How much is an engine oil and filter change? Our filter and oil change cost guide for 2024
The average price of an oil and filter change is £102. The range of UK prices can be anywhere between £70 and £160.
Compared to replacing your engine—it’s a bargain.
If you choose a franchise or dealer to carry out the work, you can expect to pay anywhere from £70 or £80 up to £160. Your local mechanic will do it for less, of course; between £50 and £75 is pretty reasonable.
You might think you can save a little money by opting only to change your oil. It’s a false economy. For around £5 or £10, your filter is worth every penny when you’ve just spent £40 or £50 on engine oil. You should consider the change of oil filter price part and parcel of getting the job done properly.
Can I change my engine and oil and oil filter myself?
Sure! As long as you know where the drain plug is on your engine, and you can find your oil filter, it’s a fairly straightforward process to change the oil and oil filter of your car.
As with most jobs, preparation is key. Make sure you’ve got a container big enough to catch all of your old oil and a way to get it to a responsible recycling agent, as you can’t just throw your old oil away! You’ll also want to protect the ground from any accidental spillage. In the event of such a mishap, cleaning used oil and removing oil stains from your driveway can be a nightmare.
In any case, it may be better to get the job done professional if you need an oil and filter change.
What are the oil and filter replacement costs at a dealership compared to Fixter garages?
The cost of an oil change service varies substantially between mechanics. Here’s a look at our oil and filter change cost guide to give you an idea of the differences.
| Operation | Vehicle | Dealer Price | Fixter Price | Saving |
| Oil and filter replacement | Dacia Logan MCV 1.5ltr Diesel | £172 | £151 | 14% |
| Oil and filter replacement | Dacia Sandero Stepway 1.5ltr Diesel | £96 | £81 | 18% |
| Oil and filter replacement | Ford Galaxy 2ltr Diesel | £118 | £103 | 15% |
| Oil and filter replacement | Jaguar XF Sportbrake 3ltr Diesel | £136 | £115 | 18% |
| Oil and filter replacement | Lexus RX 400H 3.3ltr Hybrid Electric | £113 | £100 | 13% |
| Oil and filter replacement | Nissan Qashqai 1.5ltr Diesel | £110 | £95 | 15% |
| Oil and filter replacement | Peugeot 307 2ltr Petrol | £90 | £78 | 15% |
| Oil and filter replacement | Vauxhall Corsa 1.4ltr Petrol | £106 | £91 | 17% |
What factors can affect the cost of oil and filter replacement?
The main factor is the brand and quality of the parts—especially your engine oil.
Performance cars require higher-grade oil, to protect an engine that operates at higher revolutions, placing more demands on its internal components. As you’d expect, a specialist engine oil costs considerably more than the general use oil you use in a family car model.
How much does engine oil cost?
We took a look at the prices for different engine oils on Eurocarparts, and here’s what we found:
| Oil Brand/Manufacturer | Oil Grade | Oil Price/1ltr |
| Triple QX Fully Synthetic | 5W-30 | £15 |
| Castrol Magnatec | 5W-30 | £16 |
| Castrol Edge | 5W-30 | £28 |
| Shell Helix Ultra | 5W-30 | £16 |
| Mobil Super 3000 | 5W-30 | £19 |
| Triple QX Fully Synthetic | 10W-40 | £14 |
| Castrol GTX Ultraclean | 10W-40 | £12 |
| Shell Helix | 10W-40 | £20 |
| Mobile Super 2000 | 10W-40 | £10 |
| Triple QX Fully Synthetic | 0W-30 | £22 |
| Shell Helix Ultra | 0W-30 | £28 |
| Castrol Edge | 0W-30 | £31 |
| Mobile Super 3000 | 0W-30 | £12 |
What difference will an engine oil and oil filter change make?
The bottom line is that a filter and engine oil change could save your engine from expensive damage that you could have easily avoided.
Your engine oil is designed to keep all the internal workings of your engine running smoothly and safe from harm. It protects moving parts by removing friction, and in doing so, prolongs their life. The filter helps to ensure that the oil is protected from contaminants to give it more longevity.
Over time, the infiltration of these contaminants (ie. dirt, grit, residue from burnt fuel etc.) into your oil will prevent it from doing its job correctly. The tiny pieces of dirt in your oil will add wear to the very components that it’s designed to protect , and shorten their lifespan.
For a relatively small expense, your oil and filter change cost could add years to the life of your engine.
How often should I change my oil?
