3,000 Miles service interval

[Richard]

Case in point; 1986 Mazda 626 owned by me for 7 years. Bought the car with 68,000 miles on it. The original owner changed the oil religiosly every 2,500 miles at the dealership. I drove the car until it had 237,000 miles on it, when I bought a new car and sold it to a co-worker. The car was totaled around 250-260,000 miles, but the engine was pulled out and put in another 626 with like miles on it. The salvage yard called me to ask if the odometer was right, because when they pulled the valve cover to inspect the engine before installing it, they said it had virtually NO sings of wear on the cams. They thought maybe the engine had been replaced, and were amazed that it was 100% original. Engine oil is your car's lifeblood, if allowed to stay in too long, it clogs up the passages and heats the internal parts up. I am sold on changing my oil every 2,500 to 3,000 miles!

[Gary J. Naples]

Hi Richard,

I couldn't agree with you more.

When I worked for dealerships, two important things I stressed to customers were:

Regular maintenance with oil and oil filter changed every 3000 miles. When we tracked customers that did, their total maintenance costs were lower than those that didn't.

Establish a repore with a reputable service center in my case the dealership so they get to know you and your vehicle, and you get to know the service providers.

Gary J. Naples