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I have spoken to different people who drive mega miles, e.g. daily Winnipeg trips, and have had vehicles go as far as a million kilometres before replacing. All of them have told me they use synthetic oil and a routine of oil changes. The one thing I’ve never asked them is about the oil filters they use. I’d be curious to know if they use basic or more expensive oil filters?

I always use a good Fram Filter. Mobil 1 0-30 oil.  
I change oil at 25-30,000 kms and change filter each time.  
I have heard of some going 50,000 kms but would not do that in the dusty prairies.  
 
I have never gotten any less than 500,000 kms out of a vehicle and they usually use only 2-3 L the entire time.  
The vehicle usually gets ugly with rust and is the only reason to get rid of them.

Robbie said "I always use a good Fram Filter. Mobil 1 0-30 oil.   I change oil at 25-30,000 kms and change filter each time.   I have heard of some going 50,000 kms but would not do that in the dusty prairies.     I have never gotten any less than 500,000 kms out of a vehicle and they usually use only 2-3 L the entire time.   The vehicle usually gets ugly with rust and is the only reason to get rid of them. "

OMG Fram is one of the worst filters you can use!  
 
Do a YouTube search of oil filter comparisons and Fram is often the worst. It has a weak by pass spring, cardboard end caps hot glued to minimal cellulose fibre filter material, weak oring and small bypass rubber.

I have never heard of anyone getting a million kilometers out of a passenger vehicle. Maybe half a mill but the vehicle is probably costing you a pile in repairs, unless you drive a Toyota  
 
Also going 25000-30000 is crazy. I would never push it that far, unless I hated my vehicle. Syn oils are pretty advanced now a days you can easily do 10000 -12000 kms between changes. I'd change it within that range or 6 months whichever came first. Oil isn''t that expensive I couldn't imagine driving 30,000 kms between changes, little lone 50,000.  
 
Fram filters I agree are pretty crappy. We use Wix and they have been good.  
 
Edited by Ms.Daisy, 2018-05-30 07:18:42

Clean oil and clean air will as a tremendous amout of years to an engine, agree with the idea of a synthetic oil, preferably a 0-30 oil especially in the winter.  
Newer engines are far better as far as the timing and fuel mixture which also adds to engine life. As for increased costs on older vehicles, it depends on the vehicle, I like old mercury grand marquis, well built cars with low maintenance, do have a rust problem though.

I use Wix filters, Petro-Can 5w30 oil and change mine every 5000km or so. Winter I change over to 0w30 for my engine.

I personally know someone who has 3 vehicles with over a million Km. Dodge Cummins engines.

I was thinking more along the lines of gas passenger vehicles. Not diesel trucks but ya okay 1 million K on a Cummins is very possible. Our old 1970 tandem grain truck has over a million and a half.

The link is for the US so its in miles. Only about 2-3% of vehicles make it past 300,000km. Other sites show that only 15-20% make it much past 200,000km.  
 
https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a19560/top-cars-to-make-it-over-200000-miles/  
 
Remember these are top vehicles and 200,000 miles is approx 320,000km  
 
Used vehicles are way over priced in this town, maintenance costs are crazy after 120,000km.  
 
Maybe oil changes make a difference and 95% don't do them? I change mine every 5k but never own a vehicle past 80,000km.  
 
Edited by jonnie_66, 2018-05-30 10:29:52

Google will find a bunch of million mile vehicles or 1.6 million km. Rare but not impossible. As for filters don’t use a fram unless you want a blown motor. Fram also makes a bunch of the store brand ones so they are generally junk too. If you are on warranty stick with oem. Oem is always a good bet. Out of oem ford make the best filters. I don’t own any fords but I use their filters.

Fleet guard makes great filters but they can be a bit more expensive and often have to order them in special.  
Also I go 5000km on gas engine oil change. 10000km on a diesel. I would also agree not to use fram filters many people use them because they are very good at marketing.

Right from the start I always use Synthetic oil. I use an OEM oil filter. I have a 2010 F-150 with around 260-270 thousand kms. As long as you do your routine maintenance stuff will last. (Knock on Wood!) I have replaced bearings, brakes, the usual wear and tear. Routine tranny changes, I do the flushes too. Keeping things clean and fresh is key to me. Our winters are brutal and I will never change from synthetic oil. It was day and night starting. Way less friction to start.

