When To Get An Oil Change

An oil change is one of the most basic car maintenance services your car
requires on a regular bases to maintain the working life of your
engine. Having your oil checked regularly in your car, truck, van or
sport utility vehicle is important but there is a lot of debate of how
often you should get it changed. Some suggest that it should be every 3
months. Others simply rely on what their mechanic suggests when they put
a new sticker on your car with the mileage at which it should be
brought back to the shop. It is important to know what determines the
best time to get an oil change for your car and for your lifestyle.

Time is not the best way to go about choosing when to have an oil change
unless you are a reliable driver that has a solid schedule day-to-day,
year to year. The three-month time interval is based on the notion that
the average person drives a thousand miles a month. After 3 months or
3,000 miles, you should get yours changed. Not everyone, however, drives
that many miles. Some may drive more than 1,000 miles a month,
especially if they travel long distances to work or it’s a commercial
vehicle that takes frequent trips.

Most mechanics will tell you that the most important way to figure out
when you need an oil change is, therefore, mileage. For most Americans
the average driver puts between 5,000 to 1,500 miles on their car each
year. Mechanics suggest changes between 3,000 to 5,000 miles driven. For
someone who commutes locally and takes infrequent trips, chances are
you’ll only need to change your oil once a year. For the more
adventurous traveler, you may be changing your oil 3-4 times a year, a
national average.

The most important reason to change your oil is for quality. You can
regularly check the quality of your oil to make sure you don’t need an
oil change sooner than your mechanic suggested last time they took a
look at your oil. Sometimes long trips or environmental factors can
cause the oil to go down in quality. The oil shouldn’t be a burnt color
or look gunky. If you’ve driven 2,000 miles since your last oil change
but have low quality oil in your tank, you should go to your mechanic
for a change right away instead of waiting.

Maintaining good quality oil and having regular oil changes on your car
is the most important regular maintenance task to maintain your engine.
Make sure you’re aware of how often you drive your car and how many
miles you put on it regularly in a given month or year. This will help
you make the best decisions when deciding on when to get your next oil
change.




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