oil changes

kcdaylight · 03-14-2010, 07:28 PM

Hi my new Dec 09 Insight ex has around 3200 miles on it . The MID says the oil is at 70% ...My question is , I used to change my own oil on my Subaru every 3 months , my dealer told me I should change the Insight when it get down to 60% on the MID... The manual says around 20-30%...I am not sure why they would have a MID if you have to change the oil at 60% ...Is my dealer right or do they just want the extra money for the oil change Thanks Keith

Varak · 03-14-2010, 08:27 PM

This is for the 1st generation Insights.

You might want to repost it in the 2nd generation forum.

Troubleshooting and Problems - Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

Cobb · 03-14-2010, 11:47 PM

They want the extra money.

Highmileage Insighter · 03-15-2010, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcdaylight

Hi my new Dec 09 Insight ex has around 3200 miles on it . The MID says the oil is at 70% ...My question is , I used to change my own oil on my Subaru every 3 months , my dealer told me I should change the Insight when it get down to 60% on the MID... The manual says around 20-30%...I am not sure why they would have a MID if you have to change the oil at 60% ...Is my dealer right or do they just want the extra money for the oil change Thanks Keith

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I just saw a TV Show on Car Maintenance with Goss' Garage, the guy from "Motorweek". He said the factory oil change on-board indicator is a guestimate. The car computer uses references that aren't true to actually when the oil needs to be changed.

He still recommends changing the oil every 3-4,000 miles. Change it more frequently with primarily city driving. Contaminants in the oil get suspended and are like sandpapers to the cylinder walls, bearings and other vital engine components. It's cheaper to change the oil more frequently than to do an engine rebuild.

**TRI** · 03-15-2010, 06:30 PM

Changing the oil every 3000 miles or three months seems a waste of money and oil IMO. I did a oil test with 8k miles on the oil and Blackstone recommended to use it 3 or even 6k miles even more as it was still perfect.

Highmileage Insighter · 03-15-2010, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRI

Changing the oil every 3000 miles or three months seems a waste of money and oil IMO. I did a oil test with 8k miles on the oil and Blackstone recommended to use it 3 or even 6k miles even more as it was still perfect.

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I agree: there are people on both sides of the fence when it comes to the frequency of changing engine oil.

Changing the oil
Every 6,000 miles over 200,000 miles @ $20.00 in oil and filter(Do-it-yourself) costs about $660. (33 oil changes)

Every 3,000 miles over 200,000 miles @ $20.00 in oil and filter(Do-it-yourself)
cost about $1320 (66 oil changes)

I tend to change the oil every 3-4,000 miles since an engine rebuild job cost $6-7,000 at the dealer.

At 284,600 miles, my 2001 Insight doesn't burn a drop of oil.
I tend to keep my cars for a really long time.

**TRI** · 03-15-2010, 07:09 PM

Engine oil is much more expensive here in Europe like $20 per litre. If my engine goes bad I'd not go to the dealer but get one off the junkyard for only a fraction of the costs.

At the time of measuring the my engine oil it was like out of the bottle for the measured dimensions, even after 8k miles. No need to change it.

I guess I could go 12.5k miles with the oil and would not have any disadvantages against your engine.

It's interesting how the change interval has been extended by the manufacturers. If I look at VW for example, it was 6k miles in the 80ies, 10k miles in the 90ies and now we're looking at 20k miles with a low HTHS oil. Dealers don't like that of course because they like to throw parts at the car.

Highmileage Insighter · 03-15-2010, 07:19 PM

No doubt the oil costs are quite expensive in Europe. Just look at the cost of fuel.

My thought is that auto industries keep increasing the oil change intervals so that the engine doesn't last as long and you need to replace it or buy a new car. (Since the Insight first gen is becoming rare, so too are the used parts inventories i.e. used engines and trans.)

Longer oil change intervals are designed to bring down the cost per mile to operate, but not to let the car last longer.

Just my 2 cents

**TRI** · 03-15-2010, 07:41 PM

Nowadays, engines fail rarely due to high tolerances and better oil quality. Most car land on the junkyard because of electronic failures the owner doesn't want to pay. That's why you can get so much good engines at the junkyard.

I don't see evidence for the argument that auto industries extended the oil service intervals and shorten the engine's life. Auto industries shoot their distributors and dealers in their back if they 'rob' them their income. Competition is a better explanation here. If make A extends the intervals the other makes have to extend it also because the customers are comparing and choose the one with lower expected total costs of ownership.

If it's possible now why did they send us every 6k miles to the dealer in the 80ies? Ok, 20 years are a long time of developement as todays oils are much better in the meanwhile, mainly because the auto industry required higher quality for their longer service intervals. If you change a today's high quality oil every 3k miles like a 20 years old dino stuff it's still a waste of money.

Just my two cents.

aisbell · 03-15-2010, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRI

Engine oil is much more expensive here in Europe like $20 per litre.

Yikes! I hadn't checked the price of motor oil in Sweden, only the availability of 0W-20 (couldn't find any). But a check of motor oil prices online indicates that full synthetic oil costs $17 - $25 / liter in Sweden! So I'm packing 3 quarts of Mobil 1 0W-20 and a PureOne oil filter when I return in about 10 days.