The 3,000 mile oil change debunked?

Greencar.com has a article that will make Jiffy Lube mad. Real mad. Why? They say that in most cases, 3000 miles is too soon for an oil change. The article discusses how the development of synthetic oil and engine technology have made the normal change necessary at the 5,000 mile mark. Read more at the jump.

The 3,000 Mile Oil Change Myth

Think about this on a wallet level. The average oil change runs $25 or so. If you drive 25k a year and change diligently every 3000 miles, that comes to $208 a year in oil changes. But if you switch to every 5000 miles, that's only $125 a year. $83 a year difference.

The moral of the story is check your car manual. It will tell you what the manufacturer recommends, not what Joe at Wal-Mart thinks. Plus, if you can go at 5k, then that $83 you saved can go to get your tires rotated and balanced a few times, which not only extends tire life but keeps you under warranty (most tire warranties will void if they determine you haven't been getting regular rotations).

Credit card woes- Chase ending chronic fees

One way credit cards get you is that if your interest and late fees push you over your limit, they slap you with an over the limit fee. Say you have a $1000 limit but owe $975. You miss a payment, so interest and the late fee pushes you to $1005. Guess what? Add a $30 over the limit fee. Now you owe $1035. But the minimum payment is only $25. If that's all you can afford, that means you still are over your limit. So guess what? You get another over the limit fee. The clip I have here shows a man that had $1500 in late fees. Fortunately, it got Congress' attention, and Chase is vowing to stop the chronic late fees. If so, kudos to Chase for doing something right.
The question is whether other creditors will follow.

clipped from news.yahoo.com

Srednicki said the company has decided it no longer will charge over-the-credit-limit fees to customers who have been in a chronic over-limit position for 90 days.

Wannemacher used a new Chase card in 2001 and 2002 to pay for expenses mostly related to his wedding. He had $3,200 in purchases, interest charges of $4,900, 47 over-limit charges totaling $1,500, late fees of $1,100, for total charges of $10,700 as of February. He paid $6,300, leaving a $4,400 balance — which Chase agreed to waive after he contacted the subcommittee staff.

"Debt seems to invoke a feeling of hopelessness unlike any other problem I've encountered," Wannemacher testified at the hearing. "When a debtor calls you on the phone and you make a minimum payment, you know that you've made no real progress and that in a month, they will be calling again."