I change my '98 T5's oil every 5000 miles, just like the factory recommends and I use Mobil-1 synthetic. At 122,000 miles the car still uses no oil.

My Volvo service manual says "NOTE: The oil should be changed at these intervals, after 750 hours of driving or after 12 months, whichever occurs first."

Implicit in this is the recommendation that if the car lives trundling around suburbia at 10mph, you should change the oil more often. I don't see this caveat in the recommendation for the newer Volvos. Incidentally, just like my prior Saabs, my Volvo's engine has been flawless. It's everything attached to the engine, and particularly the circuitboards Volvo subcontracted to Fiat that's been problematic. Any ideas of how to do preventive maintenance on a circuitboard?

My wife's Oddy has oil changes recommended every 7500 miles. Honda also explicitly states that if the car is driven in heavy traffic one should change the oil every 3750 miles. I change it every 5000 miles because I use Mobil-1, because it's only driven that way 1/2 the time, and because I can remember to change it every 5000 miles, the service reminder lights won't remind except at the 7500 mile interval. The Honda still uses no oil at 51,000 miles, which should be no surprise. My wife has always been fairly religious about oil changes according to factory intervals but did need to rebuild the engine on her '78 Buick at 80,000 miles. She used dino-juice in that case.

The bottom line is that unless the oil change interval seems extreme (see BMW's oil change intevals) I'd use the factory recommendation and I'd use synthetic oil.

-Punxsutawney Phil

'98 V70T5M, 122k mi., iPd stabilizer bars, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, Valentine-1, Mobil-1 always, E-code headlight lenses, Dunlop SP5000s

'86 944NA (that OTHER 944) 58k mi., factory HD sway bars and Fuchs forged wheels, Valentine-1. E-code Hellas, Yokohama AVS ES100s

"You have to get a car that handles really well. This is extremely important, and there's a lot of debate on this subject about what kind of car handles best. Some say a front- engined car; some say a rear-engined car. I say a rented car. Nothing handles better than a rented car. You can go faster, turn corners sharper, and put the transmission into reverse while going forward at a higher rate of speed in a rented car than in any other kind. You can also park without looking, and can use the trunk as an ice chest. Another thing about a rented car is that it's an all-terrain vehicle. Mud, snow, water, woods, you can take a rented car anywhere. True, you can't always get it back, but that's not your problem, is it?"-P.J. O'Rourke