How To Find The Right Oil For Your Vehicle?

There are many types of oils and it can be overwhelming to pick the correct one for your vehicle.  Thankfully there are many resources to help you understand the specific types of oils your vehicle requires.

Check Your Owners Manual

Your owner's manual is the best place to find out both what type and how much oil your vehicle takes for the engine, transmission, gearbox, differential, transfer case, and even more exotic parts such as superchargers.  This should be considered the authority on your vehicle.  If you do not have a physical copy of your owner's manual, you can usually look it up online and download a PDF copy of the manual for free.  Some sites will want to charge you, however, just keep looking, and you should be able to get it for free.

Unless there are special circumstances, you should ALWAYS use the manufacturer's specifications around the weight and quantity of oil for your vehicle. 

Usually, the owner's manual will have a section for Fluids and Specifications or you can look up Maintenance or Oil in the Index.  You will want to take note of the weight, which is usually represented by a number and letter combination such as 0W-20, 5W-20, 5W-30, 10W-30, or 20W-50 for engine oil.  Gear oil will be something like 75W-90 or 75W-140. You must stick with the correct type of oil listed in your owner's manual.

You will also want to take note of the amount of oil each part of your vehicle requires.  This is usually represented in quarts or liters for some European models.  Most oil in the United States is sold in quarts, gallons, or custom jugs of 5 or 6 quarts.  

Online Owners Groups

A great way to learn about your vehicle is to join an online owner group.  There is probably more than one for your specific vehicle.  These groups can be excellent resources for your vehicle. You may even be able to grab a free download of your vehicle owner's manual from these sites.

Most likely, there will be multiple questions already on the group website asking the same question.  Beware: Nothing brings out opinions on car groups more than oil.  You will get numerous opinions on which brands are the best and which are the worst.

Overall, these are usually really great people who like to help and are just passionate about their vehicles.  

Auto Parts Store Websites

 An easy way to find out which oil your vehicle takes is to look on any reputable auto parts website.  They will usually have a system where you put in your year, make, model, and maybe the engine size and it will return a listing of available choices.  

WARNING: These sites can sometimes have incorrect information on them.  We do not recommend trusting these sites alone.  It is usually best to get the information from your owner's manual.