Is it truly necessary to change the oil on my 01 Camry every 3,000 or can I wait up to 5,000 miles???

Question

It has 70,000 miles and runs awesome.It's a V 6 XLE...Thanks for your answer...Tom Science 4

Answer 1

3000 would be better if you are running conventional motor oil.. You can go longer with Synthetic Oil.

Answer 2

Don't you just love your Camry? My first one was 13yrs old before I got another one! Actually there was nothing wrong with it and it still had really good pick up too. I took care of that baby!
I did a lot of driving with the first Camry, so I went by the book and changed the oil every 3,000. But with the newer cars I believe you can wait longer.
But here is another tip. Pull out the dip stick and inspect where the oil is on the stick as well as how clear the oil looks. If it is dirty looking and dark get it changed.
With my second Camry I went ahead and got it changed just after a year. I did the dip stick test and found it was getting dark instead of being amber in color even though I don't drive it nearly as much.
So don't let anyone tell you that 3,000 miles is too soon to get it changed if you want to keep your car running smooth and last. It's a cheap way to keep things running smooth.

Answer 3

You don't HAVE to change the oil every 3,000 miles, you can wait till every 5,000 miles and it may or may not cause problems. Why take the risk? It's almost too easy to change the oil yourself not to do it. I had a car I changed the oil every 3,000 miles and I got well over 200,000 miles out of the engine. I cannot tell you for sure how many miles I got off the enging because the odometer broke at 215,000. I than sold it and that person still has it and drives it around and changes the engine oil every 3,000 miles. It will definately help prolong the engine life and save you costly repairs.

Answer 4

YES!!! especially since its a older car. This is the most important time to get your oil changed every 3,000 miles because your engine is completely broken in and may even be straining in a few spots. This is the time where things start to break and get stressed. I know it may be running fine now, but i bet that in a few hundred more miles, you might be seeing some problems. Getting your oil changed makes your car run more smoothly, it keeps things from unesessary wear on the parts in your engine. Get it done, it's only a few hours out of your day and it's not even that expensive. It will be worth it, it will add atleast a few thousand more miles to your car in the long run. And we all went to get the most out of them.

Answer 5

the 3,000 mile oil change was first conceived by the Oil companies and their quick change stations. It was later adopted by the auto companies without any research.

Well as time passed, many 'foreign' companies tested and found that oil would last much longer.

Today, 5000 miles won't do any damage to your engine. If you had a sample of your oil tested at 5000 miles, you'd find that your oil still has about 60% of it's life left.

You can change your oil at 3000 miles and keep the oil companies rich if you want, but 5000K isn't going to be doing you any harm.

Answer 6

It is always reccommended that you change your oil every 3000 miles but if you go a little over it won't hurt especially if you use quality products in your vehicle I wouldn't let it go any more than 5,000 though especially with 70,000 on it. Always check your level every couple of weeks and if you are using oil or it seems especially dirty or thick or discolored (milky color) have your mechanic check it right away.

Answer 7

If you're using Synthetic motor oil or getting mostly highway mileage you can usually go up to 5,000 miles. Most cars these days use synthetic and Camrys have good engines. I have 85,000 miles on my Civic, use synthetic, have "heavy" usage, and my mechanic (the dealer) recommends getting the oil changed at 5,000 miles.

Answer 8

First- sorry folks -just becasue oil is dark does not mean it is dirty and needs to be changed. that's like saying that since you washed one dish with red ketchup on it in a sink full of suds that now the soapy water is too dirty to wash any others.
check out the links below for info on dark oil myth, 3000k myth, premium fuel is better myth etc.

It is simple look at your owners manual and follow their 5k or 7.5 k or 10k requirement.( Most oils still have 60%of thier useful life left at 5k)-The company that built your car knows it best.

The entire 3000 mile thing is left over from the type of oils used 50 years ago- current oils have detergents etc that keep them working longer adn even thoughteh oil is dark it is not damaging your engine - the 3000 mile is a gimmick from jiffy lube etc trying to convince you that changing it every 3000 miles-- follow the schedule in your owners manual and all is cool to follow the 3k rule is to waste money and to use more oil overall- just hink how many millions of barrels of oil could be saved if everyone just followed the manual and didnot buy into hte myth of 3k oil change!

Jiffy lube and oil change places like the 3000 mile & push because it gets you to come in 30 times over 100,000 instead of just 20 -more $$ for them.

Save your money-- after all if you buy the logic that 3000 mile is safer than the 5000, 7500 or 10000 interval then you might as well go down to 2500 or 2000 and be safer yet. and spend more money and waste more oil


also reasearch the myth about premium gas-- not needed for most cars- seldom even a do or die req for even those cars who have it recommended maker- it simply keeps a those high end cars from pinging in the cold most times or allows for max horsepower with the fancy turbos etc tha most cars do not have- though sometimes it does add horse power to very specialized engines- but using regualr vs premium will nothurt your engine!

Answer 9

The 5000 mile oil change schedule is for light duty use. In reality, few cars are operated in light duty use.

If you drive your car in stop and go traffic, hard acceleration, at sustained highway speed, in cold weather, in hot weather, you do not drive your car in light duty conditions.

Besides, regular oil changes at 3000 mile intervals is cheap insurance to help you get many trouble free miles from your engine.

Answer 10

Ok this sounds bad but i never do mine at 3,000. Im always late changing my oil and i have never had a problem.

Answer 11

recommend 3k, 5k might be risky