What is the longest you waited in between auto oil changes?

[dez1978]

We take cross country trips on a fairly regular basis. We drive 200+ miles one way to see family on an even more regular basis. If that's not as far as most people drive, I guess an electric car wouldn't work for them...

Serious question though. What type of roads are you traveling? Is it mostly country 2 lane roads, thru small towns? Or is it mainly interstate driving? And are you charging when you get to your families house or whatever? Because I think those things make a difference. We are the drive all night type people, where we drive 12 hours thru the night just stopping for gas and to use the restroom. We went to dollywood recently and it was a little over 900 miles each way. We stopped once for diesel on the way, and grabbed McD's while we were stopped, and 2 other times for bathroom breaks for the kids to run in to a rest area. So maybe 30 min total on the way there. How long would you be stopped to charge on a trip like that? Not being argumentative, I just don't know how long that would take.

ETA: you answered most of this while I was typing it lol

 

[dizneegirl]

It really depends on the charger you're using, and the battery technology. Most often, we stop for 2-30 minutes every 3 hours or so... we have enough time to get a drink/eat, use the bathroom, stretch our legs, and it's about time to go again. By the time we stop, we're usually ready for a break. If it's an older charger, it takes longer, and takes longer with DH's car than with my car. We used to drive all night, never stop. It's actually a nicer trip this way for us.

 

[BrianL]

I just go when my light comes on and tells me it's time, which is usually about 7000 miles. We have a truck that isn't really driven much and it has probably gone several years between oil changes at times.

Is that the "Oil Light" or some kind of maintenance reminder from the computer system? If it's the old-school oil lamp light, that is not a reminder to change your oil, it's a dire warning that oil pressure is extremely low and engine is about to die. You should have your oil changed well before that light comes on.

Now, my new car has all the digital bells and whistles and is all like, "It's time for your regular maintenance. Tap to make an appointent." It's crazy.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Is that the "Oil Light" or some kind of maintenance reminder from the computer system? If it's the old-school oil lamp light, that is not a reminder to change your oil, it's a dire warning that oil pressure is extremely low and engine is about to die. You should have your oil changed well before that light comes on.

No - it comes on when my "Oil Life" is at 15%. It's not the oil pressure light.

 

[dez1978]

It really depends on the charger you're using, and the battery technology. Most often, we stop for 2-30 minutes every 3 hours or so... we have enough time to get a drink/eat, use the bathroom, stretch our legs, and it's about time to go again. By the time we stop, we're usually ready for a break. If it's an older charger, it takes longer, and takes longer with DH's car than with my car. We used to drive all night, never stop. It's actually a nicer trip this way for us.

That's not too horrible. I really think if it wasn't for all my kids' sports crap, we could make it work at least for 1 vehicle. My husband would still want a diesel truck for towing the boat/camper, at least with whats available now as far as EV trucks. I don't think we'd make it to the lake with the boat even with the Rivian truck lol. He also hauls bobcats/excavators etc, and would be irritated to have to stop every 150 miles.

I was actually just talking to a lady about this recently. She's in her early 70's and one of her grandsons is an Olympic medal wrestler, and all of her grandsons/great grandchildren wrestle. My kids wrestle with her great grandkids so we go to a lot of the same places. She is very pro EV, and she actually bought one 2 years ago, but ended up trading it in less than a year later. She said it would have saved a ton of money in gas as much as she travels to go see the kids wrestle. But the inconvenience of trying to find a charger, and stopping to charge wasn't worth the hassle. She's a very young 70 whatever if that makes sense. So it wasn't like having to use an app or technology thing that was the hassle. Just having to plan it out ahead of time and go out of the way to get to one. She said she's been doing this (wrestling) for 50 years, and she thought at some point the tournaments would stop being in the middle of nowhere but apparently that was never gonna happen lol. My kids also play football. Those games are never that way. They always seem to be either relatively close, or at least in a 100 mile radius. I guess because you play teams in your conference/league. But youth wrestling isn't like that. You can go to any tournament you want, so our club looks for the better competition or better ran tournaments, so it could literally be anywhere.

My friend who does own an ev, they are planning a trip to Niagara falls next year, and she said they were renting a car so they didn't have to worry about charging lol. So I guess it just all comes down to preferences.

