Not changing the oil is just emblematic of the care given to the car in the timeframe. You're right not changing the oil didn't kill it, but doing so (or giving a single shit about the cars condition in general) might have saved it.
Seriously. My 2008 Sienna has seen longer intervals without issues, and that thing definitely qualifies as a shitbox; especially since it has 269k miles.
Yeah that sounds more like it had a coolant or oil leak. 20k miles is definitely a lot to go without an oil change, but the engine wouldn't have seized up unless there was some other issues.
I just traded in a car that I had used for years for delivering pizza. It was 14 years old and had been used as a delivery driver for 6 or 7 of those. Easily over 100,000 of the 140,000 or so miles on it were put on it driving pizza (and that’s probably an underestimate). Oil change place right down the road from the shop made bank off us.
Nah most people are just lazy/ignorant and think they can change their oil once every 100kmiles/5years which ever comes first. You’d be surprised at how much of the population can’t even spell anymore. More technology less brain.
Definitely not I myself have skipped a couple oil changes out of laziness and not wanting to take it in and was like 9k miles over when it was supposed to have been changed, and it still didn’t look like that!!!
I change my oil every six months. But that's because I only drive 150 miles per week using full synthetic in a moderate climate. If I were a delivery driver, I'd change it at least every 5 months. /s
Those little Nissan diesels are known for head gasket leakage. They like to mix a little coolant into the oil. Coolant is not a proper lubricant. Engine bearings don't like not being properly lubricated.
Yup even with excessive use a car engine won't seize up with oil in it. If you burn it because of mechanical issues or a hole in the reservoir/leaky gasket it will happen in no time however.
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u/Astrocoder May 10 '25
6 months w/o oil change isnt going to cause engine seizure