By Sladen West
Don’t blow bubbles in your milk. Turn the lights off when you leave a room. Don’t fight with your sister. Don’t chew with your mouth open. Change the oil every 3,000 miles. We’re taught all of these things from a very young age, and these ideas start to become ingrained in our brains and in our mindset. While most of them are excellent teachings from our parents or guardians, at what point do we find out whether or not it’s really necessary to change the oil in your car every 3,000 miles?
For a long time, 3,000 miles was the guideline that motorists would follow in order to know when to get their oil changed. With cars becoming more gas and oil efficient, many car experts have become concerned and more vocal that they believe changing your oil every 3,000 miles is too soon and is bad for the environment. A lot of it depends on the way you drive and where you’re driving to also.
If you look in the manufacturer’s manual that comes with your car, you’ll likely find that they suggest to change the oil less frequently than 3,000 miles. Some suggest 4,000 and others may even suggest changing the oil after you’ve driven 5,000 miles. With cars that were made in the last decade, you’re almost bound to find out that you do not have to get the oil changed after 3,000 miles.
One of the things that will most affect how much oil is used is your daily commute. Defensive driving helps to conserve oil while driving as well as the distance that you have to drive. If you have to drive over 15 minutes on a freeway to get to work, your engine will be better warmed up and will stay more lubricated than it would otherwise. This means that you can get more miles out of your oil than you would if you weren’t driving as far. The less you drive the less time you’re giving your car to warm up, the less time you’re giving your oil to circulate throughout the engine and it will end up taking a toll on your car. Stop-and-go traffic as well as extreme weather (hot and cold) can be detrimental to your oil and car.
One of the best ways that you can avoid getting an unnecessary oil change is by buying a car that will show you how much oil you have left. There are different Honda models that will show you that you only have a certain amount of oil left, which reminds you that you’ll need an oil change whether you’ve driven 3,000, 4,000 or 5,000 miles. This feature saves you money and it can help you do your part to protect the environment.
When you’re getting oil changes when they aren’t necessary, your car will be consuming much more oil than you need to, which will end up hurting the environment. The longer you wait between oil changes, however, the dirtier your engine becomes. This puts the owner in a bit of a predicament, but in the end, you do need to get around and your car is the best way of doing that.
Once you buy a car, check the owner’s manual to see how often you should get the oil changed. Follow it’s instructions, check the oil manually and change the oil only when necessary. If you do this, your car will be taken care of, and you’ll do your part to protect the environment.