Frank A.

Hi all. My DD is a 2008 Targa 4S that I purchased this Spring. I had the dealer do a Mobil 1 oil change on it when I bought it. I am putting about 1k miles per month on it. I am coming up to my 5k mark and am considering an oil change. The car is not tracked. Porsche and the dealer say to change the oil every 10k. This seems like a lot of miles in between changes. How often are you changing your oil. Every 5k, 7.5k, 10k? Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Frank A.

ADias

Changing oil every 5-6k miles is not a bad idea. It's not only an oil issue but what the oil contains. Checking oil often tells a lot about the engine.

chopperzz

every 5,000. if sitting over winter i will have it sit with clean oil then change again in spring. This is personal and will probably be proven to be wasteful by the forum, but it's what I do.....

996 FAN

I usually have the oil changed every 5,000 to 6,000 miles, but 10K seems quite a long time.

Jim Michaels

Dealer says to save your money until 10k miles? That's a keeper.

I don't think that 10k miles on Mobile 1 is too long in your case, but personal comfort is paramount.

I change oil once a year; that's about 7000 miles in my case. My BMW gets an oil change every year also; but that's only about 5000 miles.

Macster

1K miles per month suggests the car is not getting a lot of short trips so 10K miles between oil changes not the worst thing. Still a bit out there in my opinion.

OIl changes at 7.5K miles a bit better and in your car's case maybe good enough.

OTOH, I have averaged over 2K miles per month with my 02 Boxster and have stuck with 5K mile oil/filter services from new. Nearly 235K miles on the original engine and it still runs great. I wonder if the engine would have reached this mileage point with 10K oil changes?

Sincerely,

Macster.

mambodoc

MY 09 C4S is my dd and average 28k mi/yr. Was changing every 5k with Mobil1 0-40, but now am going to every 3k which is not recommended by anyone but it gives me comfort & sure can't hurt. Most suggest 5K.

boolala

I think that up to 20 K is OK.

I'm obssessive and so do oil changes every 10 K.

Probably overkill.

55 K on the engine and ZERO measurable oil consumption.

linklaw

I change mine every 10K, which is still more frequently than recommended by the factory. My factory literature calls for an oil and filter change with minor and major maintenance services at 20K mile intervals, except in countries where leaded fuel is used and then the oil change interval is reduced to every 6K miles.

gravedgr

The folks that fill up every 3-5k miles kill me. "Just being safe." Do you stop and fill your gas tank every time it gets half empty, just to be safe? Imagine stopping with your tank half full, dumping out all the remaining gas and then filling up completely - would you consider that "just being safe"? After all, some of the remaining gas could be bad.

Modern synthetic oils are designed to be changed every 10-20k miles, not 3-5k. Spend your money how you wish, but don't fool yourself into thinking you're doing anything other than being wasteful with it.

helispud

Ah, the monthly "When should I change my oil" question. What I find interesting is for Model Years 2005-07 Porsche called for an oil change every 20,000 miles or 2 years. Then, suddenly the 2008 cars needed an oil change every 12,000 miles or 1 year. What was different in the 2008 motors than they need more frequent oil changes?

LlBr

Official oil changes reccos in the brochures are basically subjective judgement calls by the mfgr.

They want to appeal to people who don't understand engines and just want a car they don't have to bring in for service.

For the rest of us? When in doubt? Change the oil. It's synthetic so it's more forgiving in that it does not break down; probably depends on the contaminant levels which are hard to judge.

Different examples:

Long dusty gravel driveway? Change once a year or more.

Lots of long trips adding up to fewer than 5000 miles? change it once a year

Lots of short trips? change it once a year

Lots of long trips adding up to more than 10,000 miles? Change it once a year.

Lots of long trips adding up to more than 20,000 miles? Change it twice a year.

Lots of short trips adding up to more than 20,000 miles with a long dusty driveway? Change it after every trip. Sell the car ASAP

Jim Michaels

Why was the recommended service interval changed from 20k miles/2 years to 12k miles/1 year?

a. The way the new cars were built called for a shorter service interval.
b. They found that the longer service interval resulted in excessive wear.
c. New buyers were attracted to the longer service interval (marketing ploy).
d. Dealers were attracted to the shorter service interval (dealer profit ploy).
e. None of the above.

LlBr

Hey Jim, In the context of what you are saying, "b" is not clear to me. Maybe I'm missing something.

Fahrer

I doubt they changed anything in 2008. Porsche likely learned something by then.