ATLANTA — ATLANTA – Summer travel means taking good care of your car, but some drivers are going overboard and wasting money on unnecessary maintenance.
Why?
There is a long held belief that you need to have your oil changed every three thousand miles or every three months. There’s a time when that was true, but today’s cars and motor oils are much improved.
“Reality is, it’s all based on how you drive, what type of vehicle you have, what type of oil is in there.” says Zak Simmons, a mechanic with Carvana. “Motor oils contain detergents that need time to clean your engine. Since those detergents are in there, if you’re constantly changing them out, they can’t do their job.”
Read your owner’s manual.
If you’ve got a newer car, it might tell you to change the oil every 5,000 miles, 10,000 miles, maybe even 15,000 miles.
“Some vehicles have an oil change interval monitor that examines the driving habits and temperatures to determine, through an algorithm, when the oil should be changed,” says Ron Seay of AAA.
Use the type of oil recommended.
Simmons tells us the type of vehicle and the way you drive will make a difference.
“If you have a work truck it’s going to be way different because of the load you put on that engine,” says Simmons.
Give your oil time to work before you change it out or risk working too hard to keep your car running.