Sounds like the author owns a lot of stock in oil companies! That article is nothing more than paid propoganda for the oil companies. They want people changing their oil as often as possible.

From the article:
"Just ask a professional service technician how often he or she changes the oil and filter on their personal vehicle. Chances are the answer will be 3,000 miles."
WRONG, at least based on the mechanics I know.

Here's another one:
"I'm doubtful that anyone, regardless of where they live, drives under the normal conditions defined in owner's manuals."
This blanket statement is such bull$hit! Most everyone I know in St. Louis drives under normal conditions (as defined in my Honda owner's manual) and I doubt St. Louis is much different than most cities. I'm not saying everyone drives under normal conditions because that blanket statement would be just as absurd as the one I quoted above.

 

Then change maybe you should just it every week! Better yet, maybe you should leave the car in the garage and never drive it just to keep it safe from any wear and tear.

C'mon now, Honda gives us list of guidelines and says one can up to 10K between oil changes. Do you REALLY think Honda would be telling it's customers this if it was bad for their engines? Honda is not going to recommend anything that's going to make their engines (and them) look bad; the harm to their reputation wouldn't be worth the risk. Furthermore, I'm sure all their figures err on the side of caution. For today's cars, changing the oil at 3K is nothing more than a waste of time and money.

 

Alright, I'm utterlfy confused. I don't drive my TSX all that much. In fact, since I got my car at the end of August, I've logged 1906 miles on it. And, when I do take it out for a spin, 75% of my driving is on my college campus, and the other 25% is taking a short 10 minute trip to Target or other stores nearby.

I would classify the above conditions as severe; however, at this rate, getting to 3,500 or 5,000 miles is going to take another 3-6 months. Should I just take my TSX in at 6 months regardless of the mileage?

Thanks for the info.

 

You are definitely severe, and you should take your car in whatever comes in first, mileage or time.

 

I concur... but what times would that be? The owner manual only lists times at the yearly markes, not monthly.

 

Hmm.. I'll try and post a picture of the schedule on a tract I grabbed at the dealership. Later though.

 

3 months or 3000 miles is what I do with all my cars and full synthetic mobil 1

 

That my friend, is excessive with synthetic. You can easily go 5000 miles. But changing it more often won't hurt the engine, just the wallet. But if your wallet is deep, then no problem.

 

So lemme get this straight - People can change their oil every 10k miles yet choose to do so every 3k. The net results is three times the cost, three times the waste, and three times the inconvenience. And they do this because...they think...it makes their car run better?

Nice.

 

My story is similar... I am currently driving a 1994 Mercury Tracer LTS, and I bought it new. It will be traded in on the TSX I have on order in a couple of weeks. I started off changing the oil every 3 to 5K, and then saw a show on TV where they studied New York taxi cabs for 10 years. One set changed every 3K, the other set changed every 7K. After 10 years of use, they were virtually identical. So from that point forward, I started doing every 7K (which is well above the 4K the manual states). Here I am 10 years and 145K miles later, and my car runs great. I was cruel to this car, and it's running just as well as if I'd babied. That doesn't mean I'll abuse my TSX, but I'm probably not going to change my oil any more often than 7K.

 

What virtually identical?

 

When I purchased my car, the dealer told me to stick with the 10k interval. He said that if that's what Acura recommended, there was no need to change the schedule. (Yeah, I too was real surprised he didn't want me in there every day to change the oil)

I put about 2k-3k on the car every month, so I just wait for the 10k interval. Its too costly for me to be in there every other month, plus it takes away one of the reasons why I purchased the TSX. Gotta love the low maintenance cost.

 

oh yeah, the dealer also said 90% of the people driving are "normal". He explained that according to acura, "severe" is when you tow or when you are driving at very high rpms for the majority of your trip. (above 4000 rpm)

Hope that helps.

 

People are gonna do what people are gonna do.