Hi all,
I was looking through the manual for oil change info and saw they recommend 'Genuine Honda Motor Oil' or 0W-20. Forgive my ignorance, but are these conventional or synthetic? If I went to an oil change place down the street (rather than the Honda dealer), would they know what to put in? This would be my 2015 Fit's first oil change and I want to make sure it's done right!

Thanks!

 

You can find 0w-20 synthetic blends, but Honda's "official" oil is full synthetic.

My dealer used the full synthetic.

I'm not aware of any full conventional 0w-20 oils out there. But I could be wrong.

Personally, I'd go for a full synthetic. Its worth the extra $5-10.

 

Honda uses the semi synthetic Conoco as their factory fill. They say a full synthetic is OK if it has a API rating. The Semi synthetic is really a full synthetic in my opinion but one of the base oils does not meet the Group III rating in one area but is a Group II+ that is 99 percent pure. Considering a regular group II is about 90 to 95 pure it is still a better product for the money. Its about the additive package anyways which is good enough for the MM and is why Honda says follow it.


We can talk about base stocks to which one is better but that is not as important as the additive package and VI additives to how long the oil stays in spec.

 

I'm seeing some conflicting info here. The dealership I bought from told me it was synthetic blend, but I didn't ask the dealership I'm using for service. That's interesting. I would have thought they'd just default to conventional oil, not synthetic OR a blend. I guess they want people coming in for oil changes less often.

I'm used to using "German spec" / "European spec" synthetic oils. Castrol Edge, Mobil 1, Shell Ultra Helix whatever the name is. I'll probably buy that myself and ask the dealership to use that in the future. I don't think it's necessary, but I think full synthetic is the way to go, and the European spec oils are the best imho.

 

Premium detergent oil with the API certification seal and in the USA 0W-20. I would use some that is labeled SN. If you change it when you should it probably won't matter much if it is synthetic or not if the other requirements are satisfied. Honda sells "synthetic 0W-20" and "synthetic blend 0W-20" Conventional wisdom is that you can't really make a true 0W-20 without at least some synthetic in the mix. Perhaps. In other parts of the world pretty much the same car might come with a manual that allows or requires 0W-30 or 5W-30 (I have not checked recently) so the viscosity may not really be that critical, but while under warranty here in the USA use 0W-20. Other than viscosity the critical thing is the API certification, true synthetic may be marginally better, you have to decide if it is worth large difference in price. In the USA, highly refined conventional oil, if it is refined enough, can be labeled as "synthetic".
Guy at the Honda dealer or guy down the street, the only real way to know if it has been done right is to figure out how to do it correctly and then do it yourself. Is it worth it to you?

 

Every oil changing place will be the same they will tell you what your car requires and give you choices if you want to pay more for semi synthetic or fully synthetic. as far as the dealership's oil change they will put in the oil the factory requires. If you have the time I would say change your own oil. Then you know it was done right and for sure you would know what type of oil is going into your car.

 

Toyota Genuine 0W-20 is just about the best 0W-20 available, and would suit the Fit very well. The L15B was designed with extremely light engine oil in mind.

 

I have the certificate tucked in the big folder that contains the books. I assumed it was standard oil. Oh, well, that several months away.