Here is the chronology around this issue:
I travel (too much) and don't get to drive this car that much. The last 2-3000 miles were mostly accomplished on short city-wide trips (grocery store, Starbucks etc etc).

On April 24, I take the car in since it called for a "30,000 vehicle inspection." Mileage: 29,205. Oil service in 4,800 miles.
They give me a complimentary "low mileage (annual) oil service" - i.e. no reset of the indicator. Fine.

Between April 28 and May 4, I put almost 2,000 miles on the car - almost exclusively freeway driving (Los Angeles to Oregon and back). Today, the mileage is at 31,664 and the "Oil Service" is now due at 5,000 miles.

During the long drives, I noticed the "Oil Service" indicator going from 4,800 to 4,900 and now 5,000 miles.

So the question is: Has anyone ever seen the "Oil Service" indicator count backwards, or should I say "upwards"? Is this possible because of the radical change in driving style (short city to long freeway trips)?

 

Yes. It's condition based service. If the sensors determine there is more life left in the oil it will increase the service interval. Since you put new oil in without a reset that is the case. Also highway mileage will tend to lengthen the service interval some but the new oil is the larger factor here.

 

yes, that also happened to my car. long distance VS short city trips makes the difference and car's computer takes this into account.

 

Can't tell you exactly, but it sounds plausible. If you're now doing mainly freeway driving, you'd expect a bit more longevity from the engine oil.

My car has just had an oil change, as dictated by the I-drive. I do mainly motorway driving, and the last time it had an oil change was 17,000 miles ago. Sounds a lot, but it's being serviced in accordance with the specified interval........I am a great fan of CBS.

 

+1...your driving style also can effect the mileage count...drive more aggressive more often and the mile count will be lower/shorter...

 

This has been debated before: What algorithm determines oil life. I really doubt our cars have the ability to analyze oil quality, i.e. the quality of the (new) oil is not a factor. What they CAN do, is analyze driving style, i.e. length of trips, oil temp at shut-down, oil temp at start-up, min/max oil temps - stuff like that.

Probably, the oil change itself had nothing to do with the interval counter. Now that I see others having seen this behavior, I am sure it was the radical change in driving habit that caused the counter to reverse.

Thank you everyone for your input.

 

If it make you feel any better. The mileage for my rear breaks fluctuates +/- 3000 miles on any given day. Yesterday I had 7k miles today I had 4k and two weeks ago it stated 10k miles left.