Is the service minder purely based off of how many miles ago it was reset, or is it actually based on driving conditions, oil used, etc.?

I put Mobil 1 Synthetic in my car at 29k miles. At 36.5k, I am below 0%. After $155 fuel leak fix and $232 spark fix, I am hoping for a break! In my Mini Cooper S, I didn't have to replace the oil until about 9500 miles had passed.

I will be checking the oil here in a bit. Just hoping to get some further insight.

Take care all!

 

Oil is @ half (between two notches) and still has red hue.

Was thinking I should just top it off?

 

The service minder is based on driving conditions: lots of stop and go city driving is going to run it up faster than 10,000 miles of interstate. It knows nothing about the kind of oil in the engine. Change or not? Your choice, although synthetic should give you more cushion.

 

We are using synthetic oil in our '07 Fit and running it to 150% of the MM.

For us that is about 9 - 10 months.



If you are worried about how "good" the oil is, send a sample of your used oil to Blackstone Labs (or equivalent) for a Used Oil Analysis. (about $20)

 

Yikes... 9500 miles between changes on a Mini? That sounds high on a sedate car, and super-high on a car with a small, highly wound engine and a supercharger (which I assume shares oil with the engine.)

I would change it sooner, personally. If you want to save some coin you could do it yourself, though you probably need a heated garage to do so.

 

I changed my oil in the Fit right after I bought it. So it's no biggie to change it. It's at almost 38k miles now and still red and smells fine.