Why don't drivers check their oil levels more frequently?
I would suggest oil levels should be checked not only “regularly” but, in the case of new (or newly acquired used) vehicles, “frequently”. This provides the user with what the current norm is for oil consumption until a pattern can be established. Whilst not possibly so much of an issue with modern engines “we are told”, it was usual years ago to experience significant oil usage during an engine’s very early life before it “bedded in” and consumption hopefully improved. Reads as though HC, who ran his Evoque diesel for 23,000 miles without even checking the oil, should not be let loose with machinery.
In Erskine Caldwell's 'Tobacco Road', a 16-year-old boy married a 39-year-old woman with a deformed nose because he wanted to drive her new Model A Ford. He then ran the car almost continuously without ever checking the oil and, of course, the same happened to him as to the hapless reader with the Evoque. I had mentioned that normally the oil light only signifies lack of oil pressure and hence an engine about to die. It does not normally indicate low oil level.
Answered by Honest John on
