Q: My car has done 37,500 miles service but it only has 33,300 miles, what kind of maintenance do I need?

The maintenance reminder system is not strictly mileage based. If 12 months elapse, without an intervening re-set, the light will come on simply because the engine oil should be changed at 12 months even if the 7,500 mileage interval for engine oil has not been reached. So, a consideration is whether the oil was changed within the last twelve months. But, it is even more complex than that because the reminder system ALSO takes account of engine operating conditions.

So, if you drove, stop and go, in New York City for the last 6 months, but only traveled, say, 2,000 miles during that period, but the engine operating HOURS were high (i.e., engine just sat idling because it’s all stop and go), the maintenance light will still come on seemingly "early" because the oil and filter needs to be changed. In that latter scenario, again, it is the high hours of engine operation that is important not miles traveled.

My initial recommendation is you probably need to change the engine oil and filter now. If you’d like, a YourMechanic certified specialist can perform an oil and filer change during a mobile visit and reset the maintenance reminder light.