My minder says 15%, how long does the minder say 15%?? A day a week, 75 miles, ball park figure is fine.

I have never had an oil change at the dealer, what can I expect at the dealer? Bait and switch, pressure sales? What's your experience?

JIm 0311

I deliberately did not post mileage, I don't care you get yours changed every 300 miles.

 

Till it says 10%. Extrapolate from how long it took to go from 20% to 15%. Or from 100% to 15%. It's pretty linear.

 

15% will vary depending on how you drive.

Stop and go city is less than cruising highway.

For me, 15% would last maybe three weeks (50 miles a day). I do deliveries.

 

See how many miles you have gone to get to 15%. Divide that number by 17. The number you get will be approximately how many miles it takes to drop from 15% to 10%, 10% to 5%, etc. Simple math.

 

Just have it changed when its convenient for you

 

15% is not a magic number, it's just a heads-up that it will soon be time to change. 0% is the magic number although I'm sure most people want to change their oil before that.

That said, if people average around 7500 miles to get from 100% to 15% (that's been my experience, with a lot of city driving) then you've got more than 400 miles to go.

 

Even past 0% is fine. Your car is not a ticking time bomb that'll explode when the clock runs out. I usually end up in the -700's or something before changing my oil. But that's because I'm running synthetic and I still have about 2500 miles to go before I really need to change the oil.

 

If the MM is at 15% then you've used 85% of the "life" of the oil.

If you drove 7500 miles over this portion (85%) then the extrapolation of (nod to brain) total miles (100%) can be expressed as:

7500/85=x/100

solve for x (the number of miles representing 100%)

7500/85*100=8,824

In this case x= 8,824.

Determine the value of 15% by subtracting 7,500 from 8,824

8,824-7500=1,324

therefore you have approximately 1,324 miles to consume the remaining 15% of oil life (if you drove 7,500 over the preceding 85%).

Now as a class exercise, solve this using your own numbers.

 

I have gotten mine changed at the dealer. My dealer charges the same rate as the local grease monkey and Jiffy lube, no pressure for additional services, plus they occasionally run special sale prices, if that coincides when I need the oil change. They also check the car out & toss in a car wash, so I go that route. Dealers vary widely though. Had it changed twice so far once @ 15% because I was going on a cross country trip, the other time @ 10%.

 

+1 for cheap dealer oil changes that include inspection and a wash.

And if the service schedule (or adviser) calls for more stuff (filters etc) you can always just say, "no."

Oil changes are their loss leader to get you in for other services that you may or may not need, but are usually cheaper DIY or another mechanic you trust.

this is real.

 

$40 for a Mobil1 synthetic change at the dealer for us. free would be better but I can't complain.

~SB

 

You guys should invest in the Fumoto Drain Valve. Makes oil changes quick and easy breezy baby. Never have to worry about stripping your drain bolt and replacing washers ever again.

 

Haha you won't have a problem stripping the drain bolt as long as you're using the right tools and not going all macho man when torquing it.

And I haven't ever replaced the crush washer, no problems with leaks (knock on wood).

 

i changed mine i think at 30% and there was a note to not bring in till 15% last time i changed it but yea i get free oil changes for like 5 years from honda. They tried to pressure to get the b1 i think tire rotation, fluid levels, etc. i did that all my self.

 

I think the dealer usually reports the oil change to carfax, so if you like seeing that you might want to go to the dealer. I don't think I'd like them washing my car, the final detail before delivery put all sorts of swirls in my clearcoat. I'll trust myself to wash it and get those lame swirls out. Probably just do my own oil changes.

 

you dont have to change the oil as frequent on the newer cars. Matter of fact some oil will last over 10k according to lab analysis. But its up to you. I would change every 6k using full synthetic.

 

Honda to Report Service Information to Carfax - Apr 29, 2008

sure that's a side benefit, but more importantly it should be shared and commonly stored in the Honda national database.

So if you go to another Honda Dealer the records should be there too.

(Or if you sell your car, you can also tell your buyer that they can call Honda to verify the service history independently from the source)

 

I've done my own oil changes and so far averaged around +6k to +6.5k miles when the MM hits 15%. That's mostly 15-30mi city commutes with occasional +100mi freeway drives

Easiest way to keep track of your mileage/oil change is using the B trip meter. I use the A for each fill up and B for the oil change... just for my reference.

 

When I drove the Pathfinder, I used B trip for mileage per tank and A for daily mileage (doing deliveries)... but alas, the GE only has one trip counter.

 

My problem was that the drain bolt was always too hot, even after letting the car "cool down" for 30 min. I just get impatient and start with the oil change and end up nearly stripping it b/c the metal is too soft. It's a Honda thing b/c I never had that problem with Nissan oil changes. Those drain bolts are indestructible.