How often should you change your oil?

As often as your owner's manual or oil-life monitor says. Manuals give two limits, a mileage and a time, and the oil is due at whichever comes first. Enter yours and how much you drive to see which one you'll hit first and when the next change is due.

Last updated October 29, 2026· How we research and review

Where does your interval come from?

I don't know it yet Use a typical starting point until you can check the manual.My owner's manual says Enter the miles and months from the manual's maintenance schedule.

How the car is driven

Normal Mostly longer trips at steady speeds, mild weather, no towing.Severe Mostly short trips, stop-and-go traffic, towing, dusty roads, or extreme heat or cold.

Miles you drive a year

miles

A rough figure is fine: how far the odometer moved over the last year.

How often to change your oil

Every 7,500 miles or 12 months

whichever comes first — a typical normal-service starting point, not your car's own spec

At 12,000 miles a year you reach 7,500 miles in about 8 months, before the 12-month limit. Plan on a change about every 8 months, roughly 1.6 times a year.

When is my next oil change?

Optional. Fill in what you know from the windshield sticker or your last receipt. Nothing you enter leaves this page.

Odometer at last change

Date of last change

Odometer now

Add the odometer reading or date of your last change to see when the next one is due.

If your car has an oil-life monitor, follow it: it tracks how the engine is actually used and overrides any fixed interval, this one included. Change the oil by the manual's time limit even if the monitor still shows life left. Between changes, check the level monthly: a correct interval doesn't help an engine that is running low.

The short answer

1
If your car has an oil-life monitor (an oil-life percentage or a “service due” message), change the oil when it asks, and reset the monitor afterward.
2
Otherwise use the maintenance schedule in your owner's manual: a mileage and a time limit, whichever comes first.
3
Use the manual's severe-service schedule if your driving matches its list of severe conditions. It shortens both limits.
4
Don't default to 3,000 miles. That old rule no longer applies to most cars.

What counts as severe driving?

Each manual defines it, but the list usually looks like this. Plenty of everyday commuting qualifies:

• Mostly short trips, especially in cold weather, where the engine never fully warms up
• Stop-and-go city traffic or long periods of idling
• Towing a trailer or carrying heavy loads
• Dusty, muddy, or gravel roads
• Very hot or very cold climates

If one or more of these describes most of your driving and your manual has a severe-service schedule, use it. If you don't have the manual to hand, the calculator's typical starting points are 7,500 miles or 12 months for normal driving, and 3,750 miles or 6 months for severe driving.

Why there's a time limit as well as a mileage

Oil doesn't only wear out by being driven. Its additives deplete with age, and short trips that never fully warm the engine leave moisture and unburned fuel in it. That is why a car driven 4,000 miles a year still needs a change at the manual's time limit, even with thousands of miles left on the mileage limit.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Where the figures on this page come from. Your owner's manual still wins for your specific vehicle.

Check Your Number, Because 3,000 Miles May Be Too Early to Change Your Oil
California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). Cited for: The 3,000-mile oil change standard is out of date for most cars; many can go 5,000 to 15,000 miles between changes. Check the recommended interval in your owner's manual. Checked October 29, 2026.