Big News: No Need to Change Your Oil Every 3,000 Miles

Much of life consists of routine: get your teeth cleaned every six months, go for an annual physical at the doctors', get your car's oil changed every 3,000 miles. These are what we do. The New York Times recently had an article asserting that there is no need to change a car's oil every 3,000 miles. It asserted that changes in car engine and oil technology meant that most cars of recent vintage could go 7,500-10,000 miles between oil changes. We can see several themes in the history of technology in this. One is that while we often concentrate on big changes in technology, often there are smaller ones, like the aforementioned changes in oil and engine technology that can be significant as well. Another point the article made is that now, due to environmental concerns, California has run campaigns urging drivers not to get their oil changed every 3,000 miles. Some people say that doing so only increases the waste oil that needs to be recycled or reprocessed. I sometimes think of technology as a game where the rules are always changing.