How many miles can you go on an oil change

The 3,000-mile oil change is dead. Cars can be driven more miles between oil changes than this outdated rule of thumb would have you think. Which leads to a slippery question: How often should you change your oil?

You could just ask your mechanic. However, that’s an invitation to recommend too frequent oil changes. It’s a mistake to “drop the keys on the counter and tell the mechanic, ‘Do what you think is right,’” says Richard Reina, product training director at auto parts site CARiD.com.

Instead, arm yourself with knowledge about what your car needs. You’ll save time and money — and protect yourself from upselling when you take your car in.

How often to change your oil

There are two ways to know when it's time for an oil change:

1. Look in your owner's manual. In the scheduled maintenance section, the manual tells you how many miles or how much time you can allow between oil changes. Most manufacturers also recommend changing the oil filter — an inexpensive item — when you change the oil.

Many owner's manuals list oil change schedules for severe and normal driving. If your driving habits fit the description of severe, such as driving at low speeds, extensive idling or towing a trailer, you’ll need more frequent oil changes.

For example, the manual for the 2016 Mazda3, a popular compact car, recommends oil changes every 7,500 miles, or six months, for normal driving and every 5,000 miles, or four months, for severe driving.

If you’re not in the mood to crack this seemingly impenetrable book, look for it online. Most manufacturers now have online versions that can easily be searched.

2. Look for the service light on your dash. Some cars have a light that says “service” or “service now” while others have an icon of a wrench or some other symbol. Generally, when the light comes on, it’s time to schedule an oil change.

However, the service light might be telling you that you need other maintenance performed, too, such as a tire rotation or routine inspections. To find out exactly what your light means — you guessed it — look in your owner's manual.

Oil life monitoring systems

Some cars use a different system for calculating when you need an oil change, although they, too, display a service light. Sometimes called “oil life monitoring systems,” a computer records information about how you drive, such as how long you drive and the engine’s operating conditions. It then determines when an oil change is needed.

The quality of the oil isn’t measured; instead, a calculation is made based on your driving patterns. So, if you take a lot of short trips, the light might come on after driving only 5,000 miles. If you do a lot of highway driving, which causes less wear on the engine, it might come on after 6,700 miles or more.

If you have an oil life monitoring system, you don’t have to worry whether you are under the normal or severe schedule — the car’s computer figures out what's best. You can find out from your owner’s manual whether your car has an oil life monitoring system.

Why frequent oil changes aren’t actually better

After an oil change, your mechanic might put a little sticker in the corner of your windshield telling you to come back in 3,000 miles. Over 60,000 miles of driving, that would be 20 oil changes, compared to 12 oil changes if you followed your manual's recommended 5,000-mile intervals.

Should you follow the repair shop’s timeline? After all, giving your car an oil change feels like you’re giving a reward to a hardworking friend.

But experts say that too frequent oil changes won’t make your car last longer or run better. Plus, you’re throwing away your time and money and a natural resource.

And while the oil change itself isn’t too expensive — between $42 and $79 for most cars, according to RepairPal.com — you’re likely to get pitches for additional services you might not need.

Changing your oil too frequently, and the dumping of waste motor oil, are also bad for the environment. Though much of it is collected after use, used oil “continues to be a serious environmental problem because it is insoluble and contains heavy metals and toxic chemicals,” according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

It’s long been the standard to take your car in for an oil change every three months or 3,000 miles. However, a lot has changed since the 3-month/3,000-mile adage was created. In fact, this advice may now be outdated, especially for newer vehicle models.

So, how long can you put off an oil change without incurring damage to your vehicle? The answer may not come pre-packaged in an easy-to-remember phrase (not yet, anyway — just give advertisers a few years), but it is ascertainable.   

Factors that determine how often oil changes are necessary

In the past, the main factors that determined how often you needed to change your oil were miles driven or time between oil changes — 3 months or 3,000 miles.

But the right time to change your oil (and how long you can put off an oil change) has, in a way, become more personalized as engines and oil have become more sophisticated. The three main factors that determine how often you should get your car’s oil changed are:

  • The type of vehicle: Different makes and models of cars will have different recommended times for getting your oil changed.
  • The conditions in which you regularly drive: Counterintuitively, frequent long trips are easier on your car than short ones. Short trips and inner-city driving are hard on your engine and necessitate more oil changes for your car.  
  • The age of the car: Older cars require more regular maintenance (and oil changes) than newer cars.

To help you understand these factors better, here’s an example.

Two people both own a Hyundai Accent. Person A purchased their car new in 2012, lives in Houston, and drives exclusively in stop-and-go inner-city traffic. Person B purchased their car new in 2018, lives in Sugar Land, and commutes to The Woodlands daily (with minimal stops in between).

Person A drives in strenuous conditions and has an older car. Person B drives in decent conditions and has a much newer car. Even if, by the end of the year, both cars have the same mileage, Person A should have changed his or her oil more frequently than person B.

When should I get my oil changed?

For an informed answer to this question, you can check your owner’s manual to see what the manufacturer recommends. If you have a newer car and use synthetic oil, the duration and miles you can drive before filling up may surprise you. Manufacturers of luxury cars have been known to recommend oil changes every 5,000 to 10,000 miles.

Of course, some people push even those limits. It’s not unheard of for us to receive calls from people asking how long they can go without an oil change after the engine light comes on.

In these cases, we always recommend that an individual comes in as soon as they can. However, you can typically drive your car another hundred miles or so once this light does come on — but beyond that, you’re pushing your luck.  

What happens if you don’t get an oil change for a long time?

Many people want to know how long you can put off an oil change, so they can stretch their dollar a little further. But know that by doing this, you might actually end up costing yourself more money in the future.

The primary jobs of oil in your car are to lubricate the engine’s metal parts and to carry away heat and dirt from those same parts. An oil filter then helps clear your oil of debris.

However, the longer you leave oil in your car, the dirtier it and the oil filter will get. If it becomes too dirty, the oil and the filter will no longer be able to do their jobs. In addition to these issues, the quality of the additives in your oil (rust-fighters, detergents, etc.) decreases over time.

Dirty, old oil can’t lubricate the engine’s parts or carry away heat. Instead, it builds up sludge, and your engine becomes damaged as a result, costing you thousands in the process.

If you change your oil regularly but notice that your oil levels keep dropping, there’s a possibility that your car is beginning to burn oil, which can bring about its own set of unique problems. For more information, check out our post called, “Can low oil cause overheating?”

How long should an oil change take?

Going to the mechanic for an oil change is about as appealing as going to the DMV or the post office. That being said, most maintenance shops can complete an oil change in 15 minutes (excluding wait time).

If you call ahead of time, a typical maintenance auto repair shop can tell you when the best time to come in would be or book a time slot for you.

Don’t wait to see how long you can put off an oil change. Let Colony One Auto Repair take care of it for you.

Whether you’re getting a pre-road trip car inspection or wondering, “Will my car pass an inspection with the airbag light on ?”, it’s always worth your time to see if you need an oil change.

Car owners living in and around Houston drive in conditions that are tough on engines. If you live in the area, getting an oil change in Sugar Land, Stafford, and the greater Houston area is a wise investment.

Colony One understands that you are busy and that car maintenance can feel like a chore. Let us take care of that chore for you — contact us online or call us at 281-800-9209 for all of your auto repair questions and needs.