Low-mileage drivers… do you stick to 6 months or 5k miles for maintenance?

My car’s manual says to get maintenance every 5,000 miles or every 6 months, whichever comes first. But I don’t drive much—maybe 5k miles in a whole year (so about 2.5k miles every 6 months). Do I really need to do maintenance every 6 months even if I barely drive? What do you guys do?

You should follow whichever comes first.

Owen said:
You should follow whichever comes first.

Alright, I’ll do the oil change every 6 months. But what about everything else on the maintenance list? Should I just stick to every 5k miles for that?

@King_Tacoma
Yup, always go with whichever happens first. Might as well check everything and rotate your tires when you get the oil changed.

Since you don’t drive much, just do it every 6 months.

Finnian said:
Since you don’t drive much, just do it every 6 months.

Okay, I’ll do oil changes every 6 months. But what about the other stuff in the maintenance guide? Should I still go by the 5k miles rule?

@King_Tacoma
Yeah, that’s probably the best way to go.

It’s exactly what they say—whichever happens first. I just changed mine after 6 months and only drove 3.4k miles.

You can set up a Carfax account to track your maintenance. It’s helpful for reminders—I just realized I’m already a week overdue.

Nevan said:
You can set up a Carfax account to track your maintenance. It’s helpful for reminders—I just realized I’m already a week overdue.

Doesn’t Carfax charge for that?

Marriot said:

Nevan said:
You can set up a Carfax account to track your maintenance. It’s helpful for reminders—I just realized I’m already a week overdue.

Doesn’t Carfax charge for that?

Nope, DIY accounts are free. Weirdly enough, I could still see reports from cars I sold years ago.

I only drive about 3k miles a year and still get maintenance done every 6 months.

I change my oil every 6 months, no matter what.

I don’t drive as much now, so I stick to the 6-month schedule instead of waiting for 5k miles.

If you’re using full synthetic, you can probably stretch it to a year.

You don’t HAVE to, but I do anyway.

When I wasn’t driving much, I did oil changes every 6 months. When I was driving more, I did every 5k miles.

Is full synthetic good for 8 months or 6k miles?

mary said:
Is full synthetic good for 8 months or 6k miles?

I personally wouldn’t go past 7,500 miles or 9 months, just to be safe. Oil brands might say it’s good for 10k+ miles, but that assumes steady highway driving. If you’re doing short trips, I’d change it sooner.

I use Costco full synthetic with a Mobil1 filter every 5k miles or 9 months. My car’s oil monitor says I could go up to 10k miles, but I’d rather not risk it. Oil change is cheap compared to a new engine. Rotate tires every 10k miles, replace battery every 4-5 years, tires every 60k, brakes around 60k, and wipers/washer fluid yearly.