In the old days, 1950's people usually changed oil ever 2000 miles. Oil additives improved greatly over the next 40 to 50 years. I remember owning some GM cars in the early and late 80's. Someone suggested the 5000 mile oil changes on my '94 Corolla. I did and it used 3/4 quart by the time I hit 5000 miles. This was after the car had 150,000 miles on the clock using 5000 mile oil changes. But later with the '03 Corolla and now the new '07 Corolla Hybrid I decided to stick with the recommended 5000 miles changes. These last two cars I went with full synthetic oil just to insure less wear with the 5000 mile oil changes. I read somewhere it can up the gas mileage a mpg or so and may help prevent valvetrain wear. The 5000 oil and filter change sounds good to me. These newer engines have tighter clearances and these new improves oils are just the ticket.