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Oil Life Monitor

Most of today's vehicles come with an "Engine Oil Life Monitor." Great, one less thing to keep track of! Without going into all the details of "how that is calculated," the computer tracks all your driving conditions. It takes a "scientific guess" according to known factors such as mileage, time, and different engine demands on the oil, etc., creating the need for oil service.

What the system "doesn't do" is the oil life monitor's weakness. The inaccuracy occurs because the system does not know the difference between cheap conventional oil and top-quality synthetic. Also, the oil is not being tested by sample like a chemist would do to have accurate "wear-out" results.The "oil monitor reminder" is user friendly, but don't rely on it entirely for proper maintenance.

So what is a person to do? There are too many recommended variations to list here as everyone has different driving habits. If you drive ten - to fifteen thousand miles a year, we recommend an oil service (when using synthetic oil) in the spring because winter is hard on the oil. Then we recommend a fall oil service because we tend to drive more in the summer so as to have fresh oil for winter. Remember, every driving situation is different, causing different maintenance requirements.

If you are unsure, ask your Auto Techinician what would be best ofr you.

By the way, The three thousand mile oil service is wasteful and no longer aplicable.

Happy Motoring!