Cornfed24

Looking at buying a c7 z06.
Current owner put about 250 miles on car in last 2.5 years, however.
He also went 2.5 years between oil change.
It was stored in climate controlled garage on concrete floor.
Am I at risk of buying a motor with issues due to length of time between oil change?
Mobil1 5w30 synthetic.

Kel15

No, If you purchase, just do the oil change.

Shokwav

Should be fine. I wouldn’t take it straight to the track without changing the oil but sitting like that isn’t going to hurt anything.

Devereaux

Modern synthetic oil does not break down like the old petroleum based oils did. Change of oil is primarily because of dirt. IF you could keep your oil clean, you could use it forever. You can't, though, so you change it out. The bigger motors have dry-sump lubrication, so they have positive lube under any conditions - except lack of oil. That is your only risk. Check there really IS oil, and you're good to go.

Cornfed24

Thank you for the input.
Oil/Filter was changed late fall 21 then stored.
Put on 85 miles in 22 and 145 in 23.
Then he changed oil/filter in April 24.

I can’t say for certain, but I believe those few miles were Sunday driving miles as well.

shopteacher

The primary reasons to change oil regularly are chemical and atmospherical contamination and the breakdown of the chemical additive package added to the "oil" (petroleum or synthetic) base used to lubricate. These additives add to lubricity, chemically treat the oil to improve pour point performance, maintain SAE viscosity under operating conditions, clean, provide cold startup protection and more. With the advent of current ignition and fuel injection processes, much more accurate machining procedures, cleaner burning fuels and improved oil manufacturing, oils are far superior those used in your father's Oldsmobile. Oil alone unless burned will not wear out. It can be retreated and reused indefinitely. The hardest thing you can do to your oil is starting the engine and not getting it warmed up to operating temperatures. I consider that to be open road speed for at least fifteen minutes.
You can not change your oil too often. Your engine likes it but it is expensive and wasteful. The short answer is to follow the manufacturer's recommendations. They spend a lot of money to insure low warranty payouts. Very few engine failures can be attributed to oil failure alone.

Cornfed24

Thank you for response. Sounds like best to follow recommendations of at least changing every 12 months, but in this case with minimal use, minimal mileage, climate controlled storage, it’s pry ok it went without an oil change for 2.5 years, so don’t let it deter me from buying but make sure to get on a routine on doing it annually regardless of mileage?

Shokwav

if everything else checks out with the car I’d buy it. Would much rather a car stored in this manner than something beat on with higher miles

C7.R 004

Cornfed,

Lake Speed Jr, The Motor Oil Geek, has tons of videos on YouTube.
He convinced me that he is an expert with knowledge and experience.
YMMV

Cornfed24

Do you know what his take is on this or should I reach out directly to him?

ZMC2001

This wouldn't cause me too much concern as was mentioned. The car should be fine and I would buy it. The only thing that would concern me is that if the car indeed has THAT low of miles, the quirks may not be worked out yet and there could be problems with parts down the road as you put more miles on it. This has nothing to do with the oil, but generally when I buy a used car, I like one with around 10K miles so that I know anything faulty from the factory has a better chance of already failing and being replaced under warranty as I highly doubt there will still be warranty on the car. This is not full proof, but makes me feel a bit better. If you plan on modifying a car though, this is a moot point. All in all, I would buy the car, nothing you said would scare me away.

Cornfed24

perfect, the car has just over 10k miles. The current owner only put 1,200 miles on last 4 years.

C7.R 004

Corn,
I'm sure Lake has a video addressing your concerns.
As mentioned, change the oil/filter and have fun!!

Cornfed24

Doesn’t sound like he would approve

rtv900

what year and how many miles on the car?

do you mean the 2nd owner basically never drove it?
or this is one of those cars that somebody bought and stored?

Thomasmoto

That car will be fine. I would just change the oil when you buy it.

Cornfed24

2016
10,300 miles
it was consistently changed by 1st owner
2nd owner was dealer for short time
3rd owner was older guy, put 200 miles on then passed
4th owner was first owners neighbor
he’s out 1,200 miles on it in last 4 years
does own oil changes, keeps his records written down
changed it 3 times over 4 years and 1200 miles
but there was so few miles in a 2.5 year window that he didn’t change it
so 1st was when he bought, second was nov 21, third was April 24

Cornfed24

he just changed it last month

acroy

Don't worry about it. If it's a good deal, buy it and enjoy it. It's basically a new car.

rtv900

gotcha

either way I wouldn't worry about it.
If you are really concerned you could just get the oil nice and hot (since it was just changed last month) and then do another change
that would loosen up and dissolve any potential sludge that built up that may not have been flushed out on the last change (or if some of the past owners did oil changed cold)
You'll be able to tell immediately by the appearance of the oil