Should I get an Oil Change??

rwsmith123

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You're both right on some points. The manual recommends that it should be checked every time you fill up. It also says to let it sit about 3 minutes after turning off the engine. It's great that you do check it every time you fill up, and I also wouldn't want to be behind you at the gas station. :)
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You're both right on some points. The manual recommends that it should be checked every time you fill up. It also says to let it sit about 3 minutes after turning off the engine. It's great that you do check it every time you fill up, and I also wouldn't want to be behind you at the gas station. :)
Great, I'm glad you can't be bothered to read where I specified none of this takes longer than filling the tank. I'm finished checking the oil and inspecting and back in my seat before the pump turns off.

I'm sorry someone hurt you by leaving their parked car blocking a pump to go buy an energy drink.

Even a gas station "oh no I didn't wait 3 minutes after turning my engine off" would have blatantly shown when you have only 1.7 quarts of oil in a car that needs 3.7, which is the entire point of this discussion.
 
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ltrinh

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My 2 cents: MM, 5k or every 6 months.

If it took a year to drive 5k miles, I would not wanna wait that long for oil change.
 

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I did my first oil change at 6k miles, even though the Maintenance Minder was showing >30% oil life left. Now another 6k miles has passed since that 1st oil change and my Maintenance Minder is showing 60% oil life...
 

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My 2 cents: MM, 5k or every 6 months.

If it took a year to drive 5k miles, I would not wanna wait that long for oil change.
True if you can’t change it by mileage change it by time. 20 years ago my place of employment was one mile from my house which was 10 miles a week ( on nice days I would walk or ride my bike) which would put less mileage on my 91 Escort over the weekend I would try to put more mileage on the car but yes I would change it every Six months with mobile one
 


MuffinMcFluffin

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IF I drove as little as some people on here do, I'd change my oil at 5k or every 6 months... which ever came first. If you don't drive much, getting an oil change twice a year won't break the bank.

Small trips and lots of time between them supposedly isn't good for this engine. Change it every 6 months.
So my mom got her car back in December and only drives it five miles to work and back. No joke, she hasn't even traveled 3,000 miles.

I told her to keep the original oil in the car till she hits 15% or so, but should she consider otherwise in this case? Just curious. I think she's still at 60% or so.
 

REBELXSi

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So my mom got her car back in December and only drives it five miles to work and back. No joke, she hasn't even traveled 3,000 miles.

I told her to keep the original oil in the car till she hits 15% or so, but should she consider otherwise in this case? Just curious. I think she's still at 60% or so.
She should definitely get it changed. Short trips are oils worst nightmare and no one should keep oil for longer than 6 months, imo.
 

letsgoMINAJE

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I got my car on June 1st, and am already at 7k miles (my work commute is about 120 miles or so round trip). Should probably get the oil changed huh?
 

REBELXSi

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I got my car on June 1st, and am already at 7k miles (my work commute is about 120 miles or so round trip). Should probably get the oil changed huh?
What does the maintenance minder say?
 

MuffinMcFluffin

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She should definitely get it changed. Short trips are oils worst nightmare and no one should keep oil for longer than 6 months, imo.
Okay, but is it different because the first oil that comes with the car should like stay in there longer because of the molybdenum or something like that? I forget what it was that people said was in it that was different from the other oils, including the ones that Honda uses at their garages.
 


REBELXSi

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Okay, but is it different because the first oil that comes with the car should like stay in there longer because of the molybdenum or something like that? I forget what it was that people said was in it that was different from the other oils, including the ones that Honda uses at their garages.
Under normal use that may or may not mean something but this use case is worst case scenario for oil as crazy as that might sound. Oil needs to be warmed up properly and moisture is removed from oil during long trips. Plenty of stuff about this out there if you feel like looking into it. Plenty of people get their first oil change "early". Oil is cheaper than a new engine.
 

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So my mom got her car back in December and only drives it five miles to work and back. No joke, she hasn't even traveled 3,000 miles.

I told her to keep the original oil in the car till she hits 15% or so, but should she consider otherwise in this case? Just curious. I think she's still at 60% or so.
If the car is garaged overnight in a not too cold or humid place, like the South West, the oil will remain in shape much longer than in a car kept on the street somewhere in the North East.
 

MuffinMcFluffin

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If the car is garaged overnight in a not too cold or humid place, like the South West, the oil will remain in shape much longer than in a car kept on the street somewhere in the North East.
She lives in the Sacramento area and keeps it in the garage when not at work. Since March the daytime temperature has been anywhere between 70-100 degrees, mostly sitting in the 80-95 range really.
 

M16

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Honestly, it's not going to hurt to get an oil change when it's dark like that.

Personally, when I do an oil change on my cars, I drain the oil and replace the oil filter with a cheap one, then I fill up with cheap oil, run the car for a couple minutes and drain again. I then replace the oil filter with a Honda oil filter and fill up with Castrol Edge synthetic. The only reason that I do this is to flush that old black oil out of every crevice of the engine. Doing this, when I pull the dip stick on my cars, the oil is clear/golden until it's time to change it again.
Overkill imo. Having some of the old oil makes a negligible difference.
 

Zeffenn

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Overkill imo. Having some of the old oil makes a negligible difference.
It doesn't though. Doing it this way makes your new oil look new for a longer period of time because it didn't start it's service in a contaminated state.
As with most things, you get what you pay for, and this is definitely an overkill and expensive oil change method.
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