Here’s the age-old argument. There isn’t a hard and fast rule for how often to change your engine oil; so many factors can affect the condition of the oil in your engine.
Here are a few of those all-important pointers:
- How you drive – A careful driver won’t be adding pressure to the performance of their engine.
- Your typical speed – High-speed driving can add wear to engine parts, especially with contaminated engine oil.
- The type of oil you use – Synthetic oil will operate at a higher level and for longer than conventional oils.
- Where you drive – Driving along dirt tracks or country roads is more likely to introduce dirt and grit into your engine as opposed to driving on motorways or in suburban areas.
- The weather – Snow and rain will make it easier for contaminants to get into your engine and your oil.
So as you see, there isn’t really a one-size-fits-all answer for when to replace the oil in your car, but if we have to give one…
Modern synthetic oils can typically last up to 10,000 miles in a modern car. Older cars using traditional engine oil may only get 3,000 miles of healthy use between changes.
Many cars will tell you when they need an oil change thanks to the inclusion of sensors, but older vehicles won’t have this feature, so you need to keep an eye on it yourself.
Should you change your oil filter every time you change your oil?
Absolutely. Your oil filter’s job is to collect any dirt that your engine oil has picked up. While your filter has been working hard over the mileage between oil changes, it will end up saturated with much dirt and debris.
The more clogged your oil filter becomes with such contaminants, the less effective it is at doing its job. A new filter is going to work far better than your old one could, and there’s no chance of it introducing the past year’s dirt into your brand new oil.
Your oil filter change cost isn’t going to make a great deal of difference to the total bill. So, choosing to skip it isn’t worth the risk.
Should I use conventional or synthetic engine oil?
The way synthetic oil is manufactured makes it superior in performance without a doubt. They contain fewer impurities and are more consistent and durable. This gives you better protection and better flow at both hot and cold temperatures.
You probably won’t notice the difference, but it will provide you with the slightest bit more power and added mileage from your fuel.
It also lasts longer between changes. So for a little bit more in price, you get a lot more from its performance.
What’s the worst thing that could happen when you skip an oil change?
Given we’ve outlined the job it does and how important that job is, skipping the odd oil change might not appear to be doing any damage, but that’s because you can’t see what’s happening inside your engine.
The accumulative damage to your engine is slow, and might not affect performance for a long time, but it does.
Eventually, that damage will cause your engine to seize and stop working altogether. Do we have to remind you just how expensive that is to correct? Most of the time, it’s more than the value of your car. And for what? £50 every now and again? It’s really not worth it. As experts in the motor industry, you should take our word for it.
How do I find the best place for engine oil and filter change near me?
You already have. Fixter will arrange for a mechanic to collect your car and carry out the work without you lifting a finger. We can also save you money. Our garage prices are incredibly competitive, just type ‘oil and filter change prices near me’ into Google to see just how much.
How long does an oil and filter change take?
| Car Make | Car Model | Oil and Filter Replacement Time |
| Ford | Fiesta | 0.5 hours |
| Fiat | 500 | 0.45 hours |
| Volkswagen | Golf | 0.7 hours |
| Audi | A4 | 0.8 hours |
| BMW | 5 Series | 0.35 hours |
| Land Rover | Range Rover | 0.9 hours |
| Volkswagen | Tiguan | 0.7 hours |
| Audi | Q5 | 0.7 hours |
Engine oil car care tips
The main point that we’d stress is to replace your oil and oil filter at the same time.
You should never wait for an engine light to dictate when you need to make the change. By then, a lot of damage could already have happened.
Vary your journeys
It’s an old wives tale that letting your engine warm up before use will extend the life of your car’s engine. Modern cars are designed to run straight from the off—hot or cold—as different temperatures of oil vary its consistency and will reach or protect different parts of your engine in different ways.
There is a school of thought that warming your engine up before every journey can do more harm than good.
Also, that consistently driving at low speeds won’t achieve the full range of your engine oil’s operation.
Varied driving, both around town and out on a clear A Road or motorway, are simple ways to keep your car engine, and its oil, running at its optimum condition.
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About Fixter
Fixter is revolutionising the car maintenance industry, one repair at a time. Fixter was founded to make car maintenance as easy as booking a taxi. Digital, transparent and stress-free, with world-class customer service. Since launching in Manchester in 2017, Fixter has expanded to more than 100 cities across the UK and provided thousands of car owners with honest, convenient and affordable car repair services.