An Oil Change Done Right by the Pros

Few things are more fundamentally and fantastically American than the automobile. There's football, baseball, light beer, fantasy football, bacon cheeseburgers, and that about sums it up. But even out of that impressive and comprehensive list, perhaps nothing more thoroughly and totally encapsulates the American spirit than a car. Invented here, bought here, sold here, and perfected here, Americans know their cars. They also love them and are eager to take care of them. We have our family, our friends, and then our cars—and maybe sometimes not even in that order.

And because we love our cars, we do our best to take care of them. Sure we scrub them down at car washes and have them finely detailed, but the most important thing we do for them is just general maintenance, of which getting a regular oil change is a key. Having your car looking nice is fine and all, but if you want it to perform at its optimum level you need to make sure that what is helping the car to function is clean and fresh. The longstanding saying is that you need to have an oil change once every three thousand miles, and that's probably still not a bad idea. But with today's cars, such general rules are less be-all-end-all, and it really depends on your car. The best way to know for sure whether or not a switch is needed is by stopping by with an auto repair specialist for a consultation. The pros can check your filter and other parts very quickly and with great expertise, making sure everything is functioning as it should, and if not, will be able to fix any problems your car might have at a very low cost. They won't lie to tell you that you could not do some of these services on your own, but you'll quickly realize that you would rather have a professional do it anyway; it can be a rough job at times, particularly if you're not used to having hot, black grease and sludge all over your arms, and it's very important that the job is done right the first time. As quick a job as getting an oil change can be, if it's not performed properly, you can run into a whole lot of problems—problems that auto repair pros simply don't run into. Plus, when you leave it to the experts, you just might learn something along the way that might help you out in the long run.

To preserve and continue the tradition of the American automobile, remember to get your oil change to keep your car running like it should be. What we don't want happening is developing a new American tradition of cars that breakdown all the time because of poor maintenance habits. If you leave it to the experts, that's not likely to happen.