Honda Car Forum

My Civic, 2005 had about 3,400 miles now. The "mant req" light does not come
on yet. However, I received a letter from Honda Dealer where I bought my car,
asked me to come in to get oil changed.

I read the Civic's Owner's Manual and it stated that "under normal condition,
oil changed at every 10,000 mile"

What should I do?
I tend to keep this car for years and want it lasts long, so I dont want to
damage its engline.
Please advice.
TA

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I change the oil in my 92 Accord at around 7500 miles (as in the user
manual). The oil change indicator goes to yellow at 6500 miles, and red at
about 7300 miles. I've been keeping track of this for last 7+ years (yeah,
i'm a bit like that "Monk" guy).

You've get the newer model civic, so if the manufacturer says 10,000 miles,
then they could be right. It also depends on where you live and what weather
you drive in, etc. I'm in SW Florida.

"TA via CarKB.com" <u18620@uwe> wrote in message news:5bf99f094fa8c@uwe...
> My Civic, 2005 had about 3,400 miles now. The "mant req" light does not
> come
> on yet. However, I received a letter from Honda Dealer where I bought my
> car,
> asked me to come in to get oil changed.
>
> I read the Civic's Owner's Manual and it stated that "under normal
> condition,
> oil changed at every 10,000 mile"
>
> What should I do?
> I tend to keep this car for years and want it lasts long, so I dont want
> to
> damage its engline.
> Please advice.
> TA
>
> --
> Message posted via CarKB.com
> http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...-cars/200602/1

"TA via CarKB.com" <u18620@uwe> wrote in message news:5bf99f094fa8c@uwe...
> My Civic, 2005 had about 3,400 miles now. The "mant req" light does not
> come
> on yet. However, I received a letter from Honda Dealer where I bought my
> car,
> asked me to come in to get oil changed.
>
> I read the Civic's Owner's Manual and it stated that "under normal
> condition,
> oil changed at every 10,000 mile"
>
> What should I do?
> I tend to keep this car for years and want it lasts long, so I dont want
> to
> damage its engline.
> Please advice.
> TA
>
> --
> Message posted via CarKB.com
> http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...-cars/200602/1


It could be that the oil in there is a break-in oil. I don't know if the
manual addresses when to change that. I'd call the dealer and ask.
But maybe it's just a money grabbing scheme.
--
Bearman
If it's got tits, tires, tubes, or transistors, it's trouble.

"TA via CarKB.com" <u18620@uwe> wrote in news:5bf99f094fa8c@uwe:

> My Civic, 2005 had about 3,400 miles now. The "mant req" light does
> not come on yet. However, I received a letter from Honda Dealer where
> I bought my car, asked me to come in to get oil changed.
>
> I read the Civic's Owner's Manual and it stated that "under normal
> condition, oil changed at every 10,000 mile"




Nobody fits "normal". Use the "severe" schedule. The "normal" one is there
for marketing purposes. No I'm not kidding.




>
> What should I do?
> I tend to keep this car for years and want it lasts long, so I dont
> want to damage its engline.



Really and truly? Then don't sweat the extra few bucks to do the "severe"
service.


--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

"TA via CarKB.com" <u18620@uwe> wrote
> My Civic, 2005 had about 3,400 miles now. The "mant req" light does not
> come
> on yet. However, I received a letter from Honda Dealer where I bought my
> car,
> asked me to come in to get oil changed.
>
> I read the Civic's Owner's Manual and it stated that "under normal
> condition,
> oil changed at every 10,000 mile"
>
> What should I do?
> I tend to keep this car for years and want it lasts long, so I dont want
> to
> damage its engline.
> Please advice.

If you read the manual closely and confirmed you do "normal" driving, then
wait until 10k miles pass. Alternatively, if the car is equipped with
Honda's new Maintenance Minder system, wait until it says to change the oil.

The biggest dealer rip-off is telling customers to change the oil every 3k
miles. I have never seen a report stating that this improves engine life. I
have seen a report indicating that a frequency of 7500 miles or so (normal
driving) will ensure engine life longevity just as well. But this is with
older cars. With newer cars, the distance may be higher, especially with
synthetic oil.

What oil does this car use? Synthetic or non-synthetic? If synthetic,
definitely wait until 10k miles.

You're going to get a lot of opinions on this. Or google this group to see a
good sample of them.

Elle wrote:
>> My Civic, 2005 had about 3,400 miles now. The "maint req" light does not
>> come
>[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>> damage its engline.
>> Please advice.
>
>If you read the manual closely and confirmed you do "normal" driving, then
>wait until 10k miles pass. Alternatively, if the car is equipped with
>Honda's new Maintenance Minder system, wait until it says to change the oil.

