and a small amount of smoke (lighter color, if anything).Is this an issue of needing an oil change and new filter, or is there something more l should be concerned about.No engine noise or vehicle performance issues.

Of course any smell & smoke coming from the engine is a cause for concern. The fact that u r placing this much care into ur car shows that it is probably in pretty good shape.

Is the smoke coming from the exhaust? from under the hood?

If its exhaust. You could have one of several problems brewing.

The piston rings r wearing & oil is getting into the cylinders from the crankcase.

Your valve guides r wearing, ur valve seats r wearing.

If it is just a tiny amount of smoke, do not worry about it. Change ur oil every 3K miles & use a slightly heavier viscosity, i.e. 40wt instead of 30wt.

The fact that u have not changed the oil in 4,000 miles does not have any effect on smells of any kind coming from the engine compartment. Certainly, u want to get an oil change as soon as possible.

If the smoke is from the engine compartment, look for a valve cover leak & get it fixed. If it is from the exhaust pipe, have a mechanic do a leak-down test to see if u have a blown head gasket. Although that is more unlikely especially since u mentioned that there is NO performance issues.

Although u did not mention the total mileage of ur car, u should change the oil regularly, every 3 to 4 thousand miles is a good measure.

Excellent car, take care of it & it will last a long time.

Either it is burning oil or someone spilled oil somewhere and it is just burning on the outside of the engine which is not really a big deal. But do not wait until you DO have performance issues to have it inspected.

4000 is not that bad, not enough to cause any engine damage. If ur engine is smoking out the tailpipe, u may have a leaky headgasket. '96-03' 2.5 is had a huge failure rate, the gaskets have since been re-designed (twice). If the engine itself is smoking, than u probably have an oil leak, another common isssue. The most likely area is at the rear of the engine, above the exhaust. Oil leaking from the rear seperator plate drops directly on the exhaust. This plate has also been re-designed, now metal instead of plastic. l would look the engine over for leaks.and keep an eye on ur temp gauge & coolant level.

Not sure of ur mechanical knowledge so here r a few things too check:

When car is cool assure ur anti-freeze (coolant in radiator) is at proper level. There should be a resevoir off too the side that should show the proper level. u could have a small coolant leak ..

Power steering pump oil level?

Tranny fluied level?

Oil leak. well as long as it is good on the dip stick.

You probably have 100,000+ on the engine & it may have developed a small engine leak & dripping down on exhaust..