Changing Your Car's Oil - What You Need to Know

If you drive frequently, you should change your car’s oil on the regular, or at least follow the manufacturer’s recommended frequency to ensure your engine stays in good shape. But just how often should you change your oil? And what are some other things you should know about changing your car’s oil? In this article, we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we walk you through everything you need to know about changing your car’s oil and getting it back on the road quickly and safely!

The Different Grades of Motor Oils

Two grades of motor oil are used in today’s cars and trucks: conventional and synthetic. Conventional motor oils contain a combination of base oils and additives. Synthetic oil is made up entirely of additives; its base oils are derived from petroleum. The fact that synthetic oil does not contain any base oil helps explain why it can withstand a higher temperature range than conventional motor oil. This feature, combined with better additive technology, allows synthetic motor oil to provide superior protection in engines that use direct injection, variable valve timing and turbocharging. So, if you have one of these engines (or plan on buying one), using a good-quality synthetic blend motor oil is likely worth considering.

When You Do Need to Change Your Car’s Oil

The frequency with which you should change your oil depends on how many miles you drive each year and what kind of car you have. If you have a vehicle that’s driven less than 7,500 miles per year, it should be changed every 3,000 miles. For those who travel farther each year, it’s important to change your oil more frequently—around every 5,000-7,500 miles. The average American drives about 12,000 miles per year in their vehicles. In some states, such as New York and California, there are laws mandating how often people must change their cars’ oil. In these areas, people should change their oils at least every three months (3,000 miles). Again, mileage and driving conditions affect your car’s frequency for needing an oil change; in most cases (but not all), synthetic oils can last longer than conventional oils before needing to be changed out.

Wouldn't I Just Be Better off Changing My Own Oil?

This really depends on how quickly you go through oil. If you change your own oil (more than) once every 3 months, then yes, it can make sense to change it yourself; but if not, then we think professional service makes more sense—it costs less over time and provides peace of mind that everything is going according to manufacturer specifications. While changing your own oil might seem like a quick-fix solution, even small errors in changing oils or filters could mean lost labor time at a later date for a qualified technician to fix what was done incorrectly. And these days technicians are getting paid so little that an extra hour’s pay may be all they’re making for their day’s work.

When Does It Make Sense for Me to Change My Engine Coolant?

The frequency at which you should change your engine coolant depends on how long you drive. The oil in your car burns up, just like it does in your body—the more work you do, i.e., driving, walking, etc., the more frequently it needs replacement. It’s not something most people think about until their indicator light goes off, but what they don’t realize is that they can change their engine coolant when they change their oil; and ultimately it will save them time and money over having to change both fluids separately. This is especially true if you have a diesel engine!

Accessing the Owner’s Manual

What is an owner’s manual? Is it even relevant anymore? Well, like your cell phone contract, if you ever want to sell your car, having an owner’s manual that contains details about all its features—including previous maintenance and repair work done—is a great selling point. Even if you don’t plan on selling your car anytime soon, knowing how often you should change oil or transmission fluid (or coolant), how much oil (and filter) you need to purchase, and what those services cost at your dealership are good things to know.