Brent:

Thanks, no insult taken.

If some of us who advocate changing our oil at 3,000 seem to be enthusiastic about it, it is because we do it ourselves, and do not trust JiffyLube, and others to do it. When one does it oneself, it is just the cost of the actual oil, and therefore somewhat insignificant.

As to manufacturers, please realize that there have been government and marketing pressures (in all nations), for manufacturers to develop "maintenance-free cars". That is why there are some out there who claim 100,000 miles no service in their ads. But would you truly not do anything to your car for 100,000 miles? I guess if you were leasing your car you might, but even Audi and some others build in the cost of maintenance, with free servicing for the first part of the life of the car.

However, once again, I invite you to inspect your oil at 3,000 miles, either through the dip stick, or just humor me, and change your oil at 3,000 and see how black it is. Oil does not literally "wear out" but it gets dirty, and thus can cause lots of little problems with components, which can accumulate and create big problems.

What is interesting that such a minor cost (when done by yourself) can generate such "rabid" opinions. Go to the other Marques sites, such as Porsche, Miata, etc, and you'll see the same concerns expressed there (and by the way, see the same polarization between the 3,000 mile guys and the 10,000 mile guys).

So if you plan to keep your car to the 200,000 mile mark (to infinity and beyond?), note that the guys with the high mileage all advocate the 3,000 mile change.

Hopefully we can make this subject RIP....Andras