Schell Distributing Inc

How Often Do You Change Your Car's Oil?

Whether you learned it through your parents’ instructions or by reading the owner’s manual, you know that changing the oil from time to time is one of the responsibilities of owning a car. You might change it yourself or bring your vehicle to a quick lube, the procedure is essentially as follows:

Remove dirty oil.
Change filter.
Fill with clean oil.

If you do this regularly, your car will last longer. But the question remains, how frequently should you change your car's oil?

Get It Here!

Debunking the 3,000 Mile Oil Change Myth

Changing your oil every 3,000 miles is a practice passed down for generations. The origin likely stems from the noble effort to provide consumers with a simple vehicle-maintenance rule that left plenty of room for error.

Marketed by fast lubes

Fast lube chains, which first entered the market in the 1970s, adopted and amplified the message through sustained marketing campaigns. Owned by major oil manufacturers, fast lube chains had a financial interest in seeing customers frequently and selling more oil, the vast majority of which was conventional.

Endorsed by your dad and mechanic

The reason so many motorists dutifully change oil every 3,000 miles is because their fathers and their mechanics – two of the most influential groups in automotive circles – told them they should. For many people, the 3,000-mile oil change is a tradition that ties them to the person who taught them many important life lessons, like how to keep your car running properly.

Synthetic motor oil technology

Synthetic lubrication technology plays a significant role in moving beyond the 3,000-mile oil change interval. Synthetic motor oil offers better wear protection, improved resistance to temperature extremes and increased cleanliness properties compared to conventional oils. For that reason, it’s safe to use them longer than 3,000 miles.

AMSOIL products provide confidence with additional protection that goes beyond the standard.

For example, AMSOIL Signature Series Synthetic Motor Oil…

Provides 75% more engine protection against horsepower loss and wear than required by a leading industry standard.¹
Achieved 72% better protection than required by a leading industry standard2, providing ultimate protection against extreme heat and the harmful deposits that can plague turbochargers.
Achieved 100% protection against LSPI.3

So, while it’s vital to change your oil and take care of your vehicle, modern synthetic oils have made the 3,000-mile oil change as dated as the rotary phone.

In short, oil has a lifespan. Premium synthetic oils are formulated for longer performance life, but as yet there are no oils that last forever. To ensure maximum engine life, performance and fuel efficiency and minimum emissions, change your oil when it needs to be changed. Here’s a document that can help you identify recommended change intervals for your vehicle.

AMSOIL Warranty

AMSOIL guarantees the performance of its products, so you can be confident they perform as advertised. AMSOIL introduced the world’s first API-qualified synthetic motor oil and has since introduced a full line of industry firsts. For more than 40 years, AMSOIL synthetic lubricants have proven themselves in the lab, on the racetrack and on the highway.