[Chalu]

I service my Honda City once a year or 10,000 Kms which ever is earlier. I have been following this practice for over 10 years and touch wood no issues till date with any cars. The same Honda city in Australia has service intervals of 1 year but in India to rip customers off and for the dealers to make good money is a good tactic Honda has adopted.

[mail4ajo]

I recommend a 6 month general service interval and 5000km oil drain mileage to keep your car in ship shape. Honda service centers call every 3 months. I feel that's too soon. 10000km, I feel is too high for oil drain on mineral oil for our conditions. I follow the owners manual recommendation for other service and spares replacement.

Love your car, why not service it at least twice a year?

[ag408]

Originally Posted by ag408

Sorry about revisiting this old thread, but I have been servicing my Honda City (bought last year) every 3 months. I send my car for servicing to Apex Honda in Kurla, Mumbai and they are very regular in calling me up every 3 months. Even I am not sure this is even required. Can we refuse a service without affecting the warranty?

Having said that, am not at all satisfied with the service offered by Apex Honda. Plan to shift to Solitaire Honda which is near my workplace ... will update on my experience there.

To update, I called up Honda 121 yesterday and they confirmed that the service interval is 3 months (or eq. KMs, whichever earlier) I looked at my service booklet and it is mentioned that "not adhereing to the mentioned service schedule may affect the warranty" ... not sure what this means!

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by Chalu

I service my Honda City once a year or 10,000 Kms which ever is earlier. I have been following this practice for over 10 years and touch wood no issues till date with any cars. The same Honda city in Australia has service intervals of 1 year but in India to rip customers off and for the dealers to make good money is a good tactic Honda has adopted.

I properly service the cars once a year if I am using Fully synthetic oil.
Else once in 6 months an oil/oil filter change and once a year service.

[Chalu]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

I properly service the cars once a year if I am using Fully synthetic oil.
Else once in 6 months an oil/oil filter change and once a year service.

I use fully synthetic oil only for the city and rarely it runs not more than 7000 kms per year.

[ar@v1nd]

Apologies for bumping up an old thread.

Today I just gave my 2011 Honda City for service. As per their service pamphlet, I see that most of the Honda Cars have a 10K service interval. Even the new Honda City (which I understand uses pretty much the same engine as the older one) has 10K interval. Only some older models (like old City, Jazz, Civic & Accord) have a 5K interval.

I'm wondering, are the newer models so much better that they can manage with a 10K interval while the older ones need a service every 5K? From the last service, Honda has been using "synthetic" oil which is just a few hundred bucks costlier than mineral oil so I suspect that it's semi synthetic.

Even with this so called synthetic oil, SA is mentioning that 5K service is required. My running is typically about 10K per year, so a yearly service @ 10K/1 year would have been perfect for me. A typical 5K service to me just looks like a car wash + oil change.

Looking for some advice. How can I know if the oil they are using is semi synthetic or fully synthetic? And if fully synthetic, is it ok to do the service every 10K kms only?

[OSH]

Originally Posted by ar@v1nd

I'm wondering, are the newer models so much better that they can manage with a 10K interval while the older ones need a service every 5K ?

It is just because of the different oil being used in the newer models. The 3rd gen City and other older models came factory filled with mineral oil and the change interval was 5000 kms/3 months because mineral oil needs frequent changes. The 4th gen City and newer models come with synthetic oil filled at the factory and that oil is good for 10000 kms/6 months. Other things like air and oil filters have the same service interval for both the old and new cars.

Even with this so called synthetic oil, SA is mentioning that 5K service is required.

Yes he is correct. You will need the car to be taken for service every 5000 kms/3 months because that car has got such a service schedule, but the oil will be changed only on alternate services i.e. at 10000 kms/6 months because you are now using their synthetic oil.

My running is typically about 10K per year, so a yearly service @ 10K/1 year would have been perfect for me. A typical 5K service to me just looks like a car wash + oil change.

For Hondas there is no 10000kms/1 year service interval, it is 10000kms/6 months, so your service center is not going to do something that Honda does not approve of.

Even if your yearly running is 10000 kms you will have to change the oil every 6 months as the synthetic oil which Honda uses; Idemitsu, is good only for that much long. Every oil has a life after which the lubricating properties start to fade away. If you are very keen on a yearly oil change then go to a FNG and use a costly fully synthetic oil just like what the german cars use.

And if fully synthetic, is it ok to do the service every 10K kms only ?

If you meant 10000kms/1 year, then definetely not with our Honda's 0w20 oil. If that oil was good to be used for a year, Honda would not have had a 6 monthly oil change, afterall some thaught and expertice would have gone into deciding something this crutial and it is good to do what our car's manufacturer decides upon.

How can I know if the oil they are using is semi synthetic or fully synthetic ?

I had broken my head over the same thing just a few months back but failed to get a proper answer. Both; Honda and Idemitsu claim that the 0w20 oil they use is fully synthetic but according to me it isn't. Why ? Two reasons; price and change interval.

Here's everything I had got :

International website page of Idemitsu 0w20 synthetic oil

Indian website page of Idemitsu 0w20 synthetic oil

Idemitsu 0w20 Advt with Honda cars

Also attaching some pdfs related to this oil.

[sgiitk]

I agree with Chalu. As for ag408 you stick to the schedule till the warranty is over. I have done this for all our four cars - Civic, Brio, City and Amaze.

[ar@v1nd]

Originally Posted by OSH

I had broken my head over the same thing just a few months back but failed to get a proper answer. Both; Honda and Idemitsu claim that the 0w20 oil they use is fully synthetic but according to me it isn't. Why ? Two reasons; price and change interval.

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation, OSH and apologies for my late reply (got stuck with some work). I get your point.

