Now that is a great explanation.

 

before i type my reply, i'm not being rude in any way. I used to feel that way too. I have since changed my opinion on dealerships and also the MM.

I find it interesting that you say that. Why would a dealership push people to follow the maintance minder if they wanted to make money? Small town shops telling you to change your oil at xxx,xxx miles or even by a date thats in the near future suggests they are making money from you more than the dealership. I went to the dealership last week with my girlfriend to get a couple things fixed. While we were there we decided we both wanted an oil change since I was at 30% and she was at 40%. They encouraged us NOT to do so and to follow the minder. On that note, the zimbrick saturn she bought her car from had done two oil changes on the car at about 3,500 miles and said "the light is a guide... its not something you have to follow". My favorite part of that, zimbrick saturn has since been closed and is going to be the new zimbrick mini.

 

Its so when the damage is done to your car at 150,000 and your car is out of warranty you will have to go back to Honda for repairs...

Ill keep doing my oil changes at 7500 and I guarantee my car will outlast yours because you decided to follow the maintenance minder and save some cash. Peace of mind is worth the extra $30.

 

I can turn a wrench. My car will last as long as I choose it
to.

 

I predict you will be turning that wrench more often.

 

Great do what you want as will I but the dealers in Florida are not that good. The Honda Dealer I bought my car from off of Atlantic Blvd screwed up my paint job they washed the car the night before I picked it up. The paint job was scratch all over my car they used dirty rags no microtowels and they screwed up my new car. But since I signed all the paper work I was told too BAD! I got them to try and buff the car out and I was given several free oil changes and some Options for free but over all they were Idiots! Then another dealer off of Casset Ave had a good thing going with getting an oil change. They had a double oil bay just for Oil and Tire work. And for about a year it was great getting my oil change from them. Then one day they put orange cones infront of the bays and know they make you get your oil changes like everybody else. You must pull up in the service bay and a form is written out and you wait longer. So I said NO MORE and found a Local garage that works on my Honda Fit Sport I trust him and he has saved me A lot of money.

 

I am going to follow the MM but I will not let it go over 10K or 1 year, whichever comes first (I only drive about 8K per year). 10K is a nice even number to change oil and rotate tires. I think there are some simple things we can probably all agree on.

1. The old 3K or 3 months interval is long dead for these new cars. Save your money and do something good for the planet by not changing oil that often.

2. Under normal driving conditions, the MM will be just fine. If you distrust it, 7500-10,000 mile intervals will probably work out just fine.

PS. My '91 Accord had a simple light that goes from green to amber every 7500 miles no matter how I drive the car. Not very sophisticated. LOL. I just change the oil in that car every 5K miles. 160K miles later, no oil leaking and the engine runs like new. I used regular oil (non-synthetic) so I am not sold on the idea that I need synthetic in my Fit either. Not that there's anything wrong with it.

PSS: 2200 miles on the Fit and oil life meter says 80%.

 

Lol, well even if I'm wrong that gives me
more time to spend in the garage with a 6 pack. Either way I win. I miss working on the t-bird every other weekend before I got the fit.

 

I think you have gone overboard here. The chances of returning to a particular dealer for the expensive engine work at 150K miles are nil. First of all, most people don't take cars with sort of mileage to the dealer any more. Secondly, even if they did, they will likely feel betrayed by the dealer's advice and seek a new shop.

In order for that theory to work, it would have to extend to a conspiracy level back to Honda and them trying to get extra income for their dealerships. Problem with that is that it eats into their own reputation for reliability and degrades their brand. Not bloody likely they would make that tradeoff.

Believe me, I trust corporations less than the average person but this one does not fly for me. In any case, I am not telling you to change your oil less. Just sayin'.

 

haha this thread is making me LOL. its a computer that shoots out a percentage. some people in this world do not like computers and some people love them. same concept..if you believe the computer is the best way to determine oil change then follow the MM...if not, then do it the traditional way of 5k or so per oil change.

no need to flame each other on what they believe is the best for their cars. it's just like arguing a parent's child is better to another parent's child because they drink 2% milk compare to full milk. lol

 

Why do you want to spoil our fun?

 

Yeah I know I was being a little dramatic.

 

That's cool. I should have guessed from the winky smiley.

 

so true

the only corporate entity holding on to the old intervals is the quick lube places. It's pretty obvious why they want to see you every 3 months.

Honda wants you to have a successful relationship with their product. I haven't read a single argument that would make sense otherwise.

 

I have an idea: Those who worship Honda, and feel that Honda can do no wrong, or be wrong, follow the oil minder. The rest of us, do as we wish. It is our car, our money, and if we wish to play it safe, we will change our oil more oftern. There has never been a case, that I know of, where an engine wore out from having clean oil and new filters.

 

Why did you buy a honda? Was it because it was known to be reliable and economical? It certainly wasn't the least expensive option out there.

(Assuming this to be true) So you'll buy a car from a manufacture that you believe is more reliable than others, but you won't follow their recommendations for oil changes?

It may not seem like a lot when you change your oil every XXXX miles before it is supposed to, but when everyone does it it adds up to a lot of wasted oil. Oil is not unlimited. Even if you're not concerned with the consumption aspect, you should be concerned about the disposal. Or you could just not give a [...], like the world needs more narcissists.

 

This is directed at the OP while I let others bicker about the reliability of the MM.

I called Honda customer support when I first got my car because I was curious why there would be such a strange (to me) request during the break-in period not to change the oil until the MM says to. This is actually counter-intuitive to what I have been taught, which is that during the break-in as the engine parts wear to each other there are tiny, tiny slivers of metal shavings that come off in the oil as a result. I was taught to flush the factory fill after the first 1,000 miles to get that out and then re-fill. Honda's request to do the exact opposite made me nervous, but to insure the best possible life expectancy from the engine I was willing to do it, but only after first confirming why. I don't like blindly doing things if I don't know why I'm doing it.

So I made the call to Honda customer service and was told Honda is very specific about that bit because they fill the cars with a special blend from the factory that aids and promotes proper break-in of the engine. This oil is not commercially available and is made by Honda with the specific purpose of aiding the process of engine break-in. That was enough for me to cast aside doubt and go with it.

So, to answer your question, there is no way to know if you did anything at all to your engine, because really an engine that is not properly broken in does not exhibit problems until the engine has quite a few miles on it, like over 60,000. When you hear about people who all of a sudden start experiencing oil leaks and blow-by, it's not because older engines are supposed to do this, it's because the engine was probably not broken in correctly. A properly broken in engine and well maintained engine will run as cleanly and efficiently with 200,000 miles as it did with 20 miles.

My advice, enjoy your car and keep an eye on your oil consumption. Take a peak under the hood every now and then make sure there are no strange burning smells either. I ended up getting an oil change after a year of ownership because the MM was only at 20% at that point and I had about 10,500 miles. I guess I wasn't driving the car hard enough.

 

I said: THOSE WHO WORSHIP HONDA..Honda is a good car, but not perfect, they do make programming errors, such as the mpg indicator. The Fit was not the cheapest car out there, nor was it the most expensive in it's class. I got a good deal. If you feel compelled to follow every last instruction from Honda, knock yourself out. It is your car. But to smart mouth others because they think for themselves makes no sense.

 

WOW!

QB don't let people1234 trip your switch. He could be have'n a bad time and let off some steam. (or maybe Not)
MrFit2010 your just fine I know you didn't expect this much emotion about your oil but we ReAlLy LuV OuR FiTs here.....ya gotta just lol sometimes though.

 

Here is a story I've told before and here it goes again..............

Bought my car last August and at less than 3500 miles MM was showing 15%, so I had the oil changed. That mileage is almost all city driving in a small town and short trips to work.

Engine has just turned 5000 miles and MM is already down to 60%. Will probably be at 15% again by 7500.

Is MM out of whack?? I don't know. I do know I will keep changing it when it tells me to.

My MM experience is about the most extreme case I have seen on this site.