 

[BrianL]

No - it comes on when my "Oil Life" is at 15%. It's not the oil pressure light.

Okay good. It's just what we always claled "The Oil Light" is something you hoped to never see! And believe me, I've driven cars where I always had a few quarts in the trunk for those dreaded moments where Aladdin's cursed lamp is blinking at me.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I don't know how rural you live but I know I frequently visit middle Georgia, and I don't think you can get much more rural and isolated than middle Georgia. Often spending weeks at a time there visiting family. I drive right at 20,000 miles a year and my wife another 8,000. My cost for that is about $600 a year in electricity. If I drove those same 28000 miles at 25 MPG I would be looking at $4000+. I'll take that $3400 a year in savings and go on vacation.

Charging in middle Georgia was annoying but is now a breeze. The same for our trips to Panama City Beach. Trips there required lots of planning because there was NO DCFC but now there are several options.

Now that the Tesla Supercharger network has opened up to Ford EV I no longer feel the need to do any sort of trip planning for charging when taking a road trip anywhere in the southeast. Any further than that and I would just fly but people drive EV across the country every day. I know I am 50 miles or less at the vast majority of times from a compatible and working DCFC. The built in route planning or the route planning in Apple maps will take me to a charger if needed.

As for repair times and costs, they currently stink for virtually any newer car. There are so many sensors to support lane keeping, adaptive cruise control, parking, etc, that the slightest bump causes $10,000 or more in damage. Set off an airbag and the car is totaled no matter what energy is used to drive the wheels.

Cars are designed to sacrifice themselves to save the occupants.

There are hundreds of thousands of rural EV drivers who drive everyday. I see more and more in rural Georgia when visiting my family.

On the sports kids theme, my neighbors son plays travel lacrosse. One of the other parents on the team rents a Tesla for every sports road trip because he has found it cheaper to rent an EV and drive than drive his own Tahoe and pay for gas and wear and tear. So far he has driven from Georgia to Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. All as someone who does not own an EV and has not had any issues. Another parent saw his success and thought he would do the same. He rented a Chevy Bolt, as a non EV owner did no research about public charging, and ended up having to abandon the car part way and fly the rest of the way. So yeah, not for everyone.

As you said:


That is very true for many people and EV. Many people are not going to believe driving an EV is possible for their lifestyle until they see a friend or neighbor that has already switched and lives a similar lifestyle.

As for the diehard fullsize SUV in you, I have been working on convincing my wife that we should look at the KIA EV9. Dimensionally it is very similar to a regular Yukon but only has the option for 7 and not 8. All for very similar pricing but far cheaper operating costs in favor of the EV9.

Central Georgia has 4 interstates running through it.
75, 85, 20, and 16. You can get far more isolated than Central Georgia.

 

[kdonnel]

Central Georgia has 4 interstates running through it.
75, 85, 20, and 16. You can get far more isolated than Central Georgia.

Middle Georgia from my perspective is the area below 16 and east of 75.

It is the middle of the middle of nowhere.

McRae, Baxley area.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Middle Georgia from my perspective is the area below 16 and east of 75.

It is the middle of the middle of nowhere.

McRae, Baxley area.

It's about 1 hour from Baxley to interstate 16 and a supercharger. It may be rural. But it isn't isolated. And it's one thing when you're visiting. It's quite another when you have to drive around a truly isolated area well off the interstate for a long time.

 

[kdonnel]

It's about 1 hour from Baxley to interstate 16 and a supercharger. It may be rural. But it isn't isolated. And it's one thing when you're visiting. It's quite another when you have to drive around a truly isolated area well off the interstate for a long time.

That was my point. The area around Baxley for me used to be isolated and no DCFC options. Now there are options.

Check out PlugShare.com. You might be surprised to see how many DCFC have been put in well off the interstate.

As the stations come online from the NEVI funding what gaps remain will be closing.

Panama City Beach was an isolated place. I had to plan to stop in Chipley and charge enough to get to PCB, drive around, and return to Chipley. Now there are three options for DCFC in PCB. It is no longer isolated. Huge improvement in the last year.

 

[dez1978]

That was my point. The area around Baxley for me used to be isolated and no DCFC options. Now there are options.

