Yes, this is another question about oil intervals. My B5 engine runs much quieter after an oil change, which got me wondering about the 10k mile interval. I searched previous Reddit entries and found this: https://old.reddit.com/r/Volvo/comments/1rnkset/oil_changes/ The consensus was shorter intervals won’t hurt. I change my oil myself. Anyone have constructive input?
33 comments · 95% upvoted · other discussions
Is this another topic where people claim they change oil every 3 months? The interval here is 30k km /18k miles. I take it to service twice a year around around 10-12k miles per half year. The mechanics at the dealership wonder if there’s something wrong with me since together with me only a handful of customers do that. Imagine changing oil every 2,5k miles. That’s just complete nonsense.
I’m in agreement with the euro mechanic. I change mine around 5,000 miles with the volvo spec Liqui moly 0w20. I’m a self-proclaimed gearhead that thinks Volvo is asking a lot out of that 4 cylinder turbo. I have Polestar* on it and a “spirited” driving style.
When I drain it, it’s black. I’ve heard that turbos are hard on oil, perhaps a more qualified expert can tell. But, I’m a goofball, I also change spark plugs, brake fluid and coolant at 30,000 miles and transmission fluid at 50,000. Overkill? maybe? But it runs as great as the day I bought it, so it’s worth it to me. I’ll freely admit that I’m fortunate to be able to do a lot, because I enjoy it. Not everyone is able to do this for various reasons and a lot just don’t want to either, it’s all good.
Long way to go to say that there’s no way I’m comfortable with a 10,000 mile interval.
0W-20?! Is that really what they spec for those turbo 4s? I'm surprised any turbocharged car is running 20 weight.
I know, right??? I’ve seen in the manual that 5w30 is also a spec weight. I’ve been thinking of switching to that. Had an R56 Mini cooper S that I ran 5w30 in the winter and 5w40 in the summer. This is a really interesting thread, appreciate your input!
I typically run heavy warm weight on my performance engines (0W40 on my motorcycle, 5W50 on my M5). I'd expect 5W30 or 5W40 on these turbocharged volvo engines, tho to be fair I'm still working on getting a Volvo so no ownership experience yet.
modern oils have detergents in them and will turn dark/back very quickly, its not a good indicator of oil life anymore.
Alright, thanks! I didn’t know that. Love learning new things, thanks for sharing!
I've never even heard of the 10k interval, I went with every 6 months in my Mazda CX30, putting only around 5k miles on it a year, effectively getting an oil change every 2,500 miles. And that was a lease! :D
I was planning on keeping the same schedule with my V90...
Between the dealership scheduled services, and the manual, and the label on the recommended Castrol container, they mention 10,000 miles? I could be mistaken, my wife says that happens a lot 😂😂.
When we had kids, we got a Mazda MPV fully loaded. We racked up just over 200k on it. Great vehicle for the kids! Had the flip down DVD player and wireless headphones, the side windows went down too, they loved it, and it was good to us!
If your engine is quieter after an oil change, something is wrong. That is NOT normal even with really old oil.
Even if 10k oil changes were bad for cars.... It's not going sound different unless it's sludged like a mid 90s Saab.
I'd bet money that's all in your head.
8k changes on my car and it always sounds the same. About to do my 9th. Disagree with @CrunchyCarrots, the Euro mechanic, though we often agree on stuff. 5k Mike oil changes are fucking crazy town.
1960 oil changes were 3k. You mean to tell me with modern engines and oils we can only go 5k now? 70 years later?
Absolutely bullshit.
I actually like Mazdas recommendations.
10k if your car regularly gets warmed up every day. 7500 if you live 2 miles from work. Like me. I do oil changes annually which works out to about 8k.
Actual science backs me up. Go to SwedeSpeed and Google Blackstone. Read those reports.
Or better yet? Do your own. They will straight up tell you if you should be doing them sooner or later.
People love to say "an oil change is cheaper then a new engine".
Hey /u/CrunchyCarrots how many engines have died because of late oil changes? Betting 0.
"It's good peace of mind" people also love to say. Y'know what's REAL peace of mind?
https://www.blackstone-labs.com/
Hey! I’ll have you know it’s fun in crazy town! To your points, yes there have been tons of advancements in 70 years. Longevity and reliability and performance of cars in the 60s and 70s also wasn’t anywhere near today either.
