Oil Change twice yearly? With Low Mileage

[Boxster33]

Hi All, I purchased my 2000 Boxster S in March 2009 with 34,000 and have been enjoying the summer so far. No issues.

My question is, this is my daily driver but I'm only putting 600Km per month (I work fairly close to my home). Rather than changing the Oil once a year I'm thinking about changing it every 6 months regardless of the mileage. What do you think?

I plan to do drive the vehicle April to December and store it the other months.

Decisions
- to begin using Motul 8100 5w40 on my next oil change
- Using Shell Gold 91 octane 0% Ethanal, found better gas mileage than Sunoco
Gold 94 Octane with 10% Ethanal


Hack I've done so far

- Changed the Cig Lighter from euro style to US
- Added Ipod connectin to the Becker stereo

Happy Boxstering!

[Paul]

5000 miles a year? Once a year is fine based on the results of my oil analysis.

[vath2001]

Welcome.

Personnally, I think that may be too often... but its your car. Look at the oil in 6 months and make the call then. I plan on once a year, depending on the miles I log.

[Aron in Toronto]

I'm also in Toronto and do oils changes once a year and drive ~3000mi.
I use Sunoco 94 but haven't been tracking mileage.

[schnellman]

I won't enter into the brand debate here, but I will say that I change my oil twice a year to allow for what I consider proper oil weight in the summer versus in the winter.

[d18mike]

For what its worth, I put about 4-5K a year on my car and store it for 5 months. I change it once a year (Mobil 1). My mechanic jokes that he could rebottle and sell to the next customer. It's pretty clean at that point. I just do it every spring for piece of mind.

[Brucelee]

Use Red Line 5-40 and change once a year.

Should be more than fine.

Good luck

Originally Posted by d18mike

For what its worth, I put about 4-5K a year on my car and store it for 5 months. I change it once a year (Mobil 1). My mechanic jokes that he could rebottle and sell to the next customer. It's pretty clean at that point. I just do it every spring for piece of mind.

sadly, your motor oil, even when unused, losses it's lubricating properties over time. Over the course of a year, humidity, temperature changes, and yes, even ground level ozone can alter the chemical makeup of you oil.

I've heard 3 months as the rule, but 6 doesn't seem all that bad. 1 year? to each his own, but at 13k to replace a motor, if you're going to gamble, play it on the safe side.

just my .02

[Jake Raby]

For my updated engines I require oil services every 5K miles or every 3 months. Fuel and coolant intrusion into the lubricant has negative effects on these engines, even if they don't see much service time.

[Steve Tinker]

I do about 8,000km annually and replace my oil twice a year & use Shell 5W40 synthetic. Some would say its overkill, but its also peace of mind. Its not a daily driver like yours, only weekend use.
You seem to have short runs and I assume your ambient temps are pretty low, but I would think that replacing the oil just before you lay it up (Dec) and again in April /May before running it during the summer months should be more than adequate for the car.

Are your petrol octane ratings different to ours - here 91 is regular gas but Porsche recommend 98 octane? Low octane fuels are definately a no no as it causes pre ignition knock & overheating which can be very dangerous to your engines health.