"ACAR" <dimndsonmywndshld@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:7cded929-006d-4c84-9e3e-8283281910af@l64g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
> On Apr 15, 7:38 pm, "Butch Haynes" <butch@huntsville> wrote:
>> Took my '07 Accord V6 back to the selling dealer for its first oil
>> change. I
>> bought the car just over 11 months ago, the maintenance minder showed 5%
>> oil
>> life left with 6570 miles on the odometer-- I don't drive much...
>>
>> The service writer starting chewing my ass for going beyond 6 months for
>> the
>> oil change. I showed him the Owner's Manual where it says to change the
>> oil
>> the first time at one year if the oil life minder didn't call for a
>> change
>> yet. I also mentioned that I had been concerned about going so long on
>> the
>> oil and had called American Honda around 6 months ago and they said to
>> leave
>> that first oil in there until the minder said to change it or a year was
>> up.
>>
>> So what's what?
>
> "Elmo" is generally correct although you may not want to be quite so
> confrontational if you plan to use this place for service in the
> future.
>
> However, the Service Writer may not be as dumb as he appears. Did you
> ask him what kind of oil they were putting into your car? You may not
> want that stuff in there for more than 6 months. I still do my own oil
> changes just so I know what's in the engine. Once/year oil change is
> probably fine for as little driving as you do if you use a top quality
> motor oil and filter; assuming that whenever you use the car you drive
> it long enough (15-20 min) that it fully warms up (expels all the
> water/water vapor).
>
> Maintenance minders: these nifty devices purport to tell you all you
> need to know. Of course, these same minders are used by the various
> new car rating organizations to calculate maintenance costs. So it is
> in the manufacturer's self interest to go as long as possible between
> services to show low maintenance costs. How long do you want to own
> your car? Ask Tegger, whose Honda product now has over 300,000 miles,
> how long he goes between oil changes. I have no such high mileage
> aspirations and my 200,000 mile cars seem fine with 7500 oil change
> intervals using Mobil 1 synthetic.
>
> YMMV

Thanks to everyone for all the info. I did ask the service writer droid
about the oil and he said they use Honda brand 5W-20-- and I do avoid short
trips so the car is usually fully warmed up.

I always used to do my own oil changes for the same reason you do. But the
aging bod has increasing trouble getting down that low and crawling into the
diminishing amount of clearance cars seem to have these days...not to
mention finding and reaching the oil filter. I think I may need to start
doing my own again though...