1 year old and still going strong:CIVIC

[runeet]

Hi everybody, I havent posted a lot but follow team-bhp regularly. My civic just recently went for the 10,000 km servicing. The last free servicing was done nearly 6 months ago. I know the servicing frequency is 3 months but the car was'nt being used much and moreover I was'nt getting time to put it(sometimes just being lazy).

Took an appointment for 9:30 on saturday. The dealer is Deccan Honda Pune There was'nt much rush there or atleast thats what I thought.
The receptionist was pretty welcoming. I was asked to sit and immediatly offered some coffee. I was pretty suprised at this, as during my previous 'free servicings' I was'nt even offered water.
Anyways the service advisor did not take much time to come along. We went about the usual stuff, normal servicing and an oil change.
They had this program called as service program in which they change the engine oil as well as spray some lubricant over various parts for smooth functioning, it seemed pretty reasonable so opted for it.

The estimate was around 4.5 k, I was expecting that so it was ok. It was going to take around 2 hours, so left the workshop due to some work. Got a message that the work was done so went back to take the delivery.

When I took the car, I must say they had really tidied it up, cleant up and polished the wheels, totally cleaned the engine bay as well as the boot which were dirty as hell. The service advisor was also pretty helpful and informative.
All in all I would rate the experiance as excellent, I had previously heard nightmare stories about the honda dealer in pune but from this experiance as well as another one previous one where my rear windshield was wrecked I must say that the service they are providing is pretty good.

All I can say is 'Keep it Up'

[mnhegde]

May be the change in reception was because of "PAID" service . Did you buy the vehicle from same dealer?? What lubricant was sprayed on parts?? A pic of your car please.

[StarVegabond]

RS 4500 for the routine service ?
what all it included ? can you post a break up of this if possible ?
thanks,

[manim]

I paid only Rs.1,158/- for my 10K service.

[vikram18]

Originally Posted by mnhegde

Did you buy the vehicle from same dealer??

There is only ONE Honda Car dealer in Pune now, so I'm guessing, yes!

[gitartha]

your car must have run in nicely by now. Whats the average FE that she's returning ?

[sgiitk]

In my view with modern engines oil changes should be every 10,000km or once a year, whichever is earlier. I am surprised by Honda specifying once every 5,000 km. I do not think Honda makes lousy engines, so I smell a fly here. Also, Rs.4500 is on the high side. The only possibility I can see is that they used a high end synthetic.

Can you please check the grade of oil specified - Viscosity as well as SAE rating. Would be informative to all.

I would also like this information from some Corolla / Altis owners - also service intervals.

I drive about 7,500 km per year on each of our cars, and have once used a year for the past decade plus - Esteem, Zen, Peugeot 205 (in UK they specified 10,000 mile intervals), Accent, Santro, Swift. My Esteem was bought by a fleet owner and he put in over 400,000km before selling with, without an engine job!

[runeet]

The car will be a year old on 7th June, as far as the oil change is concerned, it needs to be done once every 10k or 1 year but got it done regardless, will post the breakup soon. And the oil they used was synthetic 'Honda' oil hence it was expensive.
The total costing was around 4207, actually I was expecting it.

The average fuel efficiency I get is around 10-11 depending on the amount of traffic.

Yup bought the car from the same dealer. Theres only 1 dealer in Pune as stated below.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by runeet

The car will be a year old on 7th June, as far as the oil change is concerned, it needs to be done once every 10k or 1 year but got it done regardless, will post the breakup soon. And the oil they used was synthetic 'Honda' oil hence it was expensive.
The total costing was around 4207, actually I was expecting it.

Well then it makes sense.

Originally Posted by runeet

The average fuel efficiency I get is around 10-11 depending on the amount of traffic.

Excellent economy for a 1.8!

Honda does not make oil, so must be getting it from someone - Idemitsu is my guess! I was able to get the information for service for Honda US and found an oil change interval of 3,000 miles, hence the query!

Can you please at your convenience post the Oil Specifications - Viscosity and API-SAE rating.

[indivic]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Honda does not make oil, so must be getting it from someone - Idemitsu is my guess! I was able to get the information for service for Honda US and found an oil change interval of 3,000 miles, hence the query!

Can you please at your convenience post the Oil Specifications - Viscosity and API-SAE rating.

I believe Honda India gets its oils from Idemitsu only, this I learned in discussion with a person from Mobil. It seems worldwide Mobil 1 and some other products are recommended/used by Honda but in India due to pricing constraints Mobil does not supply their products (unconfirmed statement from the same person). The synth oil is Idemitsu 0W-30 conforming to API-SM cert. The mineral oil from Idemitsu is 10W-30 with API-SL.

[vikram18]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Excellent economy for a 1.8!

It is a fuel efficient engine indeed. I get around 9.5 Kmpl with spirited city driving. The best I've got is around 15.5 on the Pune-Mumbai expressway, where I was mostly doing 100-120 constantly in top gear.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Honda does not make oil, so must be getting it from someone - Idemitsu is my guess!
Can you please at your convenience post the Oil Specifications - Viscosity and API-SAE rating.

Idemitsu does make the oil for Honda. The recommended oil by Honda is genuine Honda Motor Oil, "ACEA A1/B1," or "ACEA A3/B3"

SAE viscosity rating with respect to ambient temperature (in Celsius) are as follows:

-15C to > 40 C - 15W-40
-20C to > 40 C - 10W -30, 10W-40
<-30C to > 40 C - 5W-30, 5W-40, 0W-30, 0W-40

[sgiitk]

Thanks Vikram. By the looks of it Castrol Magnatec, Pentronas Mach5 and a whole range of Semi-synthetic oils conforming to API-SM should also do equally well. These are typically SAE 10W40 or 20W50 and far cheaper.

I doubt whether we see <-30C (except may be in some parts of Ladakh). -15/-20 to >40C is more like it. Then 10/15W30/40 or better is all you need. I for one who is familiar with the summer in the North will prefer the top end at SAE40 (or even higher). Thus Magnatec fits the bill perfectly at a fraction of the cost of full Synthetics.

What is the scene for its main competitor - Corolla /Altis?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

What is the scene for its main competitor - Corolla /Altis?

Sorry, saw this post now, 2 months late.

Camry, Corolla Altis and Corolla use Toyota's petrol Genuine Motor Oil (GMO).

It's a mineral oil made by Savita Chemicals (Idemitsu). Strangely it is a 15W-40 API SJ when what is recommended in the manual is API SL or SM. When asked about this anomaly, Toyota couldnt answer the question.
According to Messrs TKM, after market oils are not recommended. In other words if you choose to use non genuine oils and something goes kaput in your engine and its traced to the engine oil they will duck the warranty.

GMO does the job quite well and costs about Rs 210/litre all inclusive in MH. The suggested drain interval is 10k Kms/1 year or 5k kms/6 mths under severe conditions.

To be honest the experience of buying after market oils is an old one now. Once I went with Toyota I never bothered with other oils. No doubt there are much better after market oils but the TGMO is very reasonably priced and keeps the warranty.

Rgds,