Everyone’s needs are dependant on driving conditions and use of engine/components and type of engine/ components. I use a Napa gold filter and change using synthetic oil every 20000km and have never had an issue. I don’t regularly pull a trailer and my vehicle is not a high revving machine.  
 
If you are concerned with what you are doing then do an oil analysis and decide what you want to do from there.  
 
The old saying was 5000 miles and that was on dyno oil. Now the oil change places have convinced the general public its 5000 Kms and omg you must use synthetic at four times the cost.

Not a harden fast rule but 10000 KMS is when I change my oil. I'm not sure of the brand that Jiffy Lube uses but I do get the oil filter for synthetic oil just so I can get the free oil change on my 5th visit lol

Fishin Guy said "Right from the start I always use Synthetic oil. I use an OEM oil filter. I have a 2010 F-150 with around 260-270 thousand kms. As long as you do your routine maintenance stuff will last. (Knock on Wood!) I have replaced bearings, brakes, the usual wear and tear. Routine tranny changes, I do the flushes too. Keeping things clean and fresh is key to me. Our winters are brutal and I will never change from synthetic oil. It was day and night starting. Way less friction to start. "

I agree synthetic has a real advantage in the winter. It doesn't thicken as much when cold so it gives better cold start lubrication.

I think I'll get the regular Wix or the Napa Gold (they are the same). I think Wix XP (Napa Platinum) might be overkill.  
 
Also from what others have told me and what's on the interweb, for the most part synthetic oil is synthetic oil. Everything else like Royal Purple and Mobil 1 are market hyped.  
 
And for people with older collector cars you should add a zinc additive like ZDDP (or use diesel oil because it has zinc).

don brown said "Clean oil and clean air will as a tremendous amout of years to an engine, agree with the idea of a synthetic oil, preferably a 0-30 oil especially in the winter.   Newer engines are far better as far as the timing and fuel mixture which also adds to engine life. As for increased costs on older vehicles, it depends on the vehicle, I like old mercury grand marquis, well built cars with low maintenance, do have a rust problem though. "

I didn't realize you were a high mileage driver Don. Who knew...

There are lots of theories behind the use of synthetic oil but the one that I’ve always gone by is that difference in synthetic and dyno is the molecule size. Synthetic is supposed to have all the same size molecule size while dyno is made up of all different sizes. What happens to dyno oil is the bigger molecules wear out and break down faster then the smaller and then slowly breaks down all of the molecules so it needs to be changed more frequently. Synthetic lasts longer because they all wear evenly and gives longer protection.  
 
From what I’ve been told, Castrol is the one to stay away from as it is regular oil with synthetic additives but I’m pretty sure if you read the bottle/jug it should be in writing. I would think they would legally have to print it on the bottle but not 100% sure.

I guess in any given year we aren't high mileage, but have you seen the vehicles we drive. I buy them well broke in, say maybe 160 thousand kilometres, then keep them running for as many years as I can. First grand marquise was a 92, brand new to me with only a little over 100,000, should of kept it going, but it was 18 years old, come to think of it the one we are driving now is 17, gosh it's time for another new old car.  
Keep away from little aluminum motors, and treat them right and a lot of cars would get many more miles on them.

Ms.Daisy said "I was thinking more along the lines of gas passenger vehicles. Not diesel trucks but ya okay 1 million K on a Cummins is very possible. Our old 1970 tandem grain truck has over a million and a half. "

That's a lot of trips around the field for a million and a half miles. LOL sure...

tlr said "    Ms.Daisy said "I was thinking more along the lines of gas passenger vehicles. Not diesel trucks but ya okay 1 million K on a Cummins is very possible. Our old 1970 tandem grain truck has over a million and a half. " That's a lot of trips around the field for a million and a half miles. LOL sure... "

It's an old highway tractor converted to a grain truck by Cancade. And 1.5m kilometers, I live in Canada.

