It hsa been 2500 miles and 1.5 months of having it, it has been fun driving it. The gas mileage in the Seattle congested traffic is currently at between 33 mpg - 35 mpg.

Only thing that is weird, is that after 2500 miles on the car, the oil change interval still indicates only 80%. Wow, does the car have to go 10000 miles before it requires the first oil change?

 

No please don't go there.

 

It depends on how you drive it, but yes, many people go that far without it requiring an oil change. It starts nagging you at 15%.

Honda recommends not changing it early the first time; go by the schedule. Apparently the factory oil has break-in additives. Check your owner's manual.

After that it's up to you. Personally I go by the minder; I'm at 5,000 on the 2nd oil change and the minder is at 60%.

If your driving pattern is short trips where the motor doesn't fully warm up, the minder goes off after about 3,000 miles.

 

You know this from personal experience?

 

The owner's manual says: do the first oil change when indicated by the maintenance minder, or after 1 year, whichever comes first. Our '09 was a short-trip car for its first year; had less than 5000 miles on the clock after a year. Oil life IIRC was 60%. We changed it anyway.

 

No, just reading other people's stories here on the board.

Here's a recent thread; I think there is at least one other...

 

My old 2001 BMW 330i also had the minder interval indicator. But it always drag on till a year before the oil change. following the minder reminder, the bimmer did not run very well after 4 years. Not sure if it has anything to do with the long oil change interval, but my other cars Acura TSX and RDX, all go through 3-4 month oil change intervals, on synthetic. They all run well, even after 4 years of ownership.

Not sure an engine will take one year to break in, even if driven leisurely. I think I will probably change it at 6 months, not crazy about having dino oil in the engine for longer than 6 months. I do a lot of congested city driving, stop and go, engine idling etc... I expected the minder to pick up on this and accelerates the oil change interval.

 

well, anecdotally speaking, my 97 Honda Odyssey's maintenance minder was purely a function of miles, nothing else. It flipped to yellow at about 7,000 and to red about 8,000 miles. I changed the oil whenever it went yellow. 225K later it ran just fine. Maybe that's Honda. But my use was not "severe," a 25 mile commute at mellow speeds.

I suspect you're driving long enough to boil off contaminants. I'm just going from what someone else said here, but the thing is a function of revolutions, engine temperature/time, and maybe how much you flog it (heh, I have no idea really)


The maintenance minders have been criticized here as a device for soccer moms to keep them from seizing their engines, but I think Honda deserves more credit for designing them using an algorithm that actually considers how the car is driven, not just how much.

A few people here have posted oil analysis reports from some independent company that confirm lengthy oil change intervals (10K and up) are healthy in these cars where the minder has recommended long intervals. I don't think anyone with severe service has posted.

There's certainly nothing wrong with changing oil more frequently than needed (except statistically you may be more prone to a mechanic doing something stupid. if you pay someone to change it). Except I'd try to leave the break-in oil in there according to the owner's manual.

It's a pretty hot topic here. I always weigh in on the side of spending less (it's an economy car!) where there is no perceivable benefit other than feeling good.

Watch this thread. I'm sure there's an interesting story.

 

No, it has to do with the fact that BMW made it. The reason I have a Fit now is because I got tired of my 65k mile BMW 330 turning itself into a giant paper-weight every other week.

To the OP, leave the break-in oil in until the car tells you to get rid of it. It isn't off-the-shelf oil so it's best to follow Honda's instructions regarding it. After it's done, though, just replace it with some quality oil and base your oil changes on your driving style and oil's expected life.

 

well, except for the fact that we are sending young men and women to the other side of the planet to kill, or be killed, for it. And don't even think twice about wasting resources that are still usable.

Go ahead and change your oil every weekend, and throw away half full bottles of water if they get warm. Doesn't affect you personally- don't worry about it!



(isn't it disgusting that our government would rather have your children die in a war and risk environmental disasters, than stop the quick change oil places from deceiving the public? hrrmmmmm)

 

Hey congrats on the new fit, but in all seriousness, 5 more years of HI GUYS I JUST GOT A GE8!!! We need like a seperate thread for new members to say hi.

 

mmm yeah, but I still rather ride than walk.

I haven't run any numbers but I don't think if jiffy lube were put out of business tomorrow that we'd stop drilling for oil. Even if everyone in the US stopped using all oil products (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, lubricants) I don't think that would stop US businesses from drilling for oil around the world or lessen the will of the American people to protect their interests.

Or were you being facetious?

 

... And the countless reviews ...

 

I'm dead serious. The politicians and economic analysts have all been quick to state that our dependancy on oil as a main contributor to the bad economy, oil wars, and eco disasters. If everyone were to change their oil at 6k miles instead of 3k, that would cut that particular dependancy in half. Go ask any business owner if cutting their sales in half is going to change their supply needs. Supply and demand... right?

This planet and the condition that it is in is your responsibility, my responsibility, and everyone elses that is going to come after us. Someone may think that throwing away one plastic bottle isn't going to matter much, but the future generations that have to live on this planet are going to be wondering what the hell we were thinking.

I know it's a long shot to think that you and I can really contribute to making a change. But if you don't at least start considering these types of ideas, then the chances of you being a part of the solution is already zero and you have already failed. You can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket. It's the negative, helpless attitudes that is what makes this country weak. We really can make change, if everyone believes it.

Happy 9/11 everyone

 

Agreed. While Motor Oil is definitely not the top consumer of oil, it does have an impact; one which benefits the consumer (by not having to Pay for oil changes as much - or for the oil), the environment, our dependency on foreign oil. If every fit owner were to follow the MM, it's likely that 75% of FIT owners would go for about 9k miles before needing to change their oil. This is 1/3 of the "old standard" that people are used to. This means 2/3 less oil purchsed, which in turn means also, 2/3 less oil needing to be disposed of. Less money needing to be spent on refining AND disposal so there is a double-benefit here.

As for me, I'm at 17.5K miles and the MM is down to 40%. I've done one oil change so far and my fuel economy is continuing to rise over the life of the vehicle. so Far I've paid $38 TOTAL for maintenence and if I had gone by the 3K rule, I'd have spent almost 6X that amount and have been responsible for disposing of 6X the amount of oil.

I'm expecting my overall oil consumption to be about 25% of what my integra was and about 20% of my 2007 Altima. - look at the impact of Just my scenario and imagine if that were more widespread.

OP... Take it to 15% on the MM and you'll be extremely happy. If you are concerned about the longevity, put synthetic in as it's just a few $$ more and it can give you a little extra "insurance". If you are extra concerned, have the oil analyzed and that should set your mind at ease.

~SB

 

well look at this... front page news on yahoo- Like the ?55 Chevy, the 3,000-Mile Oil Change Is Pretty Much History - Yahoo! Finance

it's as if the writer is from this forum.

teaser:
"The concern is not only the cost to drivers, but the environmental impact of throwing away good oil, said Mark Oldfield, a recycling specialist for the agency."

 

my oil monitor drops 10% approximately every 700 miles in winter
and 10% every 1100 miles in summer.