My wife has an elderly relative who drives her car less than 1000 miles a year, if that. She lives in Florida, and keeps her car garaged here in NY, and when she's here a few times a year she maybe drives it once or twice. I don't think the car has even been driven last year or this year at all. She sometimes asks my wife to take it for service, oil changes, etc. She pretty much pays for all the nonsense that Toyota dealer recommends, which to me is a giant waste. Last service a couple years ago was like $1500 for new tires and basic maintenance on a mid 2000s Corolla. She has recently asked my wife to take it for service, since the dealer tells her the oil should be changed every six month whether the car is being driven or not - to which I say put synthetic in there and it should last the lifetime of the car, and don't waste time or money on dealer service. What do you guys think?

 

Well, I have lots of cars. My 04 4R does about 2000km last year, change the oil once a year, this year maybe even less. My new one is on pace for about 6000km this year, just one oil change. I think you are fine.

 

Do you think it makes sense to change oil thats about 2 years old, even if its only gone 100-200 miles?

 

I probably wouldn’t change it if it was old like my o4.

 

You should change the oil every 2 years (recommended is every year but I think that is overkill) and refresh the brake fluid every 3, coolant every 5. I've also noticed ATF goes bad just sitting, so does engine oil but to a lesser extent.

 

The answer to your questions lie within the owners manual. There it is listed when oil should be changed, taking TIME into consideration, not mileage. The factory knows best, as a dealer can make up anything. Go by what the manual says and don't make up your own plan with customized oil.

 

This may be one of those situations to get an oil analysis to determine if this is necessary. Lots of oil talk about how the oil degrades when it isn't cycled and other speculation about storage situations. If the analysis and recommendations don't say change it, you have an answer for your application directly.

 

Yeah, I'm not doing an oil analysis on an old car. The way I see it, the oil sitting in the oil pan is not much different from oil sitting on a store shelf. I'll go there with my wife, pull the dipstick out and if there are no leaks and oil looks fine, I see no reason to mess with it. Worse comes to worse, i'll take it to an independent shop and put mobil 1 full synthetic in it, this way it can probably last for the life time of the car.

 

This question comes up frequently on most every auto forum going. It is always interesting to watch for posts from absolute non-automotive experts who have definitive answers contrary to what the people who engineered and built the car stipulate. Where these answers come from only God knows! Even more interesting is that we are talking about generally less than $100 bill that many seem to believe is life altering.

I spent most of a lifetime in the business and have multiple cars that get driven very little in a year. I change oil in them yearly as my experience had one fact always. The very best older cars I ever saw had one common element...frequent oil changes regardless of amateur suggestions.

 

One is sealed, the other is breathing. The reason why ATF went "lifetime" was better sealing against the atmosphere. Taking out the dipstick might not show sludge deposits at the bottom - they don't go in suspension unless the oil is warm and cycling.

Just use whatever decent/good oil is on "special" in the supermarket. Alternatively - drain and seal the oil (oxygen is the enemy) any time the car goes into "storage", fill it back up when it's about to be driven

 

I would start it once a month, let it run for a few minutes or take a short drive. With a engine/car like a Corolla I would not worry about yearly or even bi yearly changes with oil. If it was a high performance engine/car, putting out a lot of power then that may be a different case and you want the oil in the best shape possible but this is a little understressed 4 cylinder run about.

 

"Sealed" transmissions still have a vent (often called a breather) if they didn't the expanding fluid would be forced out places like axle seals.
This is worse than not driving, condensation will result but the engine won't get warm enough to burn it all off.

 

Its not the $100 for the oil change, its more the waste of time dealing with it. My wife has to drive there, get the car out of the garage, park her car, go to the shop, wait, come back, do the whole thing again - half a day wasted. If it was an expensive special car, sure, but for a Corolla I think its a giant waste of time.

 

I would change the oil once a year

 

Given how little the car is driven if you did absolutely nothing for 10 years it will still probably be fine. Might have brake failures though the fluid gets really bad when not changed.