Check out PlugShare.com. You might be surprised to see how many DCFC have been put in well off the interstate.

As the stations come online from the NEVI funding what gaps remain will be closing.

Panama City Beach was an isolated place. I had to plan to stop in Chipley and charge enough to get to PCB, drive around, and return to Chipley. Now there are three options for DCFC in PCB. It is no longer isolated. Huge improvement in the last year.

That’s a tourist destination, and it’s just now getting them in the last year. Imagine how long it will take to reach rural areas in the fly over states. It’ll happen one day I’m sure but it’s still a ways off here. I work at a hospital and we don’t have one here. Like I said, the state capital only has 4. Now if you stay on the interstate or go to one of the large cities on either side of the state, there are plenty.

 

[tvguy]

Everybody had a different experience but logically what would running clean oil through a dirty filter have for a benefit. On the other hand using a clean filter to filter dirty oil, might have some advantage. At least that was the thought back then from everyone that I knew, but I always change the filter when I drained the oil. It just always made more sense to me and a filter was not all that expensive. I bought my first new car in 1970. It was a Buick Skylark with a 350ci engine. ($3100 can you imagine that) I got that to go for 130,000 miles when most cars back then were retired at 80,000 miles at the most. It still ran great but the seven, heavy salt Vermont winters did the body and frame in.

No idea the thinking, but it was what the owners manual said.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Everybody had a different experience but logically what would running clean oil through a dirty filter have for a benefit. On the other hand using a clean filter to filter dirty oil, might have some advantage. At least that was the thought back then from everyone that I knew, but I always change the filter when I drained the oil. It just always made more sense to me and a filter was not all that expensive. I bought my first new car in 1970. It was a Buick Skylark with a 350ci engine. ($3100 can you imagine that) I got that to go for 130,000 miles when most cars back then were retired at 80,000 miles at the most. It still ran great but the seven, heavy salt Vermont winters did the body and frame in.

Even if oil did not attract dirt, it would still get old under use and need to be changed. And back then, oil needed to be changed more often than it does today. So Oil was needing a change more often than the filter. So you're not really running clean oil through a completely dirty filter. When the price of oil went way up, and the price of filters went down, it simply was then more economical to change the filter too. And even today when some people are playing 40-50 bucks for oil, a ten dollar filter is a negligible expense.

 

[goofyernmost]

Even if oil did not attract dirt, it would still get old under use and need to be changed. And back then, oil needed to be changed more often than it does today. So Oil was needing a change more often than the filter. So you're not really running clean oil through a completely dirty filter. When the price of oil went way up, and the price of filters went down, it simply was then more economical to change the filter too. And even today when some people are playing 40-50 bucks for oil, a ten dollar filter is a negligible expense.

That's not exactly how it worked. Engines back then were not machined with the exact tolerances that the are today, so there was more wear and the biggest thing was that the fuel systems and ignition systems were also not as exact as todays engines. Carburetors instead of fuel injection or slightly off timing based on mechanical distributors produced a lot more carbon along with leaded gas allowed more contaminants to be exposed to the oil. The oil filter was used to take most of those out of the oil supply. If the filter had been used for even 3000 miles it would still have that encapsulated inside and if nothing else could slow the oil flow due to a clogged filter situation. It wasn't worth the risk and probably one of the reasons why back then cars didn't last anywhere near as long as todays.

I always did my own oil changes but I can no longer do it for a number of reasons and the least expensive I have found in a reputable location is $85.00 for synthetic oil and filter change. Even the design of cars have made it close to impossible to do your own. Most cars today have a large shield under the engine that needs to be removed just to get to the filter and crankcase drain plug. Without a lift it is a major chore to do what should be a simple job. My vehicle manufacturer recommend 10K oil changes and due to the cost it is hard to resist, but I will not go over 7000. That seems to me to be the furthest I will be willing to push it. The cost difference with changing the filter, even back then, was a whole lot cheaper then a new engine or a new car.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Now that you mention it, I need to get that done. I remember it was sometime last fall, about 5k miles ago. I heard synthetic goes a lot longer than the old stuff thankfully.

