Continental motorists put UK drivers to shame on oil knowledge

Nearly 1 in 10 UK motorists never check their oil and almost 66% of us don’t know the correct type to use.

So says Chevron Global Lubricants, which commissioned a survey of 5400 motorists across the UK, Spain, The Netherlands and Romania.

By contrast, an average of just 3.1% of motorists surveyed on the continent do not check their oil levels between services.

In Spain, 60.3% of car owners check their vehicle’s oil requirements with their service centre before topping up.

And Romanians get top marks for oil savvy with almost 80% knowing which brand of oil is in their car, compared to 44% of UK owners.

The survey also revealed different buying trends.

While more than half of Spanish drivers prefer to pay their garage to top up their oil, just 14% of UK owners opt for this service, with more than 70% of us preferring to buy our own oil between services.

Brian Hayes, Chevron’s UK marketing manager, suggested that oil firms need to educate motorists about the dangers of incorrect oil usage.

He pointed out that the oil market is getting more complicated, a trend underlined by the fact that over the last 15 years, Chevron’s Havoline range of engine oil has expanded from 4 to 14 products.

“Now more than ever,” said Hayes “a knowledge of which oil to use in your car’s engine is as essential as knowing which type of fuel to use.”