How funny! A local dealer here told me that due to the auto stop feature, the metallic moving parts (the reason the oil is in there in the first place) aren't moving and thus do not need to be lubricated for that amount of time. And that the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) helps power the engine and takes some of the strain off the components. So with less stress on the oil, the oil would last longer between fillings.

And the fact that today's oils are far superior to the conventional oils of several years ago when the adage: "every 3K miles or 3 months," evolved from.

If fact, if I can find my owner's manual to my '59 Ford. I believe the oil change interval was something like every 1200 miles or so. I get a kick out of that every time I see it. If that was the standard back then, it sure did take quite a lot of barraging new information into our brains about the "3K or 3 mos" rule. Because now we can't seem to get past it!

From the looks of things, from auto manufacturers stating longer changing intervals in their owners manuals, oil companies advertising they have formulas for 3750, 5000, and even 7500 miles intervals, we're bound to finally break the old school thought of the "3K miles or your car will burst into flames and return to hell" view everyone has.