Does it mean I should use up the last 10% and then get my oil changed otherwise I would just be throwing money out the window (the last 10% of use)? Or does it mean get the oil changed right now because my oil is gross.
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Neither. Your car is on a software-determined mileage schedule. For some cars it’s 3000 miles, some 3750, some 5000 etc. Even if you changed the oil today for fresh oil, it would still show you 10% oil life left in the car, – until this software trigger is reset. You can Google your car and “oil service reset” to see how to reset the notice if you’re curious, but the garage doing the work for you will know and should reset it for you upon the work’s completion.
Now, your oil is potentially contaminated from use to some degree, but it should pretty much all be there unless you have an oil leak. You can check your oil level yourself very easily using the dipstick under the bonnet/hood.
As the other poster said, it means 10% of the mileage schedule is left. Typically that means a week or two of normal driving. Basically it’s a reminder to start thinking about changing the oil, make an appointment to drop the car off, pick a day to do it, etc.
You are not throwing away money if you change early. But you are also not necessarily making a mistake if you keep driving until it gets to zero (assuming you change it at that point). Often times you will experience no downside to even going too far between oil changes, provided it is by a small amount.
Oil change intervals are a bit of an enigmatic subject because everyone has anecdotes and it is hard to see precisely what damage or issue is caused with each mile on the vehicle. A few long intervals can often be “fixed” by a few short intervals. I once knew a person that bought a car new and had it drive 75,000 miles on the factory oil without a change, before the engine blew up. Perhaps with an oil change at 25,000 and 50,000 miles it would have made it to 100,000. With no OBVIOUS damage.
My advice is always to stick to the owners manual recommendation and use a decent synthetic oil. Change when it needs it and don’t stress the exact interval. Oil changes seem expensive but are cheap compared to gas and other regular maintenance. Cars are about twice as expensive as people realize on a per-mile basis
Other commenters nailed the meaning of the 10%, but just wanted to add:
Depending on whether you’re using natural or synthetic oil, the mile range is generally 3k or 6k to get an oil change. I usually start thinking about getting my oil changed at 35% life according to the car. During an oil change at a decent shop, your filters are replaced, your brakes, battery, and engine are inspected, and your tires are rotated. These are all part of regular maintenance and should extend the life of your car, ensure everything is functioning properly, and cost you less in costly repairs in the long run.
For example, my girlfriend is terrible at keeping up with her car. I took it in assuming it needed an oil change (the sticker had fallen off and I don’t think the check engine light was set to come on from the last oil change), and found the tires were bald and the brake pads were worn. I checked myself to confirm before getting everything swapped out. Bald tires means she was likely to slip in wet road conditions and low brake pads would have lead to more costly damage to the brake system itself.
TL;DR: Getting regular oil changes generally means you’re keeping up with other maintenance for your car, too.
A car has within it no sensor that can measure oil quality, you need a lab to do that
Therefore it’s either measuring hours, or miles. When the oil gets changed, someone resets that clock, and it counts down. The timer means nothing, it’s arbitrary, and likely a sales tactic to get you back into the dealership – their objective is to make money.
Say they set 10,000 hours, 10% oil life would then mean 1000 hours of oil life left. But that itself means nothing
You’re not at 10% quantity of oil remaining. your oil isn’t 10% as good as it was at the beginning… but it is deliberately phrased that way to get you to open your wallet. Ignore it, and buy a car that doesn’t crowd your screen/clocks with that kind of bollocks in the future
It means that 10% of the original oil life present the last time it was changed remains. If it was changed 10 months ago and was at 100% then, you would have roughly one month left before it was necessary to change it, based on the timer in the car.
If it’s gross now there isn’t benefit in waiting. Which is worse, throwing money out the window on oil change or throwing money out the window repairing bigger issues?
Depends on the car what exactly that means.
Related question: isn’t used motor oil just dirty? Why don’t we have a way to just filter or clean the oil and reuse it?
So people mostly right. Change it when the car says change it.
However, modern vehicles are full of sensors and do use these to estimate actual oil life remaining. An engineering team tested the heck out of this for you, torturing engines and oils. Milage is a big component but so are other parameters like engine temperature, power level, idle time, etc. Lots of short trips, yup the computer is going to call for oil changes sooner. Hours of commuting through city traffic vs smooth highway driving, yup the computer will call for an oil change with less city miles.
Do not think there are any direct measurements to test the oil life, rather it is all indirect and/or rules of thumb. For example 10% could mean you are 90% of the miles from the last oil change for the expected oil life.
I read through many responses and didn’t see the one I was looking for. It is just your car letting you know it is time to get an oil change. If it will take you a week or so to get around to it, just know it’s time. That last “10%” isn’t wasted or saved, it’s just to let you know time is running out. Most car warranties require regular oil changes within some predetermined window. Oil is oil is oil, the brand doesn’t matter at all as long as it is CLEAN. Get it changed regularly and it WILL prolong the life of your engine.
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