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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As others have said some vehicles rely purely on mileage or hours of operating. Some have additional sensors, and/or additional calculations that go into oil life.
So the short answer is to change the oil soon.
That being said I have read several articles where they sent oil to a lab for testing at 0% oil life, and almost all of them came back saying the oil wasn’t too bad, and probably could have been ran for another 500-1000 miles without causing any harm.
However – regular oil changes are probably about the cheapest way to prolong the life of your engine.
My personal rule of thumb is when my oil life gets below 10% I start thinking about an oil change, and plan to get one done in the next week or two.
Or you could drive something so beat up and leaky that the top ups amount to continuous oil changing.
That 10% is basically how many miles you’ve driven based on the manufacturer’s maximum time between oil changes.
HOWEVER
You should check the oil levels every month or so because cars, especially ones 5+ years old, will burn oil so you don’t want your oil level to get low. That is a sure fire way to blow up an engine. I usually change mine based on the filter life. I have a 5,000 mile filter and drive 10k miles per year so each filter/oil change lasts me about 6 months. The first Monday every month I spend 3 minutes checking the oil level and topping it off if needed. I’ve never had an engine problem doing it that way.
Having only driven used cars for decades. I used to just change with the seasons, now I’m more of a well there’s oil in it, once or twice a year guy. That being said I don’t drive that much, but have never blown up an engine.
Tldr. Manufacturers want you to pay out of pocket because they don’t want bad pr when your new car seizes up. Well it’s right there in the manual.
Like everyone said, it means you’re about 10% away from hitting your recommended oil change time. And you can treat 0% like the sell by date on your food: you can safely go past it, just don’t push your luck.
Your real question is when you get that 10% notification, should you run right out and get your oil changed? And it depends on what you’re doing this week. If you’re just commuting to work, you can sit on it until it runs down and go whenever it’s convenient. If you’re about to go on a long road trip, you should probably go get it done before you leave.
Bought my Skoda with 100,000 miles on it – it’s now on 160,000. What’s an oil change? Only maintenance I’ve done on it is to top up the water reservoir for the screen wash a couple of times. (I have had to get the garage fix the suspension a few times because of potholes, and change the tyres – but that’s not the car’s fault)
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