I want to do the oil changes myself on my new fit. However, this is the first new car that I've ever owned and am not sure if by doing my own service, I could somehow be denied a warranty claim. Any advice on that front?

 

got my first oil change yesterday at the dealer. oil change was free. indicator said 15%. took about 50 minutes. no hassle. just came in, waited, and left.

 

When are you guys (gals) doing your first oils change. I am at about 1750 miles and thinking about doing it.

Are you folks performing a shorter interval like this for the first change?

 

I waited and changed my oil and filter at 5000 miles. I still showed 65 percent oil life left in the indicator. I plan on changing oil and filter every 5000 from now on also. I just can not wait 10000 or 12000 miles between changes. On my old car with non synthetic oil I always changed oil and filter every 2500 miles. It lasted 20 years and 350,000 miles. I wouild rather change a little too often than not enough. Since the Fit only takes 3 1/2 quarts of synthetic and $3.25 for the Puralator oil filter it is cheaper than on my old car with non synthetic every 2500 miles.


James

 

I just change my Fit's oil at 5000 miles as well but I'll probably go 7500 to 10,000 thereafter.
Here's an interesting quote relating to Honda from an Edmonds article about 7 myths of oil:

5. When you buy a new car, change your oil at 3,000 miles to remove metal particles from the engine break-in process. There might be a grain of truth to this, according to the experts at Blackstone. Oil samples from engines during the first 3,000 miles of driving show elevated "wear-in" metal levels, coming from the pistons and camshafts, says Ryan Stark, Blackstone's president. But he added, "To me, it doesn't make that much difference because if the filings are big enough to cause damage, they will be taken out by the oil filter."


However, a Honda spokesman says its cars come from the factory with a special oil formulation for the break-in period. Honda advises owners to not change the oil early. Stark said Blackstone Laboratories' test of Honda's break-in oil shows it contains molybdenum-disulfide, an anti-wear additive. But Stark said Honda is the only manufacturer he knows that's using special break-in oil. The take-away? If there are any special break-in recommendations from the manufacturer, follow them. And consider analyzing the oil at 3,000 miles.

 

I was told to leave the dealer once when I brought my car in for an oil change. I had so few miles on the OD, and the tech said I didn't need an oil change yet. Was told if I drove far less than most, just bring it in around the first year of owner ship, even it didn't have three thousand miles on it.

I now have around 900 miles on the OD after 9 months, and will change my oil two months short of the 1 year mark. Seems hard on those that got in the habit of changing oil every 3 months regardless of the miles, but that is what Honda is saying.....

 

SR45, I thought 2900 miles in 9 months was low, but 900! Let me know when you sell as I may have a friend ready to buy then.

I'll definitely be a year and under 5K when I go in 6/30.

 

I am looking into a Mazda Miata MX5 (2016), but my height (6' 3") and age might prevent me from the sale. Was also toying with the Mazda CX3 when they come out or the 2016 Buick Encore. Always looking, and I do waste money.

I love being retired

 

So far on my 2015 Fit LX CVT I've done two oil changes at 100% Oil Life or slightly over 10,000 miles. This seems rather high. Should I just change the oil and filter every 6,000 miles instead?

 

If it makes you feel better, go for it, but it's not necessary. There have been a lot of discussions about this on the forum. Lab tests on oil have verified the MM is accurate and even conservative.

 

Unless a fleet owner is willing to use a set of matched cars as guinea pigs for various oil change schemes there is no way to know. Anecdotal data from individuals has no real value as they introduce other variables to the engine life equation.

Prior to the oil life software, oil change intervals were creeping up to 5000 and 7500 miles, but some manufacturers were stung by sludge buildup issues. I think that is why they are now using oil life software.

 

I'll prob do 6,000 since it's so easy to change the oil on the Fit. I'll stock up on oil & filters when I drive through sales taxless Oregon in a few weeks.

 

In my opinion the fundamental question to address is the quality of the filter media being used during your scheduled maintenance.

Cheap filters can easily "shave" off 10's of thousands of miles off of the life of the engine.


You want to buy the best quality filters that you can find.
My advice would be to avoid Wal-Mart, Fram, Car Quest as these are some of the lowest quality made (China).

 

I wrestled with low mileage/first oil change, and there are several threads on the topic of oil changes in the modifications/DIY maintenance forum here. I let the dealer do a "free" oil change at 7 months when I took the car in for the bumper beam update even though the mileage was only 2600 and the MM was at 50%. Still not sure I shouldn't have waited, but that's a lot of cold starts/short trips. I believe there was a tiny increase in engine noise during cold idle afterwards, but engine is still so quiet when warm that I sometimes think it stalled at traffic lights. Will probably go synthetic next time.

 

Fram is considered a low-quality filter?

 

Thanks you guys!

 

Yes. There are a lot of comparisons on the web showing the shoddy quality of current Fram products. They tend to scrimp on filtering material and their mechanical construction is also questionable.

I tend to stick with OEM filters. My dealer charges a reasonable amount for them and if I ever have a warranty issue it's hard to point at OEM parts as the culprit.

 

CHEAPEST and LOWEST quality ever, internally and externally.

 

Despite my misgivings, when I bought my '09 GE, the dealer's service department warned me in no uncertain term, NOT to change the oil early, but to wait until the maintenance minder showed 15% oil life remaining. This was contrary to everything I thought I knew about engines, but I did as they said, and trusted the car. I ended up changing the oil at 10,000 miles with 20% remaining (apparently, I drive like the old man I am).

I followed the "change at 20%" rule of thumb for the rest of the time I had the car, and it ran great to the time I sold it at 85,000 miles. I had a couple of oil analysis done during the time, and Blackstone told me the oil was just fine. The car never gave me a moments concern, and oil consumption averaged around a pint every 7,000 miles.

I'm expecting similar service from my GK.

 

When buying Mobil 1 be careful of the jug size game. The big jugs come in 5 liter, 5 quart, and 1 gallon sizes and they're all the same dimensions except for the thickness of the jug!

WW seems to carry the 5-quart jugs and the price is usually the lowest around. A lot of auto parts stores try to compete by carrying the 1 gallon jugs at a similar price but of course you get a quart less!