I went to Walmart last night and saw that Mobil 1 5qt jugs were $26.82, the Motorcraft 5w20 which is highly regarded on the BITOG forums 5qt jug was $17.74, and Pennzoil Platinum 5qt were $24.82. I might just go with the M1 in the future because of the availability of 0w20 even though Pennzoil Platinum is highly regarded as well.

 

From what I have read off the internet, I suspect the Motorcraft is probably Conoco's Kendall oil. However, I cant really confirm it. The bottle is not the same as Kendall's. Honda's bottle looks like the Kendall bottle. I think any fully synthetic oil is probably better then the standard semi-synthetic stuff the Honda dealership uses for a standard change. That Mobil 1 fully synthetic for around $25 is probably better then the standard fill the Honda dealership uses. I think they are all good choices and will get the engine to well over 100k without issue, but the question is which is the absolutely best one.

I would like to get my engine up to over 250k before the whole thing blows up (rod knocking).... I kind of think going with the best possible oil might give the engine 20-30% more life.

 

Not sure on this, first is finding the 'best possible' oil [they're all good] and second is figuring the life expectancy. Wearing out a Honda engine is a rare occurrence unless you blatantly abuse it and that usually means not changing the oil and over revving. Chances are the tranny will go before the engine.

Named brand oils and changing on schedule plus sound driving habits = longevity.

1/4million miles shouldn't be a problem for the engine.

Oil decisions have become entirely too subjective thanks to slick marketing ploys, me thinks.

 

Went to the dealer today and they use Conoco products. They are moving away from Mobil 1. Good to know and I feel better too about the oil. So Honda oil is the way to go and is a specified oil.

 

Personally, I'm not too fond of Conoco.

On my road trip, nearly ALL the Conoco stations seemed like they needed cosmetic updates (in itself, not a problem for me). And the few that I stopped at, definitely needed equipment upgrades. I started avoiding their stations whenever I could after one of them (in Denver, only a few days into the trip) spilled gas out of my Fit, because it didn't have an automatic shut off. I mean really, if it has latches to be pumped unattended (I count not holding it as unattended), then it should have automatic shutoff. I actually heard the filler tube filling up and thought it didn't sound right... and just as I turned to look at it, gas came out. Lucky for me, I was standing right there and managed to grab the pump just as the overflowing gas touched the ground. There was more gas on my Fit than on the ground.

I know big oil and gas companies don't directly run the stations, but they are all franchised stations that have their name. Part of being a franchise is the ability to dictate ground rules for keeping the name. Stuff like this, should not be happening to a large franchise in a big city.

Hell, even a no name station using an even OLDER pump from who know when in the middle of god knows where (at least it was next to the interstate), had automatic shut off in the pump. Not even a hint of gasoline sitting in the filler tube when it stopped. I was fully expecting it keep going and having to stop it myself... this was before the Conoco incident.

 

I have limited experience with Conoco gasoline. I fill up at the boarder in Kentucky going to Tennessee on my way to Georgia. Station was clean but the fuel spilled too. One reason is they didn't have the same pumps as around here with the splash guard and a slower pump. The gasoline was of good quality and the mpg went up in the vehicles I drove.

The way the station is maintained is not from Conoco but by the franchise owners. There is a lot of stations around here that could be better maintained too. Most of the stations were rebuilt with new tanks and pumps due to new regulations. Most likely the experience you had was with old technology. Stations change owners to stay open and delay the regulation. Meeting regulations costly for gas stations - USATODAY.com

 

Poor, poor Ridgeline This, right here, is the reason why I RARELY buy used cars: most people view a vehicle as a means to get from A to B. When it is time for some PREVENTATIVE maintenance, such as an oil change, there are douches that neglect it (because there are other priorities than your car).

 

Today I changed the in-cabin air filter. I have 21000 miles on my car and have had it since May 2011. The left is the filter that came with the car, the right is the new filter.

Its probably a good idea to check this filter out around 15000 miles to see what it looks like. If it gets clogged, then all that black stuff is probably going into your lungs.


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SevereService, do you mind taking a picture of the bottle of oil when it comes in the mail front & back and posting it here? I'd appreciate it, thanks.

 

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Glad to see a driver that actually maintains a car properly! I know it seems like common sense but people love to delay maintenance and it is the worst thing you can do! I have 4500 mile on my 2011 Sport and just scheduled my first oil change/tire rotation---this was difficult because I really wanted to bring it in at 3000(I know waste of money right?) oh well good luck with the car! I'm interested to see how she olds up with high miles.

