What Type of Oil Should You Use for Your Old Vehicle?

Over the past few years, the average age of cars in the UK has risen to 8.2 years, which is a 1.4 increase from 6.8 years in 2016. There are a lot of factors as to why this is the case, the main being the vast improvement that we’ve seen in the technology used to manufacture cars over the last ten years. Typically, we class cars that have done more than 75,000 miles as ‘old’, but with the average age on the rise, that status quo is beginning to be challenged. So, with the average age rising, what steps can we take to keep our older cars running even longer?

The main part of any maintenance plan should be to choose the appropriate oil for your vehicle. This may sound obvious, but making sure you choose the right type of oil for your car is vital, especially if your car is old. In this blog, we will be taking a look at high mileage oils and when you should switch to using it over the conventional oils.

High Mileage Oils Over Conventional Oils

Before we get into the question of when you should switch to high-mileage engine oils, we need to make sure we know what high-mileage oils are. So, what are they?

As the name suggests, high-mileage oils are a type of motor oil designed to address specific problems encountered by high mileage vehicles. High-mileage oil helps reduce consumption, smoke, and emissions in older engines, as well as helping to minimise oil leaks. As older engines tend to wear out easily, these oils offer better engine wear protection than the usual, conventional oils do. But how?

High-mileage oils contain ingredients that help to take care of older vehicle engines like seal swells, antioxidants and wear or friction additives. High mileage oils normally use a viscosity modifier that is more durable meaning that it won’t lose viscosity easily. So, when should you begin using high mileage oils in your vehicle? 

There are no definitive guidelines that state what we should consider high mileage. As discussed earlier this is thanks to the technology, we have available today, standard road vehicles can potentially last up to 200,000 miles. Valve timing & lift technologies is one such technological improvement we’ve seen in the automotive world. This technology helps to improve engine efficiency by optimising the flow of air and fuel into the engine for various engine speeds. However, how long your engine lasts obviously depends on many different factors. For example, motorway driving is known to be less taxing on an engine than city driving due to the constant stop-start driving that happens in towns and cities. Due to this, deciding when to switch to high mileage oil depends on how you use your vehicle.

One of the big benefits in switching over to high mileage engine oils is that it will help increase the life of your vehicle. High mileage oils usually contain detergents that are specifically designed to clean out sludge in an engine as well as other additives that help reduce wear on moving parts within your vehicle’s engine. Meaning that you won’t have to spends hundreds of pounds on repairs or fork out thousands of pounds in costs that are associated with getting a new car.

The bottom line is this, if your older vehicles engine is beginning to show signs of wear like loss of engine power, blue smoke or loud engine noise, or if you have reached the 75,000-mile mark on your vehicle, you should consider switching over from the conventional oils to the high-mileage oils in order to protect your older cars engine.

What’s coming next?

While automotive OEMs continue to explore new engine technologies that meet the more stringent emission goals, engine wear is a major concern, especially with older vehicles. Automotive manufactures are working closely with oil companies to develop lubricants that will help increase the durability of their engines in order to appease consumers.

Exol Lubricants offer a comprehensive range of automotive lubricants that combine a high level of protection to engines and transmissions with long, trouble-free service life. Click here to view the range! If you have any questions about our oils or need help deciding what oil is best for your vehicle, feel free to get in touch and speak to a member of the Exol team today on 0121 568 6800 or send us an email on hello@exol-lubricants.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon.