Failure to regularly check oil levels is costing fleets millions of pounds in engine repairs – in some cases leading to vehicles being written off.

To highlight the problem, oil supplier Comma has launched National Oil Check Week, which runs this week from June 15-19 and is supported by oil supplier Mobil 1 and Halfords.

Mobil 1 research reveals that 17% of UK drivers never check their oil level, while 56% forget to do regular tests. Fleet Support Group (FSG), meanwhile, is recording an average of at least one blown engine per week from its fleet of 47,000 cars and vans.

Most fleet driver handbooks include rules for employees to regularly check tyres for wear and windscreens for stone chips, but oil has much greater implications for both safety and costs.Warranty Direct reports that, on average, a seized engine costs more than £1,400 to repair, although the charge can exceed £4,000.

Pete Hitt, technical services manager at FSG, says: “Driver-induced engine failure could be caused by a lack of oil or a lack of engine coolant, which has caused overheating invariably brought on by a lack of oil.”

Getting under the bonnet to regularly inspect oil levels – best practice suggests a weekly check – should be top of the priority list for fleet drivers.

And while it might be included in the handbook, fleet managers say that their drivers take little notice of the written rules.

One says: “Even if you get them to sign to say they have read it, it doesn’t mean they have.”

Longer servicing schedules

Much of the driver complacency is due to longer servicing schedules; where a few years ago an annual service at 10,000 miles would be sufficient to catch low oil levels, modern cars can often go 20,000 miles before requiring servicing.

An oil top up is almost guaranteed to be necessary in between.

Oil usage varies from car to car and also depends on the way the vehicle is driven and the type of miles clocked up – motorway driving has a different impact to stop-start urban journeys.

Drivers often wait for the oil pressure warning light to come on before topping up. But, at that point, it may already be too late to avoid a costly repair.

One in seven drivers doesn’t believe it is necessary to check oil levels, while one in 20 doesn’t know how to carry out the dipstick test.

Privately, fleet managers concede that most of their drivers would not know what type of oil to put in their vehicle, even if they did identify it was running low.

The driver’s responsibility, therefore, should extend only to doing the checking; the fleet manager should provide the oil.

Southwark Council has had a robust oil checking system in place for a number of years as part of daily maintenance checks by the driver.

It recognises the importance of safeguarding against vehicle breakdown, cost of repair and driver/crew downtime – particularly as the age of profile of its 300 vehicles (240 vans, 24 trucks, 36 cars) is around five years old.

Southwark Council transport manager Derek Taylor says: “At the start of every day our drivers have to check oil levels as well as fuel, water, tyres, washers and lights.”

Every supervisor monitors that the checks are being carried out, while Taylor and his team carry out additional spot checks and check data for any irregularities which highlight an issue.

“We also go out to the business units and talk to drivers and the crews and go through all the legal aspects and duty-of-care requirements for their vehicles,” Taylor adds.

“We make them aware of the consequences if they don’t comply. As a local authority we have to lead the way.”

Oil checklist

Peter Holmes, head of risk management at AA Business Services, says fleet managers have a duty to advise drivers to carry out basic vehicle checks on a weekly or monthly basis.

Those checks should be detailed in the company’s policy or drivers’ handbook.

“Carrying out these checks increases the safety of vehicles on the road,” Holmes says.

“It is the company’s responsibility to make a helpline or advice line available to company vehicle drivers who are unsure how or when to carry out the checks as well as training for people who drive excessive miles or hours whose vehicles will be in need of more frequent checks.”

The AA uses the acronym FLOWERY to highlight its checklist:

  • Fuel: Does the vehicle have enough fuel for the journey?
  • Lights: Are all lights/lenses clean and in working order?
  • Oil: Does the engine have sufficient oil and are all the other fluids ‘topped up’?
  • Water: Is the windscreen washer bottle full? Is the coolant system topped up?
  • Electrics: Does the instrument panel work correctly?
  • Rubber: Tyres, windscreen wipers.
  • Yourself: Are you fit to drive?