There are a lot of “hidden” costs to car ownership; things like washer fluid, tires, and of course oil changes. Once upon a time, the magic rule was to change your oil every 3,000 miles. These days many cars can go 5,000 miles or more between oil changes. Some oils even market themselves as increasing the time between oil changes. Some people will push off an oil change as long as they can though, and this can (and does) result in some serious engine damage.

We’re not sure what excuse the owner of the Mustang motor in this next video has, but it seems clear to us that the oil in this Mustang has not been changed in a very, very long time. It looks like crap. Literally.

This is the absolute definition of “engine sludge” to the extreme. The video is just 26-seconds in length, and the brief description below asserts that the customer had not had an oil change in about 30,000 miles. That’s about ten times longer than oil experts recommend, and the result is solid-packed sludge in the cylinder heads.

As the video shows, the camshafts and valves are totally gummed up with sludge, and we can only imagine that the performance of this motor was severely curtailed. The engine is a 4.6 liter V8 out of a 40th anniversary 2004 Mustang, so it isn’t even that old. Such a sad sight to see, and we don’t even want to imagine what the internals of the motor must look like. This engine is probably a total loss.

Cost of ten oil changes; about $300. Cost of a new engine? About $3,000. Might want to check those dipsticks readers.