Guide

How often should you change the oil?

Your owner's manual decides. The rest is remembering when.

Miles or months, whichever comes first

Every manual gives an interval in miles (or kilometers) and in months: change the oil at whichever comes first. A car that drives little still needs its oil changed with time. Short trips, towing, dust and heat often call for the shorter, “severe” schedule of the manual.

Keep the record

Note the date and the odometer of each oil change, and the next one is easy to work out: the odometer plus the interval in miles, or the date plus the months. Keep the receipts too: they show the car was looked after when you sell it.

With Car Log

Log an Oil change as a Service with a Repeat every interval in miles and days. For a first oil change, the app proposes 5,000 miles or 180 days (10,000 km or a year in metric): a usual interval, to change to the one in your manual. The Car screen then shows when it is due, and a notification reminds you. See Maintenance log.