Chances are you drive. And if you drive, you probably own a vehicle. But, do you know how often you should change the oil in your vehicle?

I drive a 2004 Jeep Wrangler. That’s a picture of my baby. Okay, it’s not practical, but it will be my last car [for a very long time]. I know the oil needs to be changed every 3500 miles. How do I know this? It says so in my owner’s manual. Yeah, I actually read that little book housed in my glove compartment. I even go one step further. I write down every time my oil is changed, if my air filter is changed, and check to see what other things may be due for a look-see. But I wasn’t always this diligent. Maybe it’s true what they say ~ with age comes wisdom.

I also own a 1999 Chevy Malibu. This is a wonderful car and the well-over 100,000 miles with no signs of stopping just proves this even more. Now that my girls drive it, it is even more important that we maintain its reliability and life expectancy.

These days Dwayne changes the oil in my Jeep [I can, too, but why when he will]. The Malibu is too low to the ground, though. So, I took the Malibu over to Jiffy Lube for its oil change. This worked out well as the Malibu was just over its 3000-miles-til-its-scheduled-service. Amanda was fortunate enough to make this trip with me.

My oil change experience

I really am not a complete ditz, but the oil change guy waved me over one way, then the other, then the other just to position the car correctly. He laughed when he said that had to be the most directional changes he’s ever given in his bay. I just smiled. Amanda said it was embarrassing. Here I am thinking he smiled, I smiled, we had fun and all is well.

They looked over the vehicle, then called us over to discuss my options. Since I don’t use synthetic oil I opted for the Conventional Oil Change using Pennzoil Motor Oil. This was discounted to $32.99. Additionally, he noted a valve needed replacement. I opted to have that done as well [another $10.99]. My air filter, on the other hand, looked practically brand new. I kid you not, but we couldn’t have been there more than 10 or 15 minutes [if that!]. The car runs well and the staff were oh so friendly, too.

Did you know?

• According to a study by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, nearly 9 out of 10 female motorists are involved in their household’s vehicle maintenance and repair
• According to a national survey that polled 522 women, 46 percent incorrectly assumed simply switching from conventional engine oil to synthetic oil enables the number of miles between oil changes to be safely extended*
• Using a quality motor oil in the right grade can help maximize fuel economy, and help save money by preventing costly engine damage
• Off-brand, no-name or discount oils that do not meet industry standards or the vehicle manufacturer´s requirements could cost consumers in the long run by potentially damaging the vehicle´s engine or possibly voiding the manufacturer´s warrant

* Jiffy Lube Survey Conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, 2006

Win it

How would you like to win $35 towards your next oil change? Shell Lubricants, MotorOilMatters.org, and MyBlogSpark have offered to give one of my lucky readers a (1) $35 gift card to do just that!

The Rules:

Main Entry ~

• Leave me a comment telling me one thing you learned from MotorOilMatters.org. Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you [email, blog contact info].

Extra Entries [make sure you leave a separate comment for each] ~

• Subscribe to my blog
• Fan my page on Facebook [an in-progress venture]
• Follow me on Twitter
• Check out the P50 Allied Bloggers. Visit one of their sites & leave a thoughtful comment. Then come back and tell me [be sure to include a link to the post where you left the comment] ~ you may do this as many times as you like.
• Tweet about this giveaway ~ just copy and paste: Win a $35 Jiffy Lube gift card from @AnneOnline & let your car know how much you care http://tr.im/Hqcs RT please [may do this once per hour] leave a link to your tweet, please
• Blog about this giveaway
• Digg it, Stumble it, Delicious it [?] ~ buttons are at the bottom of this post for your convenience

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

This giveaway will end on December 19, 2009 @ 11:59 pm ET.

I will contact the winner via email or blog contact info [or both] and you will have 72 hours to get back with me. In the event I do not hear back from the winner in a timely manner I will choose a new winner. I will use Random.org to choose the winner and will post the results in a separate post on Sunday, December 20th.

Wait, there’s more

Since I am ultra-frugal and all that, I wanted to let you know that even if you don’t win [or if you do] to get your $5 off an oil change coupon from Jiffy Lube. Remember, I said I received a $32.99 oil change and replaced a valve for $10.99. With my $35 gift card and $5 coupon I paid a mere $5.38!

Disclosure: Shell Lubricants, MotorOilMatters.org, & MyBlogSpark provided me with a $35 gift card to Jiffy Lube. All opinions given are my own and written by me. No other compensation was received.