Free oil and fluids check
What oil does my car need?
Enter your registration to see the oil your car's engine is approved for, how much an oil and filter change takes, and which coolant and brake fluid it uses — from the maker's own handbook wherever we can find one, with the source on every line.
Your car’s oil, by registration
Free · no signup · make, engine and year from the official DVLA record
- The oil specification and grade, where we hold it
- How much it takes, where the handbook gives it
- Coolant and brake fluid
No registration to hand? Choose the make and engine further down the page.
Example result
Matched on
Kia · 1.6-litre · diesel · 2019
Interval depends on the engine, not just the fuel — the turbo petrols are on half the distance of the rest. On-time servicing at an authorised dealer protects the 7-year warranty.
Oil and fluids for this car
- Engine oil
- C5 / C2 / C3 · 0W-20(2018–2024 · Ceed / ProCeed / XCeed (CD) incl. MHEV, Optima (JF), Stonic)
- Manufacturer-publishedSource
- Every Kia table: 'ACEA C5 or C2 or C3'. Charts: 0W-20, 0W-30, 5W-30/40 (and 10W-30/40) by temperature.
- Oil capacity
- 4.4 litres
- Manufacturer-publishedSource
- Handbook figure 'Engine oil (drain and refill)'; the handbook does not say whether it includes the filter. 4.4 l in the Ceed CD (19MY and 2021-22), Optima JF and Stonic handbooks.
- Coolant
- Kia phosphate-based ethylene-glycol coolant for aluminium radiators, mixed with (distilled) water
- Manufacturer-publishedSource
- Handbook wording: 'Mixture of antifreeze and (distilled) water (Ethylene-glycol with phosphate based coolant for cooling device / aluminium radiator)'. Some editions (Rio YB, Stonic, Picanto JA, Carens RP, Sorento UM/MQ4) say only 'ethylene glycol base coolant for aluminium radiator'. Capacity varies by engine/gearbox.
- Brake fluid
- DOT 4 · SAE J1704 DOT-4 LV / ISO 4925 Class-6 / FMVSS 116 DOT-4 (later handbooks)
- Manufacturer-publishedSource
- Handbooks up to c.2020 (cee'd JD, Ceed CD 19MY, Rio YB, Stonic, Carens RP, Soul PS/SK3, Sorento UM, Niro DE) state 'FMVSS116 DOT-3 or DOT-4'; Ceed CD 2021+, Picanto JA 2022, Sportage NQ5, Niro SG2 and EV6 state SAE J1704 DOT-4 LV / ISO 4925 Class-6 / FMVSS 116 DOT-4; Sorento MQ4 states 'DOT 4'. DOT 4 satisfies every edition.
No registration to hand? Choose the make and engine
Free · no signup · the engine size is on the logbook and usually on the back of the car
How to read an oil specification
An oil specification has up to three parts. The viscosity grade (5W-30, 0W-20) says how the oil flows: the first figure with the W is its cold rating, the second its thickness at running temperature. The performance class (ACEA in Europe, such as C2 or C3) sets a minimum standard. The car maker's own approval (VW 504 00, BMW Longlife-04, Ford WSS-M2C948-B, GM dexos2, PSA B71 2312) is the one that matters most.
Two oils can share a viscosity and still meet different approvals. A bottle that only says "5W-30" doesn't tell you it's right for your engine; the approval code printed on the back of the bottle does.
Why the approval matters most on some engines
Some engines run their cambelt inside the engine oil — Ford's 1.0 EcoBoost and the PSA 1.2 PureTech are the best known. On these the maker's oil approval is written to protect the belt, and several makers changed the approved oil part-way through an engine's life. That's why the figures here are listed by period, and why an oil that suits an earlier car of the same model may not suit a later one.
Diesels with a particulate filter (DPF) usually need a low-ash oil (an ACEA C class). A higher-ash oil can shorten the filter's life.
How much oil: oil-change capacity vs total capacity
Handbooks give two different figures. The oil-change capacity (with filter) is what goes back in at a service, after the old oil drains and the filter is replaced. The total capacity is the dry-engine figure and is always larger, because some oil stays in the engine. Use the first for a service, and fill to the dipstick's maximum mark rather than tipping in a whole can: overfilling is as harmful as running low.
Coolant and brake fluid
Coolant (antifreeze) is a maker-specific chemistry, not just a colour. Top up with the type the handbook names; mixing types can reduce the protection. Brake fluid is graded DOT 4, DOT 4 LV or DOT 5.1, and most cars take DOT 4 or a variant of it. DOT 5 is silicone-based and must never be mixed with the others.
Where we get the figures
Oil specifications and capacities come from manufacturers' own owner's handbooks and technical data wherever they are published, and are labelled "Manufacturer-published" with a link to the document. Where a maker publishes nothing we can link, a figure from a franchised dealer or a parts catalogue is labelled "Reported". We never use oil companies' product finders, and where we hold nothing for an engine we say so rather than guess.
Oil specification and capacity by make
Every engine we hold sourced oil figures for, make by make — with the models it was fitted to.
- Alfa Romeo oil type and capacity
- Audi oil type and capacity
- Bentley oil type and capacity
- Citroën oil type and capacity
- Cupra oil type and capacity
- DS oil type and capacity
- Fiat oil type and capacity
- Ford oil type and capacity
- Honda oil type and capacity
- Hyundai oil type and capacity
- Jaguar oil type and capacity
- Jeep oil type and capacity
- Kia oil type and capacity
- Land Rover oil type and capacity
- Lexus oil type and capacity
- Mazda oil type and capacity
- Mercedes-Benz oil type and capacity
- MG oil type and capacity
- Nissan oil type and capacity
- Peugeot oil type and capacity
- Porsche oil type and capacity
- SEAT oil type and capacity
- Skoda oil type and capacity
- Subaru oil type and capacity
- Suzuki oil type and capacity
- Toyota oil type and capacity
- Vauxhall oil type and capacity
- Volkswagen oil type and capacity
- Volvo oil type and capacity
Common questions
What oil does my car need?
The oil your car's maker approves for its engine: an approval code (such as VW 504 00, Ford WSS-M2C948-B or GM dexos2) and a viscosity grade (such as 5W-30). Enter your registration above to see it for your engine, with the source. The owner's handbook and the oil filler cap are the other places to look.
How much oil does my car take?
It depends on the engine — most small petrol engines take between about 3.5 and 4.5 litres for an oil and filter change, and larger diesels can take 6 litres or more. The figure above is the oil-change capacity from the handbook. Fill to the dipstick's maximum mark rather than emptying a whole can in.
Does it matter if I use a different oil?
It can. The approval code is what the maker tested the engine with. On engines whose cambelt runs in oil, on diesels with a particulate filter, and on cars serviced on a long-life regime, an unapproved oil can shorten the life of parts or cause problems a warranty may not cover.
Can I find my car's oil by registration?
Yes. The registration gives us the make, engine size, fuel and year from DVLA, which is enough to find the engine in most cases. The registration can't tell a turbo from a non-turbo of the same size, so where two engines fit, both are shown and the engine code settles it.
What coolant does my car need?
The coolant type its maker names — usually given as a maker standard rather than a colour. Where we hold it, it's shown with your oil above. Don't top up with a different type; mixing can reduce the protection.