John Horner wrote:
> I was looking up some service interval information for my '03 Honda Accord
> today and noticed that Honda says for US customers to use the normal service
> schedule unless certain conditions are met (frequent short trips, etc. etc.)
> but that Canadians should always use the severe service interval schedule.
> This correlates to oil changes every 7,500 miles for US residents but every
> 3,750 for Canadians?
>
> This is rather peculiar to me. Ontario is by far the most populated province
> of Canada and it's climate is largely similar to that of Michigan, Upstate
> New York, Vermonth, New Hampshire and Maine. Prevailing weather conditions
> are not enough to explain Honda's doings.
>
> Does this have something to do with different fuel formulations in Canada,
> or is it more evidence of things other than good engineering being behind
> Honda's recommendations?
>
> John
>
> ====================

John, You've brought up a very good point. It seems to be a 'blanket
statement' that's just not true for all users. Victoria, British
Columbia certainly doesn't have the same climate as Edmonton.

And a person in Edmonton who always parks in a heated parkade and a
semi-heated garage will have WAY less wear and tear than a guy in the
interior of BC who climbs mountains with his Accord, and parks it
outside, unplugged.

The guy who lives 2 blocks from the on-ramp of the 401 freeway will beat
the heck out of his engine compared to the guy who slowly drives six
kilometers to the highway and then drives a half-hour to work at a
leisurely 100 km / hour. (me)

The manual is pretty good at explaining what 'severe' is defined by, but
to lump all Canadians into the category is just DUMB, so it's up to each
of us to figure out where we stand. . . .

I won't even touch the financial reasons why Honda Canada may have said
that.

'Curly'