I take advantage of the lifetime guarantee from FCP Euro. They haven’t sent the used oil and filter back yet telling me it’s still good. With the guarantee, it’s like getting every other oil change free. That’s how we roll in crazy town 🤪
I don’t think there’s an absolute right or wrong, just sharing what I do. Also appreciate reading all the different perspectives, it’s great dialogue and I appreciate everyone’s time! Hope you all have great days!!
😆 Great reply.
Love me some FCP. Do you really send old oil back?
Yup, and the filter, and wiper inserts. They are awesome!
Oil can never be too fresh. Besides that, it always draws my attention that living in a metric system country the typical interval is 10k kilometers or one year, not just for Volvo but for any car, yet I see in the US they normally do 10k miles which is way more, 6k miles is roughly 10k km and that’s what I’d do.
10k is fine. Feel free to change it more regularly, but don't draw any conclusions from having done so regarding engine longevity, your sample size is insufficient.
I have a B5 XC90 and I stick to 5000 miles intervals for multiple reasons. Most covered by @Crunchycarrots79 but also due to the viscosity used these days in a turbo four banger in such a heavy vehicle. I do mostly stop and go but we do take a decent amount of family road trips. I’ve also just stuck with 5K to 7500 miles having come from VW/Audi 2.0T. I wish I could code the Volvos we now have to remind me at 5K for my XC90 and 7500 for my wife’s XC60, as I coded our VW/Audis we used to own.
Also I run Liqui-Moly at the required Volvo oil specification.
I’d never do 10k mile intervals even if it was fine. Just seems basic knowledge. Engine is dirty, oil go in dirty engine, engine get hot and moves at high rpm around metals, explosions , pipes, gaskets. Oil now dirty. Dirty oil continuing around engine for 10k miles. Eeek
5k. In every vehicle I own except wet clutch bikes.
Almost no one falls under the 10k mile threshold. Most people fall inter extreme service which is 5k
i don't really trust the 0w20, but it might kind of old thinking. in the manual, are there conditions where 5w30 in recomended?
I change oil every 7500km. I figure it’s way cheaper than a new engine. I change my own oil and it’s really inexpensive and takes under an hour, no big deal.
Side note: my other car, Škoda superb developed serious oil consumption problem despite frequent oil changes and using very good oil. But it still drives fine at 175k km, and maybe without those oil changes it’d be dead already
I have reduced my interval to 5,000 miles, close to 7,500 km. Yes, it is very easy to change the oil and filter.
5k or 6 months. The cost of an oil change is completely insubstantial compared with issues that can result if you don't change it regularly.
Euro specialist mechanic here. It's my opinion, backed up by what I've seen in various engines with various oil change intervals, that 10,000 miles is too long in most cases. Especially with the oil quality that's readily available in the US (Note that you definitely should be using synthetic oil that is listed as meeting European car specs or similar) There's 5 oil base stock grades available. In Europe, only the top 2 are allowed to be marketed as full synthetic oil. In the US, the 3rd is also considered synthetic. It's also cheaper... Guess what most synthetic oil sold here is?
My suggestion is that you stick to no more than a 7,500 mile interval, and if you do a lot of short trips, aggressive driving, or drive mostly in stop and go traffic, 5,000 miles is a good target. If you can find someone willing to do it, it should actually be possible to reprogram the set interval in the car to something lower as well so that the maintenance reminder is still accurate.
Apical-Meristem [OP] 6 points · Apr 2026 · XC60
That is a great answer, thank you! I don’t drive aggressively, live in Florida with the heat, and try to defeat the auto start-stop at stops.
ludlology 3 points · Apr 2026 · 1988 760 GLE, 1997 960
is there a good resource to use for finding those higher grade oils?
Crunchycarrots79 2 points · Apr 2026
At the parts stores, just look for synthetic oils of the correct viscosity that say "European car formula" or similar. All of them will have been certified as meeting one or more European car manufacturers' standards, which will suffice in most cases. Newer cars that have specific requirements should use oil that list those requirements.
ludlology 1 points · Apr 2026 · 1988 760 GLE, 1997 960
awesome ty