Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I purchased reccently purchased a used 2006 Honda Civic. It has a special oil usage panel on the dashboard that goes by percent...it is 100% right after an oil change and when it get to 20%-15% you are supposed to change the oil again. The man I bought the car from provided me with all the service records--reviewing them I saw the oil was last changed in June (5,000 miles ago). I am used to the old rule of "every 3 months or 3,000 miles, whichever comes first", so this concerned me. I called the local Honda dealer to verify that June was really the last time the oil was changed and sure enough, it was, BUT the service man told me that with the new Civic you only have to get the oil changed every 6 months, or 5,000 miles...I said, "Well what about the oil panel, mine is still at about 30-40%? Should I trust it?" He said that the oil panel reading is actually very accurate and trustworthy.
So fellow Civic owners, do you let your car go beyond that 6 month/5,000 mile mark if the oil panel is still showing a reasonable percent?
I purchased reccently purchased a used 2006 Honda Civic. It has a special oil usage panel on the dashboard that goes by percent...it is 100% right after an oil change and when it get to 20%-15% you are supposed to change the oil again. The man I bought the car from provided me with all the service records--reviewing them I saw the oil was last changed in June (5,000 miles ago). I am used to the old rule of "every 3 months or 3,000 miles, whichever comes first", so this concerned me. I called the local Honda dealer to verify that June was really the last time the oil was changed and sure enough, it was, BUT the service man told me that with the new Civic you only have to get the oil changed every 6 months, or 5,000 miles...I said, "Well what about the oil panel, mine is still at about 30-40%? Should I trust it?" He said that the oil panel reading is actually very accurate and trustworthy.
So fellow Civic owners, do you let your car go beyond that 6 month/5,000 mile mark if the oil panel is still showing a reasonable percent?
I'm not a Civic owner but IMO I would change it the way you're used to which is a good thing not the 6 months 5K miles.
I'm not a Civic owner but IMO I would change it the way you're used to which is a good thing not the 6 months 5K miles.
Even if you are not using synthetic oils, todays petroleum based oils are excellent and can go many miles beyond the 3000 that everyone has been beaten over the head with. Even the oil filters do a better job than previous models. Changing your oil at 3k is a waste of money and time these days. The 6 month/5k interval is fine.
The old rule of 6 mo/5K miles is excessive and the manufacturers have introduced the oil monitors so that you don't change out perfectly good oil. Stick with the oil panel recommendation.
BTW, I change oil once a year in my cars and am sure that is even too much but I can remember this way (no monitor).
I know people that never change oil, just swap out the filter and add a little once a year and drive many hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles.
So the car tells you when to change the oil, and the owner's manual tells you when to change the oil (if its like other hondas, 7,500 miles or 12 months), yet you're asking a bunch of us on the Internet if you should trust Honda or not?
The "old 3,000 mile" rule is just that - old. Modern engines and oils are much better and you can go much longer between changes. Even the 6 mo/5k mi interval is too frequent for regular oil, and much too frequent for synthetic. Also, the Honda doesn't measure oil life for synth, just dino oil - it doesn't know you have synth, so if you use synth, the oil meter will be useless.
Trust the car and the oil life meter, and change it when it alerts you to. If you have any doubt, read the owner's manual, where the Honda engineers tell you explicitly when to change the oil.
I purchased reccently purchased a used 2006 Honda Civic. It has a special oil usage panel on the dashboard that goes by percent...it is 100% right after an oil change and when it get to 20%-15% you are supposed to change the oil again. The man I bought the car from provided me with all the service records--reviewing them I saw the oil was last changed in June (5,000 miles ago). I am used to the old rule of "every 3 months or 3,000 miles, whichever comes first", so this concerned me. I called the local Honda dealer to verify that June was really the last time the oil was changed and sure enough, it was, BUT the service man told me that with the new Civic you only have to get the oil changed every 6 months, or 5,000 miles...I said, "Well what about the oil panel, mine is still at about 30-40%? Should I trust it?" He said that the oil panel reading is actually very accurate and trustworthy.
So fellow Civic owners, do you let your car go beyond that 6 month/5,000 mile mark if the oil panel is still showing a reasonable percent?
Oil has cahnged alot in the last years. Manufactuirers do alot of test oon engines also. I now go by the manufacrturers recommendation.I tthnik that Ho0nda say 5000 miles and in the owenrs manual one year regardloess.Sounds like the oil was changed wirthout the reminder on the dashboard not being reset to me which is pretty common. Its accutate unoless the mileage odomater is broken usually. Cahne reset and then you can check for yourself.It is based on being change at 5000 and reset.
Has a lot of information on it, especially the forums. Changing your oil at 3k intervals isn't going to hurt anything except your wallet. It might however extend the life of the engine ever so slightly or at least cut down on sludge buildup.
It really depends on the type of driving you do. Someone who drives highway only may put more miles on the oil but less total hours than someone who drives in the city.
The "old 3,000 mile" rule is just that - old. Modern engines and oils are much better and you can go much longer between changes. Even the 6 mo/5k mi interval is too frequent for regular oil, and much too frequent for synthetic. Also, the Honda doesn't measure oil life for synth, just dino oil - it doesn't know you have synth, so if you use synth, the oil meter will be useless.
Here we go again... Your statement is only applicable to the structural integrity of the oil and disregards any bit of the contamination factor. Oil contamination is the main destructor of engine components.
I owned an 02 Civic Si and I changed the oil as soon as it got dark brown. I do the same with my 08 Camry (especially since I get free oil at my dealership I work for).
I am skeptical about the 3000 miles oil change rule.
My Pontiac shows my oil life remaining as 65% after 3000 miles of driving.
I agree that a 3000 miles oil change is unnecessary, I change oil when it goes down to 25 or 30%.
More than 100K miles so far, no problems.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It has a special oil usage panel on the dashboard that goes by percent...it is 100% right after an oil change and when it get to 20%-15% you are supposed to change the oil again. The man I bought the car from provided me with all the service records--reviewing them I saw the oil was last changed in June (5,000 miles ago). I am used to the old rule of "every 3 months or 3,000 miles, whichever comes first", so this concerned me
. I called the local Honda dealer to verify that June was really the last time the oil was changed and sure enough, it was, BUT the service man told me that with the new Civic you only have to get the oil changed every 6 months, or 5,000 miles...I said, "Well what about the oil panel, mine is still at about 30-40%? Should I trust it?" He said that the oil panel reading is actually very accurate and trustworthy. 
