Missing an oil change?


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Old 11-23-16, 09:37 AM
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Missing an oil change?

I have a 2011 Subaru Impreza; I gave it to my son as a college graduation present. Last oil change was at 29,000 miles in February. It now has 38,000 miles and is going in for an oil change Friday.
Schedule is every 7,500 miles, so it is 1,500 miles late.

How big a problem is that? Will there be a catastrophic failure in the near future, or will the engine just not last quite as long? Or something else? (It is now 5 years old, so it will probably never reach high mileage status)

My son was aware it was past due, but he was "busy". We had a long talk about responsibility; something he shouldn't need at 23.

I realize there is nothing I can do to fix this, but am wondering just how serious it is. Thanks.
 
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Old 11-23-16, 09:52 AM
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I would not worry anything at all about this. The few miles you are over almost normal for a lot of cars. I have seen cars 5 years old that have never had the oil changed.
 
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Old 11-23-16, 09:56 AM
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I let the oil monitor in my car tell me when it's time to change the oil and it ends up being 10-12K miles each time so 9,000 does sound any alarms to me.
 
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Old 11-23-16, 10:17 AM
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.... and the better the grade of oil you use the less of a concern it becomes. Continued long oil change intervals could gum up the internal parts of the engine but a one time event is nothing to worry about.
 
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Old 11-23-16, 10:39 AM
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If you are going back to the dealer I would not mention that it had been well past their recommended mileage, they will log it into their computer and should you have a claim in the future it WILL pop up. If asked just say your son had it changed at another garage while out of town and remove any mileage stickers that were put on the window when last changed.

I agree it should not make a difference and you should not expect a related failure as above advice has stated.

Bud
 
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Old 11-23-16, 01:59 PM
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I also agree that its not an issue, especially if you have always changed it at 7500 & especially if you use a good brand of oil.

Back in the 60's & 70's & prior, it was good practice to change oil every 3000. This is 2016 (or your car is a 2011). Both engines & motor oils are much better today than they were back 40 years ago. Oils hold up better & engines don't work as hard as they did 40 years ago.
With the technology we have today, products are just better. Back 40 - 50 years ago, if you could get 100,000 miles out of a car, it was usually covered by the local news paper. It was just a big deal. Now, if a car doesn't last 100,000 its a big deal. A couple of hundred thousand miles is expected out of engines today. I remember back in that time, the warranty on a new vehicle was 3 years or 3000 miles. Now its 5 years or 100,000 on some models.

I have 175,000 on my '07 Dodge Hemi, 1500 4X4 Off Road pickup truck. Most of the time it uses no oil between 5000 mile oil changes. Occasionally, it will be maybe a 1/2 quart low. I don't know that its ever been lower than that. I expect this engine will easily last 250,000 miles & I wouldn't be surprised if it went 350,000. Technology, engines & oils etc are just better today. Missing an oil change by 1500 miles one time wouldn't be something I'd worry about personally.

Based on the info you provided, it wouldn't cross my mind to worry.
 
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Old 11-23-16, 05:39 PM
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I appreciate everyone's reassurance.
 
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Old 11-23-16, 07:08 PM
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I hope your son checked the oil in that 9,000 mile period (mine would forget).

I'd be far more concerned about the oil being low after 9k rather than being old (neither is good)
 
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Old 11-24-16, 08:33 AM
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Is it still considered important to check oil?
I did it with my first couple cars, adding a little now and then, but after years of it all being fine, I quit. I haven't checked my oil in 25 years.

Comments?
 
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Old 11-24-16, 01:33 PM
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I'm speechless ..............
 
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Old 11-25-16, 03:05 AM
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You can get by with checking the oil less often if you know the vehicle but it's still a good idea to check it every so often. I've had old worn vehicles that I checked regularly and late model vehicles that I only check occasionally. First you need to know that your vehicle doesn't use oil and then you need to check it occasionally to verify that it hasn't started to use oil. Relying on the oil light to come on is flirting with disaster!
 
 

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