Change your oil.

[ItFitsMe]

One of the reasons I joined this forum, was to share some info from my long-time Honda mechanic. I recently emailed him about a trip that we're taking to Florida. I mentioned waiting to change the oil until the oil life indicator came on, and he told me to change the oil every 3-4000 miles. He explained that the car will last much longer that way, and that's how Honda recommends you change your oil after 120,000 miles. His opinion is that the oil life indicator is a way for the company to make the car appear to be low maintenance; when in fact you will be damaging your car.
I have been going to this guy for 26 years. I trust him completely and feel sure that he knows what he's talking about. He also races Civics. When he could have charged me for expensive repairs in the past, he instead told me the truth, and once took 45 minutes to fix my car because it stalled as I was leaving his lot--no charge.
So, here's the info. I will be changing my oil this weekend.;)

[Shaelyn]

120k mi, WHAT? you're talking oil, right - not transmission fluid or something? Honda told me to change it after about 7k mi. I change mine a bit sooner, but not as soon as 3k. the thing is, I do kind of agree, Honda's out to get your car in the shop so they can charge an arm and a leg. ...but any other oil change place recommends 3k, and I figure that's so they can get you in more often, so you can spend more money there too.
not discrediting your info or anything, and I don't doubt your mechanic is telling you what he honestly believes...that's just my opinion on it. I believe most people bow to the almighty dollar. The trick is to look at your oil before you get it changed. if it's low or darker than it should be at change time, you probably should change it more often. if it's not, well, you're not causing any damage to the car.

if they were telling you 120k mi, they really are out to get you in the shop. unless they tricked the sensor or something, it's supposed to go off for your oil life sooner than that...I think mine went off at about 7-8k mi.

[ItFitsMe]

What I should have said, is that once your odometer hits 120,000 miles, then the service interval for oil changes is 3-4000 miles. I didn't mean that you would go for 120,000 before you change your oil the first time.
Anyway, this guy has always been honest with me, and has not charged me for things that he could have, so I trust him completely. However, since I have my tires rotated every 5000 miles, I tend to do the oil change at the same time. It's easier to remember!
To give you and example of how he didn't take advantage of my ignorance:
I told him I was having trouble with my 1974 Civic flooding when I tried to start it, after it had been sitting. I figured it was going to be an expensive repair. It was summertime. He asked me what kind of gas I used. I said "The cheapest I can find!" He explained that the way that motor was built, the carb was right on top of the manifold. Because cheap gas boils at a lower temperature, the hot manifold was causing the gas to boil up into the carb; making it flood. I switched to name brand gas, and had no further problems. The maan knows his Hondas, that's all he works on.

[Shaelyn]

I gotchya. That is pretty sound advice...I still check my own oil though. Different cars and different driving habits will have different problems, with oil and anything else. ^^

and...huh, didn't know that about the gas. I knew cheaper gas caused problems sometimes, didn't know why. good info!

[mattftl]

i was told that changing your oil every 5,000 miles was good...i previously owned a civic