Prolonged idling should also be avoided for various reasons. Plus it would take a long time for you to idle in order to warm up to the optimum temperature.

So with your situation, I can't see any practical solution that would avoid those detrimental effects to the motor. I know it's an inconvenience but the only prudent way I can see is to take it out on the west side highway or fdr for a few minutes to get up to the optimum temperature and then park.

 

Or... just plan to trade it in at 60,000 miles. No way it's going to experience any problems before that. Probably not before 100k. The question is not "Is it better to NOT do short trips that don't get to op temp", because of course the answer is yes, it's better not to. But the real question is: "Will there be any functional difference in my ownership experience if I violate that tenet?" And I suspect that if you plan on piling 2-or-300,000 miles onto the back of this poor truck that yes, going by the rulebook would give you a better chance of making it without at least a top-end rebuild, if not a full long-block. But for the vast majority of people on this earth who own new vehicles, this discussion we're having is something they have never considered for one picosecond of their lives. And we don't see them sprawled on the side of the highway, hood up, steam pouring from their busted engine, with only 90,000 miles on the clock.

You will be far, far more inconvenienced in your life if every three days you have to find a way to drive for 20 minutes before parking directly across the street, then if you just drive the thing like my neighbor with a 2023 P400 who works in a mid-rise 450 feet from his house (and 600 feet from mine), yet drives his truck there every single day of the week that he's in town. And his wife drives her Disco separately. Very funny. I can just about guarantee they would arrive at the same time walking, when you consider the "finding a parking space in the garage" time.

 

I agree with everything you stated.

But the op's question was "is it better....?"

The question was not "would it really cause any significant problem within 100k miles?"

So I merely answered that question with regards to "what is better".

In addition, one person's consideration of "inconvenience" can be totally different than that of another person based on their personal preference, comfort level and priorities.

Some people choose to park their cars far far away at the corner with minimum chance of any other cars that would likely be parked next to it because it's very important for them to avoid getting dinged. They are willing to spend the extra time and effort to do such inconvenient thing because it's worth it for them. "Inconvenience" is subjective in many cases and people's love and passion about their cars is certainly one of those cases.

 

I regularly go back & forth across the pond. I had an opportunity to sit with a Shell lubrication engineer up in 1st class one flight. Naturally I used the opportunity to ask some questions about oils. Oils tend to enter a semi religious theatre of discussion. Basically, what he told me makes good sense. Most modern oils, especially the latest synthetics, can last 50,000 miles and not have any significant loss of lubricating properties. The issue is not that they will not lubricate your engine, but how they disperse blow by combustion products. In the olden days this was mainly lead. He explained in an effort to boost octane numbers, a fairly elaborate cocktail of volatile chemicals are added. The combustion products of these get by the rings and into your oil. Modern oils have a limited buffering and dispersal capability of these components. So over time your oil becomes acidic, mainly from the NoX compounds in the blow by. These combine with moisture to become nitric acid. Nitric acid does not play friendly with things like bearings and such. So you oil change should be more calendar than fixed milage based to purge the residual blow by components. Additionally, many manufacturers, like Toyota only recommend a filer change every other oil change. Which makes sense, seeing that most oil systems are fairly well sealed from the environment, unlike old open systems before emissions. In aircraft we not only have to change filters, but are required to cut them open and inspect for particles. How often do I find stuff? Thankfully, so far, never.

 

First I’ll admit that I have not read every line of every post on this topic so this may be redundant. It comes with a little story;

In 2001 I purchased a new BMW 525i Touring with double overhead camshafts and dual variable valve timing (VANOS). It was one of the first engines to run on high mileage, pee thin fully synthetic motor oils. At that time the recommended oil change interval was 15,000 miles which caused a lot uproar at the time.

I’ll spare the long story and cut to the chase; Turns out the best strategy for oil changing was to not get overly concerned with the oil breaking down but instead just do extra filter cartridge replacements between changes. The filter cartridge sits right at the top/front of the engine (BMW and Land Rover) and is about a five minute stand-up job. Eeezy peezy!”

The BMW? It’s sitting in my driveway right now and runs as strong as when it was new. Not bad for 23 years of great motoring.

Hope you find this helpful.

 

this entire conversation to me is fascinating, the lack of information available and education as technology has changed has almost created a level of 'voodoo maintenance' rules.

 

I think there is no lack of information and education as the car markers as well as the oil manufacturers state the updated technology and the change in recommended interval in the form of the owner's manual and the product documentations.

The uproar and skepticism only exist because of certain car owners' mistrust of the provided information along with personal preferences.

 

I'm part of the voodoo crew. My 2021 P300 has 38k miles on it and I bring it in for oil changes, 5 tire rotations and ask for the inspection every 5k miles. I did the research and, indeed, because of the advances in oil and engine tech, 20k miles between oil changes is pretty normal. I believe the data and that I COULD rely on it and get my oil changed less often, but since I'm bringing it in for the tire rotation and check-up anyway, I figure the oil change can't hurt. Sometimes I wonder if the dealership is just sticking to JLR's oil change schedule (my white steelies are numbered, so I know the tires are being rotated) but how would I know if they're actually changing the oil?

Anyway, FlexArmstrong (we named it) is our only car, it's our daily driver and we've made round trips from our home in New Orleans to: Chicago (4 or 5 times), Houston, Austin, Green Bay and even out west to Santa Monica (with detours to Big Bend, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon and Vegas) and we drive to Pensacola Beach (FL) and Orange Beach (AL) to surf several times each summer. ZERO performance or reliability issues. It's been fabulous!!

I'm at the dealership right now because the battery to fix the "SOS Limited Functionality" error message came in (it took six weeks to get and seeing that error message every start up was annoying). But beside that, the only other warranty issue was a check engine light for an emissions sensor @ 12k miles . We've been really happy. I'm not saying extra oil changes and tire rotations have anything to do with the car's performance, but I don't think it hurt.

 

I don't do as many miles as you so I have settled on 12 month / 5-10,000 mile oil change intervals. I do tire rotations every six months or every 5k as well.

To me the calendar is as important as the miles driven and living on the coast in a salty environment, I feel like annual oil changes rather every two years works for me as I'm planning on keeping the Defender for a long time.

 

Agree on the calendar based approach, and I have devised a very simple oil change plan for all of my cars.

Annually. Whatever the mileage is.

Simplifies things.

** may not work for everyone. The most miles a year I'll put on any one car is maybe 8000-10000.