When figuring out how often you should get your oil changes, you can always look in your owner's manual. This book is considered the most trusted resource for what your car precisely needs. However, in brief, you can approximate your oil change intervals by the age of your vehicle and the type of engine it has.
Oil Changes for Older Vehicles
Typically, automobiles built more than a decade ago with simple engine designs use conventional motor oil. This traditional oil needs to be swapped out around every 3 months or 3,000 miles. Some manufacturers might allow a couple thousand more miles, recommending a 5 month or 5,000-mile interval.
What May Necessitate More Frequent Oil Changes?
You may require an oil change more frequently if your driving conditions fall under the following:
- Frequent short trips <5 miles
- Extreme temperatures or dusty environments
- Often operating in stop-and-go traffic
- Towing or hauling heavy loads
Oil Changes for Newer Vehicles
Many modern vehicles have recommended utilizing synthetic or synthetic blend motor oil within the last ten years. Typically, these vehicles have a complex yet improved engine design that requires oil with additives (synthetic oil). Because motor oil is engineered to be more consistent and additives, it requires less frequent changes. New cars that take synthetic oil have oil change intervals of 7,500 or even 10,000+ miles. In other words, the old 3 months/3,000 miles standard does not apply, and you save money and time in the long run. Newer cars may also have a system to tell you when an oil change is needed, making maintenance easy to keep track of.
If you don't have an owner's manual on hand, you are always welcome to ask our professional team at Gil's Garage Inc. For all your oil changes and other maintenance items, we welcome you to bring your vehicle to our Burnt Hills auto service shop.