1) Even if I'm using Honda's supposedly "synthetic" oil, I have to do a 10K/6 months oil change (and service). Practically I'll do only 5K in 6 months, but still oil change is required in 6 months.

2) If I want to really make it a 1 year oil change and service, then I have to go for an expensive fully synthetic oil.

I'm not sure of costs for a proper fully synthetic oil. Purely from a financial perspective, does it make sense to use synthetic oil and do service once a year vs using honda's synthetic oil and doing 2 services with oil change in a year?

[OSH]

Sorry for replying late, I was actually waiting for some pictures. Here is Honda's Idemitsu 0w20 synthetic oil for their petrol engines.

Originally Posted by ar@v1nd

I get your point.

If I want to really make it a 1 year oil change and service, then I have to go for an expensive fully synthetic oil.

Yes, just like the germans (VW/Skoda cars) which have a yearly service. VW is using Castrol for it's cars, but I have no idea of the cost or grade of oil.

I'm not sure of costs for a proper fully synthetic oil.

I had read on this forum itself that proper fully synthetic oils of good brands cost ~1000 rupees per litre. You can post a query in this thread and seek help choosing the best one out there.

Purely from a financial perspective, does it make sense to use synthetic oil and do service once a year vs using honda's synthetic oil and doing 2 services with oil change in a year?

It will come up costing nearly the same because you may save on labour cost by changing oil once but that saved labour cost will go into buying that expensive oil instead, so financially it may not make a huge difference.

Here is the price of all the engine oils Honda uses.


Quick calculations, the iVtec uses around 3.6 litres of oil if I'm not wrong, that means if you use Honda's Idemitsu 0w20 synthetic oil and change it twice a year, the cost of oil will be around ~3000 rupees (~1500 per change). While the proper synthetic oils costing ~1000 rupees per litre will come upto 3600 rupees but i.e. only if you are able to get the exact 3.6 litres, in the aftermarket you may have to buy a 4 litres can, so that will then cost you ~4000 rupees for the oil change.

Leaving aside the cost of oil for the time being, you should do the service atleast once in 6 months. A service is not just an oil change, it is a check-up as well and involves many other components which need to be looked at like air/oil filters, brake oil, gearbox oil, coolant checks, wheel alignment/balancing, brakes servicing etc etc. The 3rd gen City anyways has a 3 monthly service interval, you making it 6 monthly is reasonable because of less running but making it 1 yearly is pushing it too far IMO. These different service intervals can start a debate here, it all comes down to personal preferences in the end, so go ahead with what you feel right.

[ar@v1nd]

Originally Posted by OSH

Quick calculations, the iVtec uses around 3.6 litres of oil if I'm not wrong, that means if you use Honda's Idemitsu 0w20 synthetic oil and change it twice a year, the cost of oil will be around ~3000 rupees (~1500 per change). While the proper synthetic oils costing ~1000 rupees per litre will come upto 3600 rupees but i.e. only if you are able to get the exact 3.6 litres, in the aftermarket you may have to buy a 4 litres can, so that will then cost you ~4000 rupees for the oil change.

Leaving aside the cost of oil for the time being, you should do the service atleast once in 6 months. A service is not just an oil change, it is a check-up as well and involves many other components which need to be looked at like air/oil filters, brake oil, gearbox oil, coolant checks, wheel alignment/balancing, brakes servicing etc etc. The 3rd gen City anyways has a 3 monthly service interval, you making it 6 monthly is reasonable because of less running but making it 1 yearly is pushing it too far IMO. These different service intervals can start a debate here, it all comes down to personal preferences in the end, so go ahead with what you feel right.

Thanks a lot, OSH. Really appreciate the level of detail in your posts and the effort you are putting in to help. To avoid complicating things, I'll just go with 5K/6 months oil change and service.

The reason I hate services (esp minor ones) is that in spite of me telling the SAs not to add anything that is not mentioned in the service booklet as part of the service, they keep adding some useless value added stuff (like AC vent cleaning, Honda engine scan etc) to bump up the bill and then I have to fight with them over it. Unnecessary stress

[vasudeva]

Strange for Honda to keep 6 month/5000 km interval when most have 1 year/10,000.
Anyway for me, it is in warranty so I have to stick to it.
But my City travels 2000-2300 km every 6 months so perhaps 9-10 months after warranty may be worth it. For my out of warranty Corolla, I adhere to 10000 km rather than 1 year. Since that travels 6000-7000 km per annum, my interval is 13-16 months.

[OSH]

Originally Posted by ar@v1nd

Thanks a lot, OSH. Really appreciate the level of detail in your posts and the effort you are putting in to help.

You're most welcome. Always ready to help, let me know if you need any other info.

The reason I hate services (esp minor ones) is that in spite of me telling the SAs not to add anything that is not mentioned in the service booklet as part of the service, they keep adding some useless value added stuff.

The next time you go for service, clearly mention in the job card/RO what you want and what you don't, one copy stays with him(pink paper) and one is given to you(yellow paper). This way the SA cannot bill you for anything that you didn't want in the first place. You can go one step further and even ask for a copy of the estimated invoice pertaining to the work you have requested, the system allows this.

Another tip is, try and stick to one SA from now on. This way you build a nice rapport with him and you won't get irritated everytime your car goes into service because he will exactly know what you want.

Just keep in mind to check the manual at every service so that an important component's replacement does not get skipped due to these "no frills" kind of services that you will be doing. Eg: in the 80000 kms service, the fuel filter (SAs may call it 'strainer') needs to be changed. That part costs ~820 bucks but it won't be changed if you have asked the SA not to follow the schedule, then you cannot hold the dealership responsible