 

[goofyernmost]

I don't know how rural you live but I know I frequently visit middle Georgia, and I don't think you can get much more rural and isolated than middle Georgia. Often spending weeks at a time there visiting family. I drive right at 20,000 miles a year and my wife another 8,000. My cost for that is about $600 a year in electricity. If I drove those same 28000 miles at 25 MPG I would be looking at $4000+. I'll take that $3400 a year in savings and go on vacation.

Just as long as you don't drive to far away from an electrical connection. I see the money savings unless you factor in the cost of the vehicle to begin with. Something I do. I can buy a very reliable car for $28000. What does it cost for a Tesla? I used to drive from my door to Orlando (600 miles) without filling up and even if I did I used up less than 10 minutes. How long does it take to charge back up for the other 300 miles and how much time finding a place where they can be charged up to begin with. I see the logic in a hybrid, but not in all electric. Factor in the cost of the electricity and the additional cost of the vehicle itself and I see no savings at all. Not even to the environment because it still takes mostly carbon based fuels to create the electricity.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I wonder, do any oil change franchises still have "buy in advance" deals? I used to get a set of 5 around Christmas that would keep me on the task all year but I haven't seen these in a very long time.

 

[dez1978]

Just as long as you don't drive to far away from an electrical connection. I see the money savings unless you factor in the cost of the vehicle to begin with. Something I do. I can buy a very reliable car for $28000. What does it cost for a Tesla? I used to drive from my door to Orlando (600 miles) without filling up and even if I did I used up less than 10 minutes. How long does it take to charge back up for the other 300 miles and how much time finding a place where they can be charged up to begin with. I see the logic in a hybrid, but not in all electric. Factor in the cost of the electricity and the additional cost of the vehicle itself and I see no savings at all. Not even to the environment because it still takes mostly carbon based fuels to create the electricity.

This exactly! I'd take a hybrid 100%. but I prefer to have a back up method that wouldn't create the need to add additional time onto already long days. I'd say 75% of my driving, I could rely on electric alone because it's under 300 miles. But the other 25%, I don't want to deal with it. Between my anxiety and my ADHD executive dysfunction, I know without a doubt, I would screw it up, and I don't need anything else to make me more anxious.

Also, the fact that EVs weigh an avg of 30% more than gas cars means more wear and tear on highways, but less tax money (taxes on gas) coming in to fix them.

 

[peabody58]

Oil is cheap, engines are not.

 

[kdonnel]

Just as long as you don't drive to far away from an electrical connection. I see the money savings unless you factor in the cost of the vehicle to begin with. Something I do. I can buy a very reliable car for $28000. What does it cost for a Tesla? I used to drive from my door to Orlando (600 miles) without filling up and even if I did I used up less than 10 minutes. How long does it take to charge back up for the other 300 miles and how much time finding a place where they can be charged up to begin with. I see the logic in a hybrid, but not in all electric. Factor in the cost of the electricity and the additional cost of the vehicle itself and I see no savings at all. Not even to the environment because it still takes mostly carbon based fuels to create the electricity.

In three years I have never driven too from an outlet. The majority of time I charge at home at a cost of $0.02 per mile. What do you pay per mile to drive gas? My guess is around $0.12.

Driving electric is much simpler than the news media makes it seem.

I rarely even think about the time to charge because 99% of my charging occurs while I sleep. I wake up every morning to 300 miles of range.

On trips I stop for 30 minutes every 3 hours. I spend the majority of that time going to the bathroom. I also time my stops with tasks needed on the trip like shopping for breakfast/lunch items that will be eaten at the destination. I estimate I could save less than 30 minutes driving ICE on a typical road trip I take that has 2 DCFC sessions. And my car is a slower charging car. The 800v cars are significantly faster.

As for the environment, that is not why I bought the car but studies, not paid for by the oil and gas industry, repeatedly show that the total impact to the environment is less for an EV over the full life of the car.

Centralized electric production is much easier to control emissions rather than millions of tail pipes.

And for cost, EV are cheaper than ever. Many are available under $35000. If you go used you can find most in the $15000-$25000 range.

You asked about a Tesla. $33900. Really not that far off your $28000.

The average purchased cost of a car in the US is $48000. Lots of EV fall in that range.

I paid $40000 for my EV. If I had bought an ICE vehicle it would have been priced the same or more.