Are extended life oil filters worth it?

Q: Which oil filter lasts the longest?

Our recommendation is Mobil 1s Extended Performance Oil Filter, designed to provide long-life performance for car owners who go longer in between oil changes. It features a 99.6% Multi-Pass Efficiency Rating and an advanced synthetic fiber blend media, and this particular model holds up to 28 grams of contaminants.

Q: Can you reuse an extended life oil filter?

Yes, its perfectly safe to use either type of filter with either type of oil. If you practice extended drain intervals using synthetic oil, however, a conventional oil filter may not offer the required service life, meaning youll have to change it in the middle of the oil drain interval, which is inconvenient.

Oil filters have some of the shortest replacement intervals of all car parts, and it’s easy to fall into a routine of going with whatever filter you usually buy. If you let your dealership or a mechanic handle your oil changes, you may not even know what kind of filter you have under the hood. Why does it matter? New advancements allow synthetic oil to last 10,000 miles between replacements. Yet you can’t move to that kind of extended maintenance intervals when you’re still using an oil filter designed for just 3,000 miles.

Table of Contents Show

by Pat Goss
Is it worth buying a better oil filter?
Which oil filter lasts the longest?
How long do oil filters last with synthetic oil?
Can you reuse an extended life oil filter?

The Demand for Longer Intervals

Since modern drivers put far more miles on their personal vehicles than they ever did in the past, it’s not surprising that changing the oil every 3,000 miles has become a chore. For some people with serious commutes, they can hit this interval in a month or less. Unless you want to spend the time and energy on oil changes that often, you’ll want to upgrade to a motor oil that can go 10,000 miles or more before needing a change. You’ll still need to swap the filters at the regular mileage mark unless you upgrade to a long life oil filter as well.

Advanced Features

These extended life oil filters don’t just feature a higher number on the box. Careful construction and higher quality materials ensure that these filters can actually last as long as they claim, and pass-through testing proves it. Some of the features used by different filter manufacturers include:

• Thicker metal shells to prevent accidental damage from pieces of road debris
• Deeper baffles to trap and hold more dirt without restricting flow
• Finer weave in the cellulose baffle material to trap smaller particles
• Reinforced centers to prevent collapse under higher pressure or movement of the baffle
• Stronger drain valves to withstand the extended number of starts
• By-pass valves to keep the oil flowing in case the filter becomes completely clogged

Original Equipment from the Manufacturer

Some of the oil filters coming from vehicle manufacturers already conform to these standards for longer use because the manufacturer has made the decision to increase all maintenance intervals. BMW is just one of the many manufacturers choosing this option, and the OEM filters they supply to dealerships and approved repair shops last 10,000 miles or more as a standard feature. If your vehicle’s manual recommends long intervals due to the design of the engine, you must keep up with those demands by only using extended life filters and oil. You can’t expect good results by installing a basic 3,000 mile filter and oil in one of these vehicles and ignoring it until the recommended maintenance retrieval.

It can be tricky to find long life oil filters for older cars and rare models. Drop-in style filters are easier to find in extended life design than metal enclosed spin-on designs, but if you have the right source for auto parts, you can find a matching long life filter for practically any make and model of car.

by Pat Goss

Over the years vehicle manufacturers have continually extended the oil change interval on their cars, and that has posed a problem up until just recently because most oils weren’t capable of going these extreme oil change intervals. The additive packages in them weren’t good enough. Well, now Mobil has introduced three new oils. They have a 5000, which is a conventional oil good for 5,000 miles, a 7500, which is a synthetic blend that’s good for 7,500 miles, and a full synthetic that’s capable of going 15,000 miles for some of those cars that are rated for 13,000 or 15,000 miles.

But now you’ve got the oil, there’s another problem. That other problem is the oil filter, because many filters are not designed to go these extreme distances. Now here we have five oil filters. They’re all from Fram. They’re all for the same vehicle. Now we’ve cut them apart so that you can see the differences inside. Some have paper end caps. There’s a difference in the pleats. There’s slight differences in the valves and things like that.

Now out of these there are two that are noteworthy. The one in the middle is an oil filter that is capable of going 7,000 miles. So if you have a 15,000 mile oil change interval, you’re going to have to change this filter twice. On the far left we have one that’s rated for high mileage cars, 75,000 miles and up, and it has an additive built into it that is time released.

But now one thing to consider; vehicle manufacturers, if they state that they have this long oil change interval, that means that their oil filters are designed for that long interval, like this one from BMW which is a canister type filter. In other words, it doesn’t have the tin around it. It just fits into a container on the engine. It’s designed right from the beginning to be good for the recommended oil change.

So do your homework and you can have these longer oil change intervals without damaging your engine. Do it wrong, and you can have a disaster on your hands.

If you have a question or comment, write to me.
The address is MotorWeek, Owings Mills, MD, 21117.

Is it worth buying a better oil filter?

The best oil filters are designed to retain 99 percent effectiveness for at least as long as your oil does (check your owner's manual for recommended change intervals). Some filter brands tout filtration capability for 7500 or even 15,000 miles, but we recommend replacing the filter every time you change the oil.

Which oil filter lasts the longest?

Our recommendation is Mobil 1's Extended Performance Oil Filter, designed to provide long-life performance for car owners who go longer in between oil changes. It features a 99.6% Multi-Pass Efficiency Rating and an advanced synthetic fiber blend media, and this particular model holds up to 28 grams of contaminants.

How long do oil filters last with synthetic oil?

Industry consensus is that synthetic oils perform better and last longer — anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 miles — before needing replacement but the premium oil also is much pricier than conventional oil or synthetic blends.

Can you reuse an extended life oil filter?

Yes, it's perfectly safe to use either type of filter with either type of oil. If you practice extended drain intervals using synthetic oil, however, a conventional oil filter may not offer the required service life, meaning you'll have to change it in the middle of the oil drain interval, which is inconvenient.

extended life oil filters worth