oil change history when buying used car
 

I've seen all kinds of articles and discussion threads where people discuss how often to have their oil changed, and get into all kinds of detail as to just what brand is best, what filter to use, etc.

But if it's so important, why have I seen ZERO articles or discussion threads about the importance of verifying oil change history when buying a used car??

This is a pretty bizarre situation, is it not?

So in my case, I bought a car from CarMax - looked good, didn't smell TOO bad, price was insane, but that's universal now. I get a Carfax history report, and it looks like oil wasn’t changed for 5 years and 27,000 miles!

I go online and try to find information about how many miles a car can go without an oil change before it is damaged, and can't really find anything - just various recommendations. But if the MAX is 10-15 thousand miles and/or 1 year between oil changes, why do I not see any warnings anywhere like "DO NOT buy a used car unless you can verify that oil has been changed AT LEAST every 10,000 miles or once a year?”

Needless to say, I returned that car to CarMax!

I realize that not every mechanic or oil change place reports to Carfax, but what else am I supposed to rely on? If I don't see it on Carfax, I have to assume that they did NOT get oil changes - right? Why would I assume they did?