Do you always go with what they recommend 3,000 miles oil change?

Personally I would think it does depend on the Car, because even when we owed our Foresters that were brand New when purchased, they still changed the Oil or recommended it to be changed every 3000 miles. We have a Toyota Prius now, and it is every 5000 miles, and there is even a notice that comes on until you get the service done. Best bet is go with what the Car requires, and if in doubt every 3000 miles just to be safe.

My late husband was always the one who took care of vehicle maintenance in our household. It would probably be a wise idea to go along with oil change recommendations. an ounce of prevention!

Rule #1 regarding oil changes. READ WHAT THE OWNERS MANUAL RECOMMENDS. Rule #2 on this subject is this; Depending on what type of oil you are using, you can go up to 25,000 miles on an oil change. I do all my own oil changes using Mobil-1 full synthetic lubricant and regularly go 15,000 miles between oil changes on the vehicle that uses that, with no apparent problems. The rest of our vehicles use Mobil 5000 oil and go 5000 miles between oil changes. Our vehicles have not had an oil-related failure, yet. Until something changes, I will keep doing things this way.

I travel at least 5000 miles on an oil change. Newer cars don't need frequent oil changes. They are far more sophisticated with engine management systems so there is less of a need to change oil that frequently. I also learned that the viscosity doesn't even begin to break down at 3000 miles. Cars I owned recommend changes at 5000-7500 miles, and they even give warnings to let me know when it is time. The people at oil change places are like sales people, they want you to believe that, but I don't think anyone knows better than the people who designed the car. I trust them better. The safest rule is to follow the manual. The manufacturer would know better than some lube shop. I also know when it is time to change the oil because the car would exhibit some strange behavior.