money needlessly, but I also don't want to cause an easily preventable catastrophic failure.

I suppose the same question would apply to all other items that are mileage based such as DSG fluid, timing belt, etc.

Thanks in advance!

 

[oilhammer]

I own a lot of cars, and the wife and I cannot possibly pile enough miles on all of them to warrant that they would all pass the mileage vs. time. So I just stick with mileage as my only criteria. Even if it is a couple years (which, some of them are). But I do not do much short trips in them, either, although the Ford pickups often do get shorter trips just to be sure they get driven some but I feel they can take it (older, gassers, 5k mile service interval).

The car will set the service reminder off based on time regardless. It cannot tell if it has racked up 3k miles in one year in a couple big chunks or 30 little ones. So you have to use your best judgement. Short trips are worse. Sitting in the garage a lot, then going on long trips is not really as bad.

So long as it gets driven out the highway once in a while (I know, difficult in Maine!) it should probably be fine going however long of a time it takes you to cover a specific distance. I would, for your own sanity and ease of keeping track, stick with something that at least is based on the mileage. Maybe 5k miles for an engine oil change, and general lookover, (which might be a couple years for you) instead of 10k, but just keep the other stuff at the normal interval. Use your best judgement.

 

[bjstick]

I own a lot of cars, and the wife and I cannot possibly pile enough miles on all of them to warrant that they would all pass the mileage vs. time. So I just stick with mileage as my only criteria. Even if it is a couple years (which, some of them are). But I do not do much short trips in them, either, although the Ford pickups often do get shorter trips just to be sure they get driven some but I feel they can take it (older, gassers, 5k mile service interval).

The car will set the service reminder off based on time regardless. It cannot tell if it has racked up 3k miles in one year in a couple big chunks or 30 little ones. So you have to use your best judgement. Short trips are worse. Sitting in the garage a lot, then going on long trips is not really as bad.

So long as it gets driven out the highway once in a while (I know, difficult in Maine!) it should probably be fine going however long of a time it takes you to cover a specific distance. I would, for your own sanity and ease of keeping track, stick with something that at least is based on the mileage. Maybe 5k miles for an engine oil change, and general lookover, (which might be a couple years for you) instead of 10k, but just keep the other stuff at the normal interval. Use your best judgement.

Thanks for the reply! The car is garaged and *most* of the trips are longer trips for work that are on the highway. The trips are sporadic, however, and during this past winter there was a period of over 2 months where I didn't even start my car once. I ended up needing to jump it and it has been fine since. We use my wife's car for just about everything family related at this point and that one will be at about 26,000 miles after 4 years of ownership this fall.

 

[Nuje]

We're in a similar situation with my wife's Audi A3 e-tron (8kW-Hr battery + 1.4L TSI). We live in a relatively small town (e.g., Costco is *way* on the other side of town, and it's 6km away) where all of our in-town trips can be done all-electric. So, in the course of a year where that car might be driven 6000km....at least 80% of that is electric. So - the engine *might* see 1000km in a year.

Seems a waste to do a $80 oil change on oil that's only seen 1000km when the spec is 15000km. If/when the engine does kick in, we're sure to take it out for a romp and let it heat up so that it doesn't sit with a bunch of condensation in the works.

Gotta think that I should be able to stretch it out for 2-3years without hurting anything.

 

[ticaf]

Synthetic oil can stay in engine for years and be good.
The enemy is water/condensation you get from short trips when engine oil temperature doesn't reach 100degree C ( or close to that).

Another thing to consider is the oil filter degradation over time. Maybe somebody can chime in on that

 

[bigb]

I own too many vehicles to put enough miles on them as well. Like Oilhammer I have a couple that are garaged and when brought out it is usually for long highway trips, which burns off any moisture. I also send in a sample now and then using a dipstick pump to draw out a small amount. Now the TDI and the Infiniti get used for all the short trips and city driving but I try and make a good long highway drive every so often. If you are going to store it, don't make the mistake many do and start the engine for 15 or 20 minutes without going anywhere, you are not doing it any favors by doing that. The environment also has a lot to do with it and living in the desert gives me a huge advantage. If you live where it's cold and damp, every time you heat that engine up and cool it down condensation will run down the inside of the block and settle in the bottom of the pan where it can't evaporate, a good long highway run is the only way to burn off that accumulation.