It seems like the general trend in a lot of these threads is that the Fit itself is a phenomenal car but Honda put some cheap "wear with use" items like the breaks and tires---from reading through just today it looks like the car is really woken up with some higher quality tires and such...

 

What's sad about this is that the next owner has no idea that this is how the car was treated because I'm sure the tires were shined it was freshly waxed and it looked great. The only way I would buy or recommend someone else to buy a used car is if it was certified with a "better than new car warranty" the nightmares I've heard of with used cars really makes you think----is my car a piece of crap because the manufacturer builds it this way or is it because people don't know how to treat a mechanical device? I remember reading years ago that Audi stopped producing the (b5) S4 with the turbo 6 because it didn't have a turbo timer and Americans were burning up turbos because they disnt take the time to let the turbo cool before shutting the car off---I know that seems ridiculous to sit in your car until the turbo cools but when someone buys a car like that you figure they would know how to treat it!

 

This is why I want to get the service done at the dealership because then it goes on the carfax and if I need to sell the car then the next person can see what I did to it. However, service at the dealership has not been fun so far and rather expensive. Each time I went to the dealership the service was poor, the waiting room none to tidy and the bill at the end rather high. I've learned a few tricks to navigate through the dealership like specifically telling them what to do to the car...you just want an oil&filter change/tire rotation...nothing more. Next time I go, I will be providing them with the Honda oil, but I dont think its going to be as easy as handing them the oil. I expect for them to give me a little hassle. They might say they only use the oil they buy. I'll give it a try, but I dont think they will make it easy for me.

So Im just going to get the oil changes at the dealer and any other work that needs to be performed I will either do it myself (keep all the receipts) or have my independent mechanic do it. I noticed that a local Sears charges $85 an hour (the local mechanic charges 90, the dealership much more). Sears might be an alternative place although the customer service experience there has been a nightmare for me in the past too!

 

Owner's manual? What's that?

The norm for many people unfortunately is to wait until something breaks before someone fixes it. Not a good idea with automobiles. Some BMWs don't even come with dipsticks anymore.

 

I just changed my filter today... unpleasant. Then again, its only been 35k miles.

Dude... that's describing my sister and her husband. They absolutely refuse to do ANYTHING until it breaks. The worse is when I then have to pay for it because it happened to break while I'm borrowing it. =.="

 

I hate to be a pessimist but this is why I don't borrow anything from anyone...I hate being responsible for it

 

Well, I got tired of dealing with it, so it became the reason for me to buy my own car... the Fit.

 

My last car was a 1999 Toyota Solara purchased at 150,000 miles for $3000. I had to put in $3000 of work to make it really driveable. The used car dealer provided me a Carfax on it and it had some service done at the dealer, but I didnt see on the Carfax where it was maintained all the time. It looked like when it was new the owner had brought it to the dealership for oil changes, but then stopped for whatever reason or at least stopped changing the oil at the dealership. While I owned it, it received fully synthetic oil changes every 3000-5000 miles. I purchased those 5 quart Mobil 1 synthetic oil jugs at Walmart. Then one day I heard the knock of death...rod knock and the engine eventually seized right at 201,000 miles. Im not sure what happened in the previous history of that Solara, but whatever happened probably contributed to the engine's early demise. Those Camry 4 cylinder engines are supposed to last a lot longer then that.

When I was in the market for a car, I could have purchased a used Toyota Corolla LE with 20,000 miles for 12 grand thereby saving about 4 grand from the Fit. The Corolla also would have been even more maintenance free and got about 2 mpg additional gas mileage. However, the ride on the Corolla wasnt as sporty and I really wanted a hatchback. So I decided to go for the Fit which is really my first new car. I have never purchased a new car, always went used.

Although the Corolla would have been the more practical and less expensive buy, I am very happy with the Fit. I tend to keep my cars literally until the wheels fall off therefore I am very anal with the maintenance. Rod knock is where my last used car got me so I figured this time I would buy a new car and really take care of it. So it really matters to me exactly which oil gets put into the car and I stick with the Maintenance Minder. The moment the minder goes off, then I drive it over to get serviced. If I ever have to sell it, this car will make one hell of a used car...

My expectation is to get at least 250,000 miles out of this car and 10 years of use. Since its so practical and gas saving, there is no reason to sell it.

 

Here is another car I saw today:


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I would say one out of five cars I see lack oil changing. The majority of cars I see each day have an oil change sticker of some type up on the windshield and usually from a local independent mechanic. Most people try to get away from the dealership after the first few changes and who could blame them? There is that minority of people out there who dont bother with getting the oil change or do it very infrequently...

 

Given the silliness of people here, I'm thinking that mandatory driver's ed should include a tire, oil and air filter change as part of the practical exam.