Do Modern Cars Need Long Life Oils?

New generation cars with a longer service interval appeared on the market more than twenty years ago. Around the same time, special oils with longer “life time” (Long Life or Extended Life) were introduced offering stable specifications throughout extended drain intervals. To this day, however, the car owners keep debating whether Long Life oils and long drain intervals are good for the car.

To get to the bottom of this discussion, we need to look into a number of factors, because Long Life oil twenty years ago and now is a completely different product. The requirements to Long Life oils have become a lot stricter. Compared to the earlier generation, the latest oils outperform their predecessors by a long way in most characteristics. In particular, wear protection, high- and low-temperature deposit control, and the soot retention capability have greatly increased.

Another important factor that has undergone significant changes over the past two decades is the quality of fuel. Although in many regions and countries it is still far from ideal, we must admit that, compared to the late 90s, when despite the ban, tetraethyl lead was widely used to increase the octane number, and the sulfur content in the fuel was hardly a concern, the situation today has dramatically improved.

The improved fuel and oil quality encouraged the German Big Three who initially restricted the use of Long Life oils to Western Europe, to officially expand the extended interval servicing under warranty to other countries.

It all points to the conclusion that the current situation in most markets is quite favourable to the increased service interval for those cars that are originally designed for it.

ILet's look at the economic aspect of Long Life oils. The main argument of the opponents of extended intervals is that using cheaper oil and changing it more often is economically the same as using Long Life oil. However, a simple calculation shows that it is not so. Take 100,000 kilometres as a typical warranty period for a modern car. The owner of a ‘Long Life’ car will have (and pay for) only three or four oil changes during this run. The supporter of cheaper oils will have ten, or even twenty oil changes through the same 100,000 kilometres. It is unlikely to find oil with comparable characteristics that would be three or more times cheaper than the quality Long Life product. Add the cost of labour for an oil change, and the “economic reasoning” will not be in favour of frequent servicing.

The supporters of frequent oil replacement not only spend more money, which can be earned, but also more time, which as we know is a non-renewable resource.

To sum it up, if you bought a new car from a dealership and are planning to do a trade-in after the warranty period - if servicing and good quality fuel is available in your region - then using products, such as MITASU PLATINUM PAO SN 100% Synthetic, MJ-107. MITASU GOLD LL SN/CF 5W-40 100% Synthetic, MJ-210. MITASU EURO PAO LL III OIL 5W-30 100% Synthetic will save you time and money.

If you live in a region where fuel quality is unstable and qualified servicing is unavailable, then more frequent oil replacement would be recommended, but remember that quality products that are officially approved by car manufacturers guarantee maximum protection of your engine under most harsh operating conditions.

MITASU - quality. Always.