How often do you check the oil level in a vectra 20 DTI 2002?

Answer 1

This engine has a bit of a reputation as an oil user,although we have the same in a Zafira, and it never needs topping up between half yearly changes. For safety,the level should be checked weekly or each 300 miles.

== == All owners manuals, for all cars that I have ever seen, always suggest "weekly".

The reason for this is simple. If the car develops an oil leak, you will find out at most 7 days after the leak starts.

From a practical point of view, if it's a new car to you, start weekly, and then once you get a feel as to how much oil the car uses (or does not use) adjust the time scale.

An acceptable oil consumption for a Vauxhall, according to Vauxhall UK (so I have been told, don't take it as fact), is roughly 0.5L per 1000Miles. With a service interval of 20,000 miles, it's easy to see that a car can use 10L of oil between services. As the engine only hold about ~4.5L, you can run out of oil well before the service is due.

As an Aside, it's also quite common to go a whole year and not need to top up at all. My Astra does not use a drop, and it's 10 years old. :)