>
>The biggest dealer rip-off is telling customers to change the oil every 3k
>miles. I have never seen a report stating that this improves engine life. I
>have seen a report indicating that a frequency of 7500 miles or so (normal
>driving) will ensure engine life longevity just as well. But this is with
>older cars. With newer cars, the distance may be higher, especially with
>synthetic oil.

I called the Honda dealer and asked the same question, a few techincians said
"just follow your Honda owner's manual", another few technicians mentioned
that "5w-20 that they used is from Honda" so I went back reading closely to
the manual, it mentioned that synthetics oil does not a requirement.

I googled and found out that 5w-20 can work well with cold start.
Reading from this web site, I learned that 5w-20 is a part of synthetics and
part of mineral oil.
>
>What oil does this car use? Synthetic or non-synthetic? If synthetic,
>definitely wait until 10k miles.
>
>You're going to get a lot of opinions on this. Or google this group to see a
>good sample of them.

Definitely, I will check the answers on this web site frequently to educate
myself on this matter.

--
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Andy M - Tampa Bay wrote:
>I change the oil in my 92 Accord at around 7500 miles (as in the user
>manual). The oil change indicator goes to yellow at 6500 miles, and red at
>about 7300 miles. I've been keeping track of this for last 7+ years (yeah,
>i'm a bit like that "Monk" guy).
>
Andy M:
My car does not even hit 5,000 miles yet so definitely, there is no lights
(neither the "oil change indicator" nor "main't requirement") coming on.

>You've get the newer model civic, so if the manufacturer says 10,000 miles,
>then they could be right. It also depends on where you live and what weather
>you drive in, etc. I'm in SW Florida.

I live in Central TX.

From the Civic Owner's manual/Maintenance (page 159), "5w-20 is formulated
for year round protection, to improve cold weather srating and fuel economy ".

and what I read from the Ambient Temperature that 5w-20 works good in the
wide range of -20oF to 100oF (or -30oC to 40oC).
Honda does not require synthetics oil.
Honda indicated that "does not require any oil additives. Additives may
adversely affect your engine's or transmission's performanace and durability".

>
>> My Civic, 2005 had about 3,400 miles now. The "mant req" light does not
>> come
>[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>> Please advice.
>> TA

--
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bearman wrote:
>> My Civic, 2005 had about 3,400 miles now. The "mant req" light does not
>> come
>[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>> Please advice.
>> TA
>
>It could be that the oil in there is a break-in oil. I don't know if the
>manual addresses when to change that. I'd call the dealer and ask.
>But maybe it's just a money grabbing scheme.

I read the manual again and checked the oil cap which is printed 5w-20.

--
Message posted via CarKB.com
http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...-cars/200602/1

And your dealer knows how many miles you have driven? I had 1500 miles on my
Ody when the dealer tried to bug me for an oil change. HE IS TRYING TO DRUM
UP BUSINESS and many suckers will run right in to have it changed. Cars
today are far more reliable than previous years and auto shops are trying
their hardest to come up with new ways to make money. Don't fall for it.
Your Honda service schedule in the owners manual is the place to start. The
engineers know what is right for your car.


"TA via CarKB.com" <u18620@uwe> wrote in message news:5bf99f094fa8c@uwe...
> My Civic, 2005 had about 3,400 miles now. The "mant req" light does not
> come
> on yet. However, I received a letter from Honda Dealer where I bought my
> car,
> asked me to come in to get oil changed.
>
> I read the Civic's Owner's Manual and it stated that "under normal
> condition,
> oil changed at every 10,000 mile"
>
> What should I do?
> I tend to keep this car for years and want it lasts long, so I dont want
> to
> damage its engline.
> Please advice.
> TA
>
> --
> Message posted via CarKB.com
> http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...-cars/200602/1

Consumer's Reports did extensive testing a few years back and found that
following the manufacturers schedule for normal conditions is just fine for
most drivers. Not only that, but changing every 3000 miles was actually
shown to be a total waste. My motto is: maintain, but do not over maintain.

"TA via CarKB.com" <u18620@uwe> wrote in message news:5bf99f094fa8c@uwe...
> My Civic, 2005 had about 3,400 miles now. The "mant req" light does not
> come
> on yet. However, I received a letter from Honda Dealer where I bought my
> car,
> asked me to come in to get oil changed.
>
> I read the Civic's Owner's Manual and it stated that "under normal
> condition,
> oil changed at every 10,000 mile"
>
> What should I do?
> I tend to keep this car for years and want it lasts long, so I dont want
> to
> damage its engline.
> Please advice.
> TA
>
> --
> Message posted via CarKB.com
> http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...-cars/200602/1