We have a "new" 2016 Fit which we bought used with 2500 miles. We got it from a large local dealer who used it as an errand car, so I am working on the basis that it wasn't hot-rodded for 2k miles. I suspect we are a ways off from our first oil change but I was wondering about recommendations? I am not going to be doing this myself but once I have an idea what might be good for the car I can talk to the local place we use for such things, ask if they are willing to do what I want and if not find someplace else.

What about synthetic oil? I know it is more expensive and I always used standard oils in my old car because it is 35 years old. They say synthetics are okay for new cars because they are tight, but tend to just leak out tiny gaps in old, worn cars. Is this a time where it makes sense to start using a synthetic oil and is it worth the extra? It seems the oil change regimen is different from the standard "every 3,00 miles/4 months) with older cars so a few extra $ at longer intervals won't be different from what we are used to budgeting.

This car is in Minnesota = hot in summer, pretty cold in winter. We actually do not drive our cars very much (sometimes we don't start it at all for a week or two). Last year we put perhaps 5,000 miles on our car. That's just so you know that if there really is a long mileage interval between oil changes we may be spanning seasons, if that makes a difference. I know I went with synthetic on my last transmission change in my old manual transmission car because in winter changing gears was really tough until the car warmed up. Would there be a specific recommended synthetic oil for all seasons if we go that way?

 

I just did my 3rd oil change on 2015 EX. I buy synthetic 0W-20 and it's about $23 for 5 Quarts. The Fit only needs 3.5 Quarts so you'll have some extra for next time. Do that enough times and you'll have enough "extra" to do a complete oil change Oil Filter is about $7.

If you do it yourself (which it isn't hard on this vehicle), you could save a lot of money. But you don't drive many miles, it probably won't be worth it though but that's up to you. Since you don't drive many miles in a year, it's recommended to do an oil change at least once a year.

 

I'd do it myself but in winter here (November-March) it isn't fun fiddling with things lying on the garage floor when it is 10°F. If I do it once a year I could do it in summer but then one starts balancing the savings against purchase of jack stands, dealing with waste oil, and letting somebody else assume the risk and responsibility for that flimsy splash pan (I guess that works both ways though). Using synthetic might raise the price a bit but with the old car I've been paying for changes twice a year at about $40 per change and it just didn't seem worth that hassle for me. I did spend several days this week under a car but that was doing rust treatment and refinishing my 35 year old car where it is harder to find somebody willing to do that at a price I can afford. Choose your battles!

 

I think only synthetic oil is available in the grade Honda recommends (0W20).

I'm of the opinion that, so long as you use the oil that meets the specs the manufacturer recommends and so long as you ensure it doesn't get too low between changes (due to the engine burning a bit of oil, for instance), you don't need to worry about anything special. I don't think I've heard of a Fit engine wearing out before the rest of the car when it receives the recommended maintenance.

With a very few exceptions, synthetic oils are fine in any vehicle.

If you look in the manual, they say to change the oil when the maintenance minder comes up for it or once a year, whichever comes first. It sounds like there's a good chance for you the once a year might happen first.

I know of no car made in the past couple decades that suggested a 3000 mile/4 month oil change interval for normal driving. There may be some, but I haven't encountered them.

 

i use the 0w20 green cap by mobil1. check amazon and also walmart for the 5qt jug. you only need about 4qts but good to keep some extra just in case. should be around $25 for the oil. and no need to do early oil changes. just follow the obc.

 

Yes definitely choose your battles. My Fit is my daily driver and I put about 86 miles per day. So I've just done my 3rd in 1.5 years of ownership. The first was done by the dealership because it was free. Would you believe they missed one of the screws on the splash shield? It wasn't worth my time to go back and complain. I put a zip tie to hold it till I could source a screw/nut from work and went on my way. Since then I've done two myself and I haven't misplaced any screws.

I have a pair of ramps that I just drive the Fit onto and it's more than enough room to change the oil. Makes the oil change easy and takes 30 minutes because I take my time. Since the Fit only uses 3.5 quarts of oil, it takes a couple oil changes for my drain pan to fill. When I make a trip to the landfill, I just bring it along and they have an oil collection drum there.

There is a member from Mexico who said that his dealerships will only use 5W-20. I believe you can get that in conventional oil, but really you're not saving a ton of money and it isn't the recommended oil for the Fit in the manual.

 

I've used synthetic oil in both my Fits (and '09 and a "15) without incident. No leaks, nothing. I change it at about 20% on the maintenance minder (I hate having the car "nag" me, which it will once you hit 15%). For me that's about every 9-10,000 miles.


I have heard about synthetic oil being more likely to leak in older engines, but that shouldn't be a concern with your car. OTOH, I stick to conventional oil in my 23 year old Harley for that reason.

 

yah, plus i dont think mobil1 is a true full synthetic..? not sure but ive used it on my j-cars for decades with no issues.

for my vw, use liqui-moly

 

Thanks for the feedback everybody.

I could try to use ramps but they would have to fit into the space in the garage which doesn't have much free room at each end. There's about 3' between the stuff against the wall and the car, plus the metal ramps I currently have slide about on the smooth concrete floor. I tried using ramps on my asphalt apron one summer and after seeing them sink in about an inch I quickly abandoned doing that.

My comment about leaky synthetics was kind of with reference to my other car. I still have it and it is now transitioning to a collector car. I have just gone from driving a 35 year old car to a 6 month old car (2 months to me) so I am having to adjust. I still haven't internalized the lack of window handles or the drop in visibility (and the Fit is supposed to be good about that). I still look over my shoulder when backing into spaces (I am NOT going to become dependent upon that backup camera because when it fails in 5 years I am not going to fork out $1000 to get it replaced). I knew about synthetics but apart from using them in the gearbox to get around sticky gear changes in winter I knew it wouldn't be a good idea for the regular oil in the old car. Now I had a new car I was trying to figure out if it would now be a good time to use synthetics and it sounds like it will.

It's things like the missing screw story that make me wonder if I should try this myself. My other car used to have a wingnut fastening the air filter. A month or so after I had an oil change I was checking the engine compartment and saw a regular nut holding down the air filter cover. I'm kind of wondering if the grease monkey was checking the air filter condition and lost the wingnut. Of course now it is a PITA doing a quick check of the air filter and I have no idea how hard aforementioned monkey cranked down on that nut (you're not supposed to over-tighten it or risk deforming the cover and breaking the seal).

 

I think the Mobil-1 in the gold bottle (15k) is the only "full" synthetic on the market (group4).

There's a lot of folklore about oil, my research indicates full synthetics are best, regardless of temperature, mileage, etc. i use it exclusively in all my cars.

 

This is pretty good info about synthetics:


Here's another good one. I wonder how these myths start? There's a lot of them: