Oil change intervals America vs Europe

[NordicGT86]

Hi

I am wondering why the oil change intervals are so different in America and Europe for Toyota GT86?

Is there any other geographical difference? Japan, Australia …

America
Normal: 7500 miles or 7.5 months
Severe: Repeated short distance driving; driving in extremely cold weather, replace every 3,750 miles or 3 and 3/4 months, whichever occurs first.

Europe
10000 miles or 1 year. There is no distinction between normal and severe use.

In general, everything is different
Engine air filter
America
Normal: Replace 30,000 miles or 30 months
Severe: Inspection: 7500 miles or 7.5 months

Europe
40,000 miles or 4 year. There is no distinction between normal and severe use.

Do you have any idea?

[Mr.ac]

Did you factor in the difference in miles and kilometers?
Pretty sure Europe and Japan are in the kilometers system.

[NordicGT86]

Yes I did. In km it is 15,000 km (9750 miles)

[why?]

all about money. In the US those numbers were set by corporations looking for profits. They go back to the 50's and people haven't even thought of thinking about all the new tech that makes them irrelevant, because money.

In europe they are both more realistic and especially in germany they spend more money maintaining and paying attention to all the little details about their vehicles, so they can be more honest about maintenance recommendations. I doubt many europeans "forget" to change their oil for 20k miles.

[nikitopo]

Probably they wanted to be competitive with the other manufacturers and the market share is very small to cause too many issues. Overall, I would not suggest to change the oil every 15,000 km (9750 miles). I am also in Europe and change it once per year, but I 'm doing less than 3,000 km. It is better to stick with the American intervals. Especially on the oil changes ...

[Spuds]

Hmm good question. I have a couple of theories.

It could be based on average driving habits of the people in those regions. I'm not sure how it is in Europe, but maybe Americans take more and shorter trips in their cars on average. Differences in how much driving is typically done in a period of time can be another example.

It could also be based on cultural/knowledge differences. IMO, most Americans aren't likely to really know the difference between synthetic, natural, and blended oil, and are likely to make decisions based on price difference when applicable (DIY, quick lube shop, etc). 7500 mile oil changes will probably get the engine through the warranty period regardless. Maybe Europeans are different and pay more attention to the maintenance requirements? Maybe Americans are more likely to abuse the car than Europeans?

Is the warranty different in Europe? Power train is 36000 miles or 5 years or something like that here.

Obviously environment is different. It's possible the engineers correlated different environments to different failure modes, and accounted for it with maintenance? Both regions have a lot of variation, so I'm not sure this theory makes sense.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

Probably they wanted to be competitive with the other manufacturers and the market share is very small to cause too many issues. Overall, I would not suggest to change the oil every 15,000 km (9750 miles). I am also in Europe and change it once per year, but I 'm doing less than 3,000 km. It is better to stick with the American intervals. Especially on the oil changes ...

Is the air filter change interval about the same as other European market cars?

[8RZ]

Changing your oil every 10k miles is fine.

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Is the air filter change interval about the same as other European market cars?

Yes, I think so.

[Tcoat]

10,000 miles using modern synthetics is perfectly fine for a car driven "normally" or with infrequent "spirited" runs.
If you live in a dusty climate or push your car all the time than that frequency is not enough and should be watched closely. I have found over the years that many "enthusiasts" grossly over change their fluids when they really are not pushing the car hard enough to warrant it. It sort of seems like a feel good action for many when in fact they are just wasting money and resources.


Air filters should be checked at least every couple of months and changed or cleaned when required. I would never let one go without at least looking at it or just change it at a set interval if it is still fine.

[NordicGT86]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Is the air filter change interval about the same as other European market cars?

Toyota is in the conservative group with, for example, BMW. They have services every 15k km (~10k milles). VAG group (VW, Audi,Skoda, Seat) has service every 30k km (20k milles). Some cars of the VAG group the engine control unit decide service by itself, something between 10k miles to 20k milles according to some variables (distance, RPM, oil pressure,...)

[reeves]

Originally Posted by NordicGT86

I am wondering why the oil change intervals are so different in America and Europe for Toyota GT86?

Is there any other geographical difference? Japan, Australia …

Every country (or group of countries) can have different standards for oil quality. I'm not sure what Japan & Australia's is, but I'm pretty sure Europe's standard is higher than America's. Over here, we had that whole Castrol lawsuit mess (back in the late '90's or early 2000's?) that makes "full" synthetic oil not so synthetic anymore.

European synthetic isn't like the "fake" full synthetic over here.
Manufacturers wouldn't intentionally raise the interval for no reason, unless they know that interval won't cause their cars to break down prematurely because of over-due oil changes.



Side note: Look for 100% synthetic oil if you want the best quality oil. There's only a handful of companies that still makes'em in America.. Amsoil is one, I can't remember the other brand(s). That "Full" Synthetic label doesn't really mean 100% anymore.
That's why "synthetic" oil is so [relatively] cheap these days.. ~$25 for 5 gallons usually. I remember synthetic oil being more expensive than that 20 years ago.

And inflation is a real thing, so either synthetics have gotten worse (i.e., cheaper) in quality, or they're producing this stuff in a sweatshop & paying the workers pennies on the hour (which I'm not ruling out as a possibility either ).

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by reeves

And inflation is a real thing, so either synthetics have gotten worse (i.e., cheaper) in quality, or they're producing this stuff in a sweatshop & paying the workers pennies on the hour (which I'm not ruling out as a possibility either ).

And it can't possibly be because they figured out how to make them more efficiently, hell no. Just like cars right? The 86 costs $26k today, that's ~$12.8k in 1989 when the 240sx came out with a sticker price of >$13k, the 86 is certainly not a better car than a 1989 Nissan 240sx with that rockin' 140 hp single-cam engine. Thank god for depreciation!

[NordicGT86]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Hmm good question. I have a couple of theories.


Is the warranty different in Europe? Power train is 36000 miles or 5 years or something like that here.

The warranty is 100,000 km (62,500 miles) or 3 years.