Ms.Daisy, just to show how sick my sense of humor is, I was hoping that you came back and said that you loaded on the go, right from the time the combine started moving, and made the combine wait until the truck returned.  
Oh my gosh, that's not so strange, we do that putting up silage.

We always used Fram filters..filters really don’t need to be expensive...had the following vehicles  
 
1996 Chevy V8 978,000kms...sold for $1500  
1998 Ford V8. 800,000km+  
2004 Ford 7.3 liter diesel over 1,100,000kms body fell apart wasn’t worth fixing  
92 5.9 litre dodge Cummins 1,200,000kms sold for $5000 to a fellow up north 10 years ago...still running  
 
Regular maintenance, fixing thing before they break...regular filter changes make all that possible.

Ms.Daisy said "    tlr said "    Ms.Daisy said "I was thinking more along the lines of gas passenger vehicles. Not diesel trucks but ya okay 1 million K on a Cummins is very possible. Our old 1970 tandem grain truck has over a million and a half. " That's a lot of trips around the field for a million and a half miles. LOL sure... " It's an old highway tractor converted to a grain truck by Cancade. And 1.5m kilometers, I live in Canada. "

A 1970 truck has the odometer in miles, no matter where you live.

Good point.  
You mentioned once about being a fuel retailer, now I'm not sure which company you worked for, but I was wondering if you would have any idea when they first came out with a fully synthetic oil. I know we first started getting it from Imperial oil many years ago, and were sold on it after the first winter.  
Since most of our vehicles and equipment are higher hour, or mile units, I'm a firm believer in using a synthetic oil, 0-40 in just about everything.

tlr said "    Ms.Daisy said "    tlr said "    Ms.Daisy said "I was thinking more along the lines of gas passenger vehicles. Not diesel trucks but ya okay 1 million K on a Cummins is very possible. Our old 1970 tandem grain truck has over a million and a half. " That's a lot of trips around the field for a million and a half miles. LOL sure... " It's an old highway tractor converted to a grain truck by Cancade. And 1.5m kilometers, I live in Canada. " A 1970 truck has the odometer in miles, no matter where you live. "

True, but I talk in metric system.  
 
It has 872,640 miles. If you want to check the math go ahead.

96 dodge 2600. Still runs, interior is falling apart, and MPI won’t insure it anymore, but it’s had regular oil changes every 10k. I’ve always done my car every 5k though, I can’t imagine doing it every 50k that sounds horrible for your vehicle.

Keep the oil clean and use synthetic. make sure air cleaner is also checked often.  
I usually buy used and keep the car until it has around 350-400k km. cheapest car to keep and maintain was a Toyota prius  
 
buy a car with a timing chain not a belt.  
2006 Toyota prius sold with 380km. total repairs since bought was about $1200 front brakes need to be done at safety when sold. rear brakes were never replaced. Only reason I did not go back to Prius was that there is no way to turn off the traction control!!! huge flaw in design. get into snow and that is where you sit.  
2000 vw jetta TDI . timing belt replaced 2 times. plus brakes.  
Volvo 850 timing belts and brakes x2  
Volvo c30 timing belt and brakes  
I tried domestics they just don't stand up.  
currently using a juke current mileage is around 140k. will need brakes soon, rear shocks are starting to leak. no other issues.  
wife has Hyundai santa fe, at 160k bought wont buy another one.  
had Honda civic. never did gas mileage claimed by dealer so sold after a year.  
With all cars I wear out about 3-4 sets of tires as part of the maintenance. I drive highway and gravel roads all the time. do your oil and filter and if you need a timing belt don't put it off.

forgot so say I have had oil changes done at: Walmart, dealer various, south end service. west end service and just use filter they supply when getting the oil changed. I have done my own and pick up filter from piston ring. depending on vehicle get oil changed between 8-12k Volvo for example recommended every 12k with synthetic.

I don’t know much about the differences between synthetic or regular oil, but I do know of a fellow who went 80000 miles (not km) with Walmart non-synthetic oil with no oil change on his Dodge Cummins. He had a bypass filter which he changed on a regular basis and did regular oil analysis. The analysis always came back saying that the oil was still serviceable. So does oil wear out or just get dirty?