What should an oil change cost around here — and what should be in it

An oil change is the most commoditised thing a shop sells and the one with the widest price spread, which confuses people reasonably.

Here’s what drives the number, and what should be included whatever you pay.

Why the price moves so much

Oil type. This is most of it. Conventional oil costs a fraction of full synthetic. A car calling for 5W-30 conventional and a car calling for 0W-20 full synthetic are not the same purchase.

Capacity. A four-cylinder Civic takes about four and a half quarts. A V8 truck can take seven or eight. Some European engines take nine. You pay for what goes in.

The filter. Some are a spin-on canister for a few dollars. Some are a cartridge in a housing that needs a specific tool and a new O-ring, and on some engines the housing is buried.

Diesel. Different oil, more of it, and a different filter arrangement. Always more.

So the honest answer to “how much is an oil change” is another question: what are you driving?

Which oil your car needs

Use what the manufacturer specifies. It’s in the maintenance section of the owner’s manual, and on many cars it’s printed on the oil cap.

That’s not a dodge. Modern engines with variable valve timing route pressurised oil through small passages to actuate cam phasers, and turbochargers spin bearings at enormous speed at temperatures that cook conventional oil into varnish. If your car calls for 0W-20 full synthetic, conventional isn’t a saving — it’s a slow, expensive mistake.

The reverse is also true. If you have a 2004 truck that calls for 5W-30 conventional, you do not need to be talked into full synthetic to be a good owner. It won’t hurt anything. It just isn’t buying you what the upsell implies.

How often

Follow the manual, or the maintenance minder if the car has one. For most modern engines on full synthetic that’s 5,000 to 7,500 miles.

The old 3,000-mile rule is a holdover from oil chemistry that hasn’t been standard in decades. It persists because it’s easy to remember and because it’s good for whoever’s selling.

But short trips shorten the interval, and Sandston is a short-trip town. An engine that never gets fully to temperature doesn’t boil off the moisture and fuel that get into the oil, and that dilutes it. If your driving is a few miles at a time, err toward the shorter end. Same for towing, heavy idling, and a lot of stop-and-go on Williamsburg Road.

What should be in it, whatever you pay

• Correct-specification oil, to the right level — checked on the dipstick, not assumed from the container
• A new filter, not just topped-up oil
• Tire pressures set to the door jamb figure, cold if possible
• Tread depth looked at — this is where uneven wear gets caught early
• Fluids checked for level and condition
• Belts, hoses and battery terminals given a look
• Maintenance minder reset where the car has one
• A straight report of anything found

That last one is the whole point of the visit. An oil change is the cheapest opportunity anybody gets to look at the entire car, and a shop that doesn’t use it is wasting your money as much as its own time.

What the free 16-point check is for

Every service here includes it. It’s a health report, not a sales pitch, and it comes with photographs of anything worth showing you.

If everything is fine, we say everything is fine and you pay for an oil change and nothing else. That happens constantly and it’s the reason people keep coming back.

The one exception: it does not apply to state inspections, which are a separate, state-regulated procedure with its own rules.

The upsells worth declining

Engine flush on a healthy engine. If the oil has been changed on schedule there’s nothing to flush.

Fuel injection service at every oil change. It’s a real service with a real purpose, at a real interval — which is not every 5,000 miles.

Nitrogen in the tires. Air is already 78% nitrogen. On a passenger car it is not going to change your life.

We’ll tell you which items on a maintenance schedule are the manufacturer’s and which are the shop’s idea. There’s a genuine difference and you’re entitled to know which is which.

Oil type, capacity and filter all change the total, so call (804) 737-2828 with the year, make, model and engine for a real number, or read more about oil and fluid services.