I read a great article over at Yahoo! Autos about the 3000 Mile Oil Change Myth.  I always thought that the need to change the oil every 5000 kilometres was a load of crap.  I've never really been good at getting my oil changes done one time anyway, but it wasn't until some friends and I bought three new Saturn Ions a few years ago that I started to see the holes in the myth. 

The sales guy at Saturn had told us that the car will notify us when it is time to get the oil changed via an in-dash display.  Being a new car, at about 5000 km, I decided to get the oil changed anyway regardless of the fact that the car didn't notify me of any such requirement.  One of my friends who also bought a new car decided he would wait until notification before getting his done.  To our shock and amazement, the car was up around 12000 kilometres before he notification was displayed.

I thought that 12000 seemed incredibly high when compared to the 5000 that I have been hearing about for my whole life.  It can't really be disputed though.  My spouse has driven her car well above the 5000 km mark and never actually received the change notification.  Probably good to note that she did have her oil changed based on her own gut feelings and never let the car go 12000 to test the system.  This relatively common oil monitoring system can be found in most new cars.  Sensors inside the engine monitor the amount of impurities in the engine oil and notify the driver when thresholds are surpassed.  It's quite brilliant and long overdue.

So when I read the aforementioned article, I felt vindicated for having the doubts that I did in the oil change myth.  Here is a quote from Yahoo! autos - I encourage you to read the full article.

It’s been a misconception for years that engine oil should be changed every 3000 miles, even though most auto manufacturers now recommend oil changes at 5,000, 7,000, or even 10,000 mile intervals under normal driving conditions.

Greatly improved oils, including synthetic oils, coupled with better engines mean longer spans between oil changes without harming an engine. The 3000 mile interval is a carryover from days when engines used single-grade, non-detergent oils.