How often should i change the engine oil and oil filter of my car?

My Car is Honda Civic 1999.How often should i change the engine oil and oil filter of my car?
This question never ends. Every vehicle made today comes with the manufacturers recommended maintenance schedules. Usually there are two schedules one for regular duty use and the other for extreme duty use. The vast majority of drivers fall into the regular duty schedule. The recommendations in most manuals call for oil changes every 5000 to 7500 miles. Now remember that the manufacturers are the ones who foot the bill for warranty repairs so... if they say you should change the oil every 5000 to 7500 miles doesn't that make sense?





This whole thing about 3000 miles and 3 months is part of the marketing model of the quick change oil shops. Its in their best interest to convince you to change your oil as often as possible. If you were to ask them why you should follow their 3000 mile guidelines instead of the manufacturers recommendation they'll point to manufacturer's extreme duty schedule, not the normal intervals.





Now, if you're driving a taxi or delivery van in a big city, live in an extremely hot, dusty desert area, do a lot of driving on unpaved dusty roads you should probably follow the extreme duty oil change intervals... but for the vast majority of us - follow the manufacturer's recommendation for regular duty use.How often should i change the engine oil and oil filter of my car?
I say 3,000 miles or every 3 months, and I know a lot of people argue with it.





An oil change costs $25...why argue over the extra 2,000 miles when preventative maintenance, a happier engine and clean oil are all good things, especially for so little money.





Check your vehicle's maintenance book. Some will say (and I'll bet your Civic is one of them), that every 5,000 miles is OK. In that case, do what Honda says, but know that doing it any sooner won't hurt your car in anyway.





Another thing to remember is that--even though I don't see them as much anymore--don't go by the claims on the oil bottle. I know of one instance where a company was advertising 15,000 mile motor oil. I don't know how good it worked at 14,999 miles, but when an engine went bad in someone's truck, the manufacturer voided their warranty because they weren't changing oil at the proper intervals mentioned in the vehicle's guide, and the were left with a bum engine.





As long as you do what the manufacturer recommends, you'll be fine, and doing it at 3,000 miles is fine as well.
I agree with g-man again.


However, I personally tend to change the oil(but I do it myself) around the 3000 mile mark on older vehicles that may not be in 100% top shape.


Older engines tend to have more blow-by, wear and tear, and other things that can cause the oil to get dirty faster. I like to see clean oil on a stick, but that is just me.


Fast oil change companies tend to just want to make the ';fast'; money. One service that some perform, that actually can be a good service in some cases, is having the oil analized. This is certainly not needed on newer vehicles, those under warranty, or even every oil change, but can be helpful on older high mileage vehicles. Also, some of these places tend to check a list of things and inform the driver. this can be a very good thing. Some just change the oil and check off the list.


Preventive maintenance; Checking the cv joint boots more often on older vehicles is important. Anyone that owns an older FWD has probably bought cv joints or axles because the boots cracked, were not caught, and a cv joint wears out.


Gone is the days of full service(maybe except NJ) where the attendant went the extra mile for customer satisfaction and checked certain things. Now people just drive and when it breaks down they cry and fix it or walk.


An ounce of preventive maintenance is far better than a ton of repairs.
it depends on what type of driving you do and what type of oil you use. If you do mostly in town driving you need to change it every 3000- 4000 miles, if you drive mostly highway every 6500-7500 is fine, if you use synthetic oil you can drive further between oil changes, look in the owners manual for the manufacturers recommendations, you will find it in the maintenance section.
well ,it depends on driving condition , engine condition and oil specifications but mainly check your engine oil at normal temperature (20-30)centigrade by touching ,looking to the colour and smell it at about 3000-4000 miles of using ,bad conditions such as driving in hot weather or with high acceleration need less distance to be changed and change oil filter for each 2-3 times of changing oil engine.
every four months, or 5000 miles, the oil change places say 3000, but that's just to sell more stuff...





Use a quality oil like Kendall , Castrol, or Valvoline, and a quality filter like Fram, Purolator, or Napa





Do not use Havoline, or Mobil regular, they create sludge....
Sooooo Tired of this same exact question so I now have a new answer for it.





Never! Do not change the oil EVER! you are just going to make us run out of it faster.








C'mon folks where is my thumbs down
With Todays synth or semi synth oils, every 5000 miles. If you drive it hard, or in a very cold, wet or dusty enviroment, every 3000.
The typical recommendation is 3,000 miles.
whenever it gets dirty,cleaner the oil better for the engine.
No less often than every 5000 miles or 5 months.
it depends on how many miles you put on it since the last oil change. they say around 3000 miles.
check your vehicle manual but for most vehicles its 3000 miles
Well it depends on how often you drive it.
If you are VERY smart, you will never use oil that doesn't say, ';meets of exceeds the specifications for Honda.'; Most oils do NOT meet these requirements. If you are even smarter, you will ONLY use Mobil One, ELF, or Pennzoil oil that EXACTLY meets Honda requirements. These oils, though pricier, will last for one year, or 15,000 miles SAFELY! All dino based oils create sludge. The oils I have mentioned remove and prevent sludge formation. They extend evgine life, and improve power and MPG's. SWEAR OFF the big ';V';, it is NOT the oil you have been led to believe it is!! Good Luck!!
On average every 2k-4k miles.