Reminder: Change oil every ... 12,000 miles?

Toyota Motor Corp. reduced its change interval from 7,500 miles to 5,000 in 2004 in part because it found that more drivers ran their vehicles under severe stop-and-start and short trip conditions that cause oil to deteriorate more quickly, said company spokesman Bill Kwong.

Toyota also had an oil sludge buildup problem on less than 1 percent of its 1997-2002 model year vehicles, Kwong said. Changing the oil more frequently prevents the sludge problem, which he said was caused by owners going more than 7,500 miles before changing oil.

The company lengthened warranty coverage on the affected engines to handle the problem, even before some owners filed a class action lawsuit, Kwong said.

Nissan Motor Co. recommends changing oil in its Nissan and Infiniti vehicles every 7,500 miles or six months — unless the vehicle is used mainly for towing, trips of five miles or less in normal temperatures, 10 miles or less in freezing temperatures, stop-and-go driving in hot weather or low-speed driving for long distances, in which the oil should be changed every 3,750 miles or three months, spokeswoman Katherine Zachary said.

And for some engineers and mechanics, 5,000 miles is too long to wait.

Drivers must take the weather and how much freeway driving they do into account before deciding when to change their oil, said Danny Beiler, part owner of an auto repair garage in Sarasota, Fla.

Freeway driving is less harmful to oil than driving in the city, but in Sarasota, the heat places nearly all cars under severe driving conditions that warrant more frequent changes, Beiler said.

“I have a problem with telling people 7,000 because you know they’re going to go over that. I’d rather err on the side of being cautious and tell them to do it early.”

Dewey Szemenyei, marketing manager for passenger car motor oil additives for Afton Chemical Corp., said he still changes the oil in his 1998 Toyota Sienna minivan every 3,000 miles.

“I really feel it’s great insurance,” said Szemenyei, whose company makes additives that go into motor oils and who chairs a Society of Automotive Engineers committee on engine lubrication.

“There’s not what I consider a right answer. However, if you go with the owner’s manual recommendation you should in general not have any problems,” he said.

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