How Often Should You Change Your Oil?
If you’re a responsible car owner in Daytona Beach, Palm Coast, or Ormond Beach, you want to make sure you’re maintaining your vehicle in the right way, which includes scheduling regular oil changes. However, because there is so much conflicting information related to oil changes, it can be hard to know how often you need to change your car’s oil.
While you don’t want to wait too long to change the oil in your car, you also don’t want to spend money on unnecessary service tasks, making it important to learn more about the right oil change frequency. Learn how often you need to schedule an oil change for your vehicle so it runs well for many years and thousands of miles into the future.
A Matter of Time
Almost every car owner has heard at one time or another that their car’s oil should be changed every 3,000 miles. While this may have been true for older, inefficient vehicles, modern cars generally do not need oil changes this frequently. In fact, most car experts agree that your car will perform just fine with oil changes occurring every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. For some vehicles, every 10,000 miles may be adequate.
If you’re still driving an older vehicle, you may want to stick to the 3,000-mile rule, but for any car purchased within the last decade, an oil change every 7,500 miles should suffice.
Driving in Stressful Conditions
For the majority of drivers, changing their oil based on their vehicle’s mileage is the right choice. However, for car owners who operate their automobile in stressful conditions, the miles on the odometer may not indicate how much wear and tear their engine has experienced. If you drive your vehicle in severe conditions, you will need to change your oil more frequently.
Obviously, severe conditions can mean different things to different people, but for the purposes of your engine’s oil, “severe” means frequently stopping and starting, driving in very high temperatures, and driving in extremely dusty conditions. Anyone who regularly operates their vehicle in conditions like these should consider scheduling an oil change every 3,000 miles or so to ensure the long-term functionality of their engine.
Don’t Ignore Your Vehicle or Manufacturer
Your best resource for finding out how often you should change the oil in your vehicle is your car’s manufacturer. Vehicle manufacturers have set a recommended service schedule that can usually be found in your owner’s manual. This service schedule will tell you how often your manufacturer recommends changing your car’s oil to maintain optimal performance.
In addition, many vehicles feature a warning light that will activate when your car needs an oil change. Pay attention to this light and you’ll be able to get your car the regular oil changes it needs.
Schedule an Oil Change at a Local Dealership
Regularly changing your car’s oil will ensure you’re always able to reliably get around Ormond Beach, Palm Coast, or Daytona Beach. If it's time to schedule an oil change for your vehicle, you need to bring your vehicle to the service professionals at Daytona Toyota. The Daytona Toyota service and parts department can change your vehicle’s oil or take care of any other maintenance tasks you may need.
Visit us today!