Cedrick S. Rowan

What Really Happens to Your Car If You Skip Oil Changes for 10,000 Miles - Asked Car. AI-Generated.

I’ll never forget the engine teardown that stuck with me from my time at the University of Michigan. A grad student brought in his beat-up Honda Civic nothing fancy, just a daily driver with over 150,000 miles. He figured he was saving time and money by stretching oil changes. “I went maybe 12,000 miles once or twice,” he said with a shrug. When we pulled the valve cover, the sight hit us like a punch: thick, black sludge coating everything, varnish baked onto the camshaft like burnt sugar. The bearings were scored, the chain guides worn down to nubs. That engine wasn’t dying it was already dead. All because the owner treated oil changes like an optional suggestion.