How Often to Change Oil? Is 3000 Miles A Myth? 

If you're wondering how often to change the oil? Frequency depends on your vehicle's make, model, and year. Older cars require an oil change every 3000 miles. However, newer vehicles might not need an oil change for up to one year! 

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An oil change is one of the very important regular maintenance, and the driver should perform it. Failing to change your vehicle's oil can result in undesirable outcomes that could cause engine failure.

Understanding how often to change oil can be a little tricky for many inexperienced drivers. While most vehicles should have detailed information in their vehicle owner’s manual, automotive experts came up with a rough estimate about when exactly to change your vehicle's oil.

This article provides you with all that you need to know to answer “how often to change oil?” It also provides you with additional information to help you understand the consequences of delaying oil change. 

Why is oil change necessary?

Before we dive into the details about how often to change the oil, you need to understand how the system works and why oil is so important in your vehicle.

Since the car consists of many moving components, it is necessary for these components to a state lubricated over time to prevent friction, which leads to increased temperature. While temperature is needed for your vehicle to operate properly, exceeding certain temperature thresholds can significantly damage, including complete engine failure.

Over time of use, oil can get contaminated and carry a lot of debris as it runs around the engine. At a certain time, you will need to change the oil to continue driving the vehicle and get the top optimal performance.

Here are some of the common benefits you'll get when changing your vehicle's oil: 

• Improve your vehicles gas mileage 

When the oil gets contaminated, your engine must work harder, which will consume much more fuel. If you are a person who drives long distances all the time, gas mileage can be a big headache for you. Therefore, if you would like to maintain the optimum fuel economy, you better perform oil change at the right time with the right frequency.

• Expand the lifetime of your engine 

While engines are not designed forever, and there will be a point where you have to deal with damages, performing regular oil change can reduce chances of engine damage is. When the engine has the right amount of lubrication, there is less chance for engine components to interact, causing friction and wearing out prematurely. 

• Prevent engine overheating 

Although your engine will need a certain temperature level to operate properly, exceeding a maximum threshold can cause engine damages. Oil is one of the methods your vehicle uses to maintain optimum engine temperature. When the oil is contaminated, it won't do the job properly, and your engine can overheat quickly. Once the engine overheats, expectations of engine self-destruction are very likely. 

• Remove engine debris

Another important benefit of an oil change is keeping the engine clean. As the oil moves around the engine, it collects all debris and contamination. Once performing an oil change, all the debris and contamination will be cleared out and flushed out with the oil. Thus, you will achieve a cleaner engine, and you will notice a big difference in the engine's overall performance. 

• Better performance with the new oil filter 

Most oil change involves placing the old oil filter. If the oil filter is clogged, you will achieve a better engine performance by installing a new one. 

How often to change the oil?  

In every vehicle owner’s manual, there should be detailed information about the type, amount, and frequency of oil change. Recommendations in your vehicle’s manual do not mean that your vehicle might not need oil change earlier. It all depends on your driving habits, were driving environments, and sometimes your vehicle's condition. 

According to experts, the frequency of oil change is totally different depending on your vehicle's model year. Recent vehicles tend to require less oil change than older vehicles made before the 1990s.

In general, any vehicle older than 1990 requires an old change once every 3000 miles, or sometimes people might use the three months threshold instead. On the other hand, more recent cars might even get away with an oil change every 7500 or 10,000 miles. If you own a modern car with more modern technology, you might not even need an oil change for up to one year.

To give you a better idea about the frequency of oil change by vehicle type, let's take a look at the table below: 

As you noticed in the previous table, the frequency of changing oil can differ significantly depending on the brand. Also, if you would look for more details at the same automaker, you will find that oil change frequency might also be different depending on the model here. 

Can you go a year between oil changes? 

Answering this question depends on a lot of factors. In general, changing oil is a function of the miles you drive per year, your vehicle type, and the type of oil itself.

It is possible that you do not need an oil change for up to a year in certain circumstances. For example, if you don't drive your car that often and you're not expecting to exceed, say, the 10,000 miles in a certain vehicle, then you might be able to get away without an oil change for a year.

However, if you own an older car that requires oil change once every 3000 miles, it might be a little challenging to say yes, you can get away without an oil change once every year.

Therefore, the best way to get an accurate answer is to do the math and calculate how many miles you drive every year. Then, consider reviewing your vehicle's orders manual to get a better idea about the oil change frequency. 

How long can you go without an oil change after It's due? 

It depends on the model, may, year, and type of oil. If you're driving a more advanced car, you might not need an oil change, sometimes up to 15,000 miles.

Now, if you know that you already passed the due date for oil change, the longer you drive your car, the worse it gets, and in some scenarios, it might cost you the entire vehicle! So, whether you're driving an old car or a modern car, passing the due date for an oil change can be extremely costly and will get you to undesirable outcomes.

No matter what it takes, it is always recommended that you perform an oil change as soon as possible, and if you just know that you passed to do the oil change, he should immediately go ahead and change it.

In general, we the oil is too dirty, you will start noticing some other symptoms associating with the bad oil. This means that even if your past does, if you are at an alarming stage, your engine will start showing other symptoms, and you will notice firstly the higher engine temperature, which should put the red flag and warn you to take care of the problem immediately. 

What happens if oil change is overdue? 

When your oil change is overdue, the engine will not be able to cool down. Since oil is responsible for bringing the engine's temperature down to the optimum threshold, the engine might continue overheating to an alarming level.

Also, since oil is responsible for lubricating the moving components in your engine, you might deal with engine failure due to parts wearing out fast. Those, the longer you wait on the old change, the more the trouble. Don't be surprised to suddenly deal with complete engine failure without knowing what's going on if you skipped the oil change for extended timeframes. 

Should you change your oil by date or mileage? 

In general, you are using mileage as the main reference for an oil change. Some modern cars might have an alarming system warning you when your vehicle is due for an oil change. However, it is more about the frequency of driving your car.

For instance, if you don't drive your car frequently, oil change might still be necessary after a certain date because the oil has been sitting still for an extended time, which means that the oil might not be as efficient as before. Thoughts, that's where when you might need to rely on a date for an oil change. 

How much does an oil change cost? 

All change costs defer depending on your vehicle and the location where you get the oil changed. In general, most oil changes should cost somewhere between $20 and $100.

For instance, express oil change charges you between $37.99 and $69.99. However, jiffy loop my charge you somewhere between $39.99 and $99.99. 

Many drivers prefer to change the oil by themselves without needing a professional, saving them a lot on labor costs. Although it can cost some money to get your oil changed at a professional location, many modern cars prefer to get the old changed at a dealership even though the labor cost is a little high. This way, they confirmed that nothing would go wrong, which could cause them more than what the oil change costs. 

Is it worth using synthetic oil? 

Synthetic oil is known to provide additional efficiency to your vehicle; however, it is much more expensive than regular oil.

Many drivers think that when using synthetic oil, they'll achieve better efficiency in any vehicle. However, the thing depends on your vehicle's type. Certain engines are designed to accept synthetic oil, which means that you'll see a difference in the performance when you use synthetic oil. However, other cards are just designed for certain lower-level oils, which means that you won't necessarily get any benefits even if you add synthetic oil.

Therefore, we always recommend that you review your vehicle's owner’s manual to get a better idea about the best type of oil to use instead of wasting your money on unnecessary things. 

Conclusion

An oil change is a very important maintenance that you must perform regularly. Ignoring or skipping an oil change can cost you your vehicle in certain situations!

While it's always been known that 3000 miles are the common threshold for changing your vehicle's oil, more modern vehicles now do not need an oil change up to 15,000 miles in some scenarios. Did you know that you can even get away without changing your vehicle's oil for up to one year?

If you realize that your vehicle requires oil change more often than before, there might be an internal problem, and there could be some oil leak. If your car's problems are beyond repairs, it might be the right time now to sell your car to Cash Cars Buyer. 

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