How often should you change your oil?
Less often than the windshield sticker says, and never later than your manufacturer allows. Here is how to tell when your oil is actually due.
By the Aperio service team · Updated 26 September 2026
Why the sticker is out of date.
The small sticker on the windshield usually counts a fixed distance from the last change, often 5,000 km (3,000 mi). That habit comes from the oils and engines of decades ago, and it knows nothing about how your car is actually driven.
Modern full-synthetic oils last longer, and most manufacturers now publish longer intervals for the engines they build. Changing oil early doesn't harm the engine, but it doesn't help it either: you pay for oil that still had life left in it.
What the oil-life monitor actually measures.
Many recent vehicles have an oil-life monitor. It doesn't test the oil itself: it estimates how much life is left from the way the engine has been used — temperatures, engine speed, trip length and time — and counts down from 100% after each change.
Short trips, cold starts, idling, towing and heat use oil up faster, and the monitor shortens the countdown to match. That is why two identical cars can come due at very different distances.
At 10% or 8,000 km (5,000 mi), whichever is later. Never past the manufacturer.
On the Aperio plan, a connected car books its own oil change when its monitor reaches 10% oil life, or once it has covered 8,000 km (5,000 mi) since the last change — whichever comes later. Whatever the monitor says, we never go beyond the interval your manufacturer requires.
The average driver covers about 16,000 km (10,000 mi) a year, which usually works out to about two oil changes a year. A car that tows, idles or makes lots of short winter trips may need more; one that mostly cruises the highway may need fewer.
Check the interval, the time limit and the severe-service schedule.
Your owner's manual or maintenance guide is the final word. Look for three things: the distance interval; a time limit in months, because oil ages even when the car barely moves; and a separate schedule for severe service, which usually covers short trips, extreme cold or heat, towing and dusty roads.
If your car has no oil-life monitor, follow the manual's schedule by distance and by time. On the Aperio plan, a vehicle that isn't connected updates its mileage manually and the visit is booked from that.
About oil changes.
Is it bad to change oil too early?
Not for the engine, but it costs you money and oil that still had life left in it. Changing on time — by the monitor and within the manufacturer's interval — is what protects the engine.
Does synthetic oil last longer than conventional?
Generally, yes: full synthetics resist breaking down at high temperatures and flow better in the cold. How long it lasts in your car is still set by your manufacturer's interval and your oil-life monitor, not by the oil alone.
What if my car doesn't have an oil-life monitor?
Follow the distance and time interval in your owner's manual, and use the severe-service schedule if your driving matches it. On the Aperio plan you update your mileage manually and the visit is booked from that.
