It's been over seven months and I still have the honda break in oil in my fit. I have about 3200 miles on the OD. I do at least 90% city driving. The mm oil life indicator is at 60%. Not sure whether to change the oil now or wait. I was told if the mm does not reach 15% within a year, change the oil every year. Bought the 2010 fit new in december of 09 with about 120 miles on the OD. The Fit came to the dealership in october of 09 according to the maintenance book.

 

Welcome.
You were told right - MM@15% or once a year. You are the one putting the mileage on the car - it's one year of driving.

Lot's of discussion on this forum concerning oil changes. Search around and get to know the place.

 

just change it when it's at 15% or lower.

 

Rnak...

I had a similiar situation... I was accustomed to changing the oil in my '99 Subaru at 3500 miles. So when my Fit's oil got to 3500 miles, it had been 10 months, the guage was at 60%, and I was faced with a 3200 mile trip to Florida this summer, I opted to change the oil before going. What decided it for me was pulling the dipstick and finding the oil to be quite dark.

I suppose its a personal decision, but for me $35 for an oil change was worth the peace of mind.

: )

 

Thanks for the input. Seems as if this forum board is divided between those who follow the mm and those who don't when it comes to oil changes.

 

I would change it ASAP.

 

Most of us agree that an oil change is about the cheapest insurance that you can buy. I believe in following the MM even with my upcoming switch to synthetic at 20K miles+. I have made two changes in my 2010 Fit already (both before 15%) and changed the filter at only 4K miles just because I wanted to make certain that it was not loaded with new car crud. Once I switch to synthetic with its 15K life I will probably change it on the MM between 15 - 5%, which should be around 8K miles.

2010 Taffeta White
Sport, 5 spd

 

My problem is that one year will expire before MM oil life indicator reaches 15%. One year seems like a long time to go without a oil change.

 

Honda is pretty adamant about not doing the first oil change early, even mentioning it as a part of break-in, so I haven't.

I'm at about 8500 miles and 30% on my MM, and I'll have had the car for a year in a few days (and the oil has been in the car for even longer)... so I'll be changing it then and switching to synthetic. I'm actually trying to put some miles on the car to get the MM to drop some before I have to change it, but I'm not having much luck .

 

At the one year mark change the oil no matter what the MM says. It's exactly what Honda says to do. It's 15% or 1Year, which ever comes first. It does seem like a long time but with today's oils and Honda's engineering it totally acceptable. Honda is basing your warranty on their scheduling of service and I believe they know their business.

 

Again - here's the deal on the Maintenance Minder

 

Although you may not have a lot of mileage on your new Fit, you probably have a lot of contaminants in the crankcase. Even with break-in oil these can be detrimental. Every time you start or stop your Fit there is a very small amount of unburned fuel and condensation that makes it way into the crankcase. Over time this will degrade your oil. This is why Honda says MM or 1 year whichever comes first.

2010, Taffeta White
Sport, 5 spd

 

Honda North America's recommendation is actually more like change the factory fill between 15% and 0%, then after resetting the Maintenance Minder for the first time, switch to I) between 15% to 0% or II) every year.If my flaky memory is correct, outside of North America, the Jazz runs 91 octane on 10W30 (summer). So if my memory is correct, then whether to follow the N.A. Honda guidelines depends more on one's opinion of CAFE (fuel economy regulations) which likely led to 5W20, and how/where one drives.

If paranoid and if you can interpret used oil analysis, run the UOA through Amsoil/OAI once you reach 5 to 6000 miles. OAI is about 30-35$.

 

I know a lot of people on here say that the MM won't go to 15% before 5,000 miles but with me, that wasn't the case. I was going to go by the written-out rules they give for harsh driving (lots of short trips, lots of traffic in city driving, dusty/smoggy conditions) for the cars in Europe without MMs. That says to change the oil at 6 months instead of 12 if you drive in those conditions. I didn't want to change the break-in oil early, but it was kind of my own personal experiment to see if the MM really kept track of my driving.

Well, at exactly 6 months to the day, and about 4800 miles on the OD, my oil life went to 15% and the little wrench light came on. So I've kind of been sold on the MM actually tracking how you drive. But if it's been long enough and you think the car can benefit from an oil change, it's up to you. I can tell you that if my MM hadn't gone off by six months, given the conditions I drive my Fit in, I would have changed the oil regardless.

I did notice a drop in MPG for the week before the oil change, though, but I wasn't sure if it was due to my tire pressures being a little bit off or because it was time for the oil to go or because it was FLIPPING hot out and I was running the AC at full blast all the time. It's hard to say, because after the oil change, which also included filling up my tires, my MPG is right back up where expected. It's still been hot, though, so I guess it wasn't the AC.

If it's making you nervous, I say changing the oil can't hurt. You've had the break in oil in there for a good while. But I can say that back at 3000 miles, I was still at maybe 50% oil life, which dropped off quickly as I neared 4000. So maybe you'll see a quick drop too? Or maybe driving conditions in NV aren't as bad as the Big Apple.