I did my A1 service today (by the way A1 doesn't include a filter change for some reason, but I made them change it anyways) which includes an oil change; $53.90 (not bad me thinks).

I've already been crucified by my friends and family...so don't tell me how bloody my backside is from being raped by my stealership lol

Anyways, is this really a special formulation by Honda? Is this pure dino-oil? Is this complete crap?

 

It might special. Probably not though.

When I lived in germany, I went to the local Honda dealership to get some honda MTF. The mechanic looked at me with puzlement, and said "It's just regular synthetic oil. Just use 10w-30 or 10w-40."

 

haha That reminds me. I remember a page in the manual that says, "if Honda MTF is unavaiable you can use oil" but then honda says what it always says. "but we are not responsible blah blah blah...we highly reccomend you use Honda MTF and have your transmission maintained by your Honda dealer who knows your car best!"

this coming from people who overfilled my car a quart.

 

Yeah, the page is in there. It also says to only use genuine honda spark plug wires. And genuine honda air filters. And to replace brake pads with only genuine honda brake pads.

Riiiiiiiiiiight.

 

they friken charged me $10 for the oil filter which people on this forum said was a fram. And they had the nerve to charge me 32 cents for a washer

 

I haven't heard about Honda motor oil being anything special. Honda manual transmission oil is another matter. I believe Honda uses a much lower viscosity in their gearboxes than most other manufacturers, so it may be wise to stick with their branded gear oil.

 

Thats just plain old dyno oil ya got. Which really is fine. I personally did the change myself and got 5quarts (thats 1 extra for later) of synthetic and a premium oil filter for $25 (sale at advanced auto). If you are only bringing the car to the dealer to document your oil changes you can still buy the oil before you go and provide it to them to use when they do the change. Personally for documentation I just fill out the maintenance book that came with the fit and staple the receipt (and the top of the filter box) into the book. I also take a picture or two of the receipt next to Maint Minder with odo and oil life displayed so they cant try to give me any bull. Then just to be safe I snapped a few pictues of the filter on the car and the empty oil bottles.

Anyway with that being said dyno oil will work just fine in our cars. The only reason I chose synthetic was due to my tendency to let the car run at high revs for prolonged periods of time with the paddle shifters - even then im sure its not providing much benefit but it makes me feel better and thats worth the extra $10.

The only special honda oil is the oil that came with the car. it has small amounts of *moly* which aids engine break-in. Thats the reason you want to make sure you wait the full 8k-11.5k for that first oil change. Also the $5x dollars was a bit expensive. My dealer provided coupons with the car for a few $35 filter and oil changes. $45 dollars if you needed them to do a rotation too. (also gave me coupons for free car washes but aint a chance in hell I'm going to let them scratch my car up doing it)


Pro-Tip: If you can drink $10 dollars worth of free coffee and donuts in their lobby (valley honda serves starbucks and free wifi - I have to give them some credit even though I dont get service done there)while you wait for them to do the change i may just be worthwhile.

 

QFT.

The same applies here. Honda's motor oil (both mineral and fully synthetic) is refined for them by Idemitsu.

I know you don't get CVTs in the Americas, but just to illustrate:
Honda's CVT Fluid is also a special case - you can't substitute it with Honda's ATF-Z1, which is meant for their conventional automatic transmissions. You HAVE to use their CVT fluid, or you risk damaging the belt-and-pulley-driven CVT.

The other consumables - brake pads/shoes, clutch, engine oil, coolant - you can get by with using products from other suppliers.

 

For any engine, when you buy oil, buy the oil that has the American Petroleum Institute Seal that say “For Gasoline Engines”. I like Castrol GTX SAE 5W-20, but there are other SAE 5W-20 oils that have that API Seal. Any one of those will do.

 

My first change was on 10/8 @ 10,302 miles...total cost was $ 32.91 & they changed the filter as well. I did not have them rotate the tyres as I had done that myself @ 7k miles. Done at the dealership I bought it from (Concord Honda)

 

i got mine for $.25

 

In the U.S., the Honda oil I bought says on the bottle "made by Mobil". I ended up using Mobil 1 5w-20 instead, just for the extra peace of mind for the long oil change intervals the maintenance minder calls for.

 

Remember, if a warranty issue is ever denied by the dealer network and/or manufacturer the onus is on THEM to prove that the failure was due to improper maintenance.

Most manufacturers' "GEN-YEW-WINE" consumables are manufactued by other entities (ex: Mobil, Castrol, FRAM...) and then slapped with the car manufacturer's label and doubled in price. As long as the oil/filter/coolant meets or exceeds industry-recognized standards for your engine your warranty is safe.

And you DO NOT have to go to the dealer for your scheduled maintenance. As long as you have a "competent person" (preferrably a reputable auto maintenance shop) do the work, and provide dated receipts for everything you're within the standards set out.

Oh, and NAPA oil filters are not only the best bang for buck (as cheap as the cheapie Frams), they're manufactured by Wix and are therefore among the best filters period.

 

ENEOS is the best oil to use. Its made by NIPPON and is the number 1 oil used in Japan. Honda has been using Eneos in their F1 cars forever. I had a WRX STI before my fit and always used Eneos. I had tried Motul, royal purple amongst others and was most impressed with Eneos. Its pricey, around $8 a quart but it is well worth it.