It's STARTING the car that wears the engine most and nobody's saying count the number of times you start your car. Why? Cause it'd be a pain to keep track. But the MM can (and I hope it does, as one factor).

My MM shows 60% at 4200 miles but it's been on 60% for a while so I figure it's about to drop to 50% (which means 40-50% according to the owner's manual). So it'd be at zero around 8500 miles (no, I won't wait to zero to change the oil).

There's nothing 'wrong' with changing your oil more frequently (except if you're removing the break-in oil) but each time you do it there's a tiny chance of a mistake. Do it every day for 5 years and one day you're gonna get distracted and forget to put the cap back on, or spill oil in your garage, or start to change your oil and discover you've got only 3 quarts of new oil...

There's probably nothing wrong with putting on SPF 50 sunscreen every 15 minutes, either, but I doubt whether the Sunscreen Freak Forum has people advocating it. And your skin is more important than your car.

 

I must confess that I often do. My thought is that the 15% recommendation is to give people time to procrastinate before it does get to zero. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if 15 means zero, why not just change the scale?

 

I've had two oil changes... and both have hit negatives, though the "worst" was only a day or two.

Yes, I'm very lazy and a major procrastinator.

But, to "The Critic"... the MM does vary quite a bit... both times, I had only racked up 6k miles before being "informed" of needing an oil change.

Deliveries!!! FTW? FTL?!? FWIW!

I also believe that the "starting" is also wearing the engine, so in that regards, I leave my engine on once I'm at the customer doing the delivery (which is partly why my MPG is a bit lower than most, I suppose).

 

you do realize that when a dealer offers an oil change for life plan, they're going to extend their recommended oil change interval... dont you ?

theyve got you psyched into 10K!! mile oil changes, and now you're taking it into a dealer to have it done. Brilliant!!

my commute is 60 miles one way, and while Id love to buy into this 8K oil change... Id rather my oil not be burnt black everytime its changed.

 

What?

The dealer didn't install the maintenance minder let alone recommend the oil change duration... Honda did!... and they have a MAJOR reputation for reliability. the number one way to ruin a manufacturers reputation is to design an engine & maintenance plan that essentially self destructs. Honda isn't going to let dealers determine oil change intervals for the chance that a lifetime oil deal *MIGHT* be on the table from SOME dealers. If Honda (not your local dealer) offered a lifetime oil change option on every vehicle, then maybe... just maybe... they'd potentially risk the chance that they'd have catastrophic failures. Honda plays it safe most all of the time so I HIGHLY doubt they'd even consider this.

The fact is... Many have had their oil analyzed by a 3rd party company that specializes in chemical analysis of oil. and No one has yet said that with 10K miles on the car, they went too far. Every single one has stated that the oil had much more life to it.

Also, Black oil isn't "burnt". Oil can change color very quickly so going by the color is a misnomer unless you see RED or green in the oil. that's a sign of fluid leaking into the engine, not regular usage.

~SB

 

Do you know what happens when water mixes with oil ?

If you tell someone who is looking to buy your used honda, that you had the oil changed at the dealer recommended 9,500 mile interval. What do you think his response will be ?

what?

 

Fir krissakes! It's not the dealer. It's HONDA! You know, the guys who built the car. And nobody said anything about 9500 miles. The MM changes based on actual driving conditions. Look, if you want to change your oil every 50 miles go ahead. But don't spread FUD that the recommended intervals are a slick promotion tool. They are recommended by the manufacturer.

 

I hate these threads lol

 

Yeah, me too. I need to control myself. I honestly don't care where people stand on this but I don't like to see the issue misrepresented. Honda recommends something, which we are free to ignore if we like. The idea that a dealer is making up these numbers is just plain wrong though.

 

I tend to agree with that.

 

ok... so...

Water... oil... no Mixy Mixy. If you want to fill your engine with water... go ahead. I'll use oil.

i'd like to remove the dealer from all of these conversations as no matter where you have the oil change done (local mechanic, your driveway, etc...), I have a HUGE feeling that the wording in the manual isn't going to change. And neither is how the MM works.

As for who will buy my honda? When my 4 yr old Son decides to sell it [with 300K miles] for his first new car, I think plenty of people who hear that the HONDA (manufacturer... not dealer) recommended maintenance was followed will be interested. I'm also going to guess that by the time we sell the fit, the ignorance that is 3k oil changes will hopefully be limited to just a few. But I see there are some that are championing the cause.

It's amazing... we can hold a dual core computer in the palm of our hand that can make phone calls and has more power than a computer from 10 years ago but we as innovators have not improved on engine or oil technology from the 60's. Ignorance.

~SB

 

YES! to the last statement! its called PROGRESSION in technology

 

I'm at 5300 miles at 60%....I've had the car since end of February and drive 100 miles a day r/t ......it will be interesting to see how many miles I'll have when I bring it in for a change. I usually do all my own oil changes but at my dealer the first one is free and then only 17.95 after that. Not a bad deal

 

My 2010 Fit only has about 2000 miles and the computer minder shows 80%. Honda said to change 1st oil until the minder say 15%. But since my car has almost close to a year since I bought it, should i change the oil anyways?

 

manual I believe says 15% or 1 year. Doublecheck and go by the manual.

~SB

 

My dealer said to do the first oil change at 5000 miles. I just turned 5k yesterday, after seven weeks of ownership. MM is at 60%. I will probably do the first change at 15-20%.
One of the reasons I bought the Fit is for lower maintaince costs. My previous car was a '08 Subaru Legacy, which was quite pricey to maintain. I figure Honda engineers known a lot more about the maintaince schedule than I ever will. I also like the fact the MM is not an arbitrary schedule like most dealerships "recommended" schedule. That being said, it also appears a lot of people on this board go with their own schedule.
'11 Fit Sport AT

 

let me chime in my personal experiences here. . . i work at a honda dealership and have seen many a car come in with 7,8, 9k on the mm and showing 5% left. iv also seen many cars come in with 65k on them complaining of filckering oil lights to due oil consumption. there is a new bulletin coming out that requires new pistion rings on the k24 cause people dont change their oil enough and the oil control ring gets clogged up. this has also been done to the v6 engines as well. what im getting at is yeah, if you follor hondas MM they cant really blame you when its time to put an engine in your vehicle, lets just hope for your sake its covered. changing your oil every 3k isnt going to cost you alot of extra money, but it can save you alot of time and frustration in the long run. to each their own i guess. as for me, im at 1.5k and about to do my first oil change with mobil 1 and will be doing them every 3k from here on out

 

Coming from a background of working on cars and tracking them hard .... My M3 would have oil changed every 3 races or so. My honda gets 3500-4k mile intervals

 

I smell a bumper crop of re-badged dodge caravans in my commuting future.

Billy Banks couldve probably sold a million tubes of toothpaste that allow you to go a full week between brushings. Are you over brushing your teethe?

I could be an overnight millionare, but Id be surrounded by yuck mouths for the rest of my life.

anyone care for a breath mint?

 

Let me chime in, here. After all, somebody was looking for a 4k oil change. Mine was at 4700km (just under 3,000 miles) when I took it in, mm said 10%. Now, when I bought the car, it had 1700km (just over 1,000 miles) on the clock, the MM said 80%. That was four months ago.