I picked my new Camaro SS up from the dealer last week. My old daily driver has 250,000 miles on it and is not working right now. I have long commutes to work 60 miles each way. My car now has 540 miles (320 highway and 220 street). I don't drive over 55 on the highway and try to vary my RPMs. I also changed my oil at 540 miles. Am I damaging the engine with my long commutes. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" />

 

Not at all, long commutes are excellent for the longevity of an engine! Once the engine is up to operating temperature and you are on a long drive like that, you get very little engine wear. If I were buying a used car, and I had the choice between a car with 80k on it, but had been driven 120 miles a day, or a car with 20k on it that was driven 10 miles a day, I'd take the higher mileage one. Short trips are murder on engines.

Have fun and enjoy every mile!

 

Thank you for your reply. I just finished 2 more long trips 120 miles each. I'm going to change the oil again in a few days when it reaches 1,000 miles. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

Also vary the rpms a bit. I am not saying race the heck out of it, but take her up about 5500 rpms or so a couple of times.

 

I think changing oil as soon as possible on a new engine is a good thing. if no smoke is coming out the tail pipe, the rings are seated and the 'break-in' oil from the factory has done its job. time to go. I have bought seven new vehicles and the most miles I've driven on any of them was about 50 before changing the oil. on an engine rebuild, I change the oil as soon as it comes up to operating temp. run it through a screen and look for any metal, ie bearing material, etc. I may seem a little **** in this respect, but running an engine 2500 or 5000 miles on factory oil is insane. that is the factory recommendation, but those folks are in the business of selling new vehicles, and are not interested in the longevity of your engine. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />
FWIW, my current beater, a 93 ford truck I bought new has 148,000 on the clock and has never had an oil leak or major engine failure. change oil every three months regardless of miles.

<img border="0" alt="[Corvette]" title="" src="graemlins/corvette.gif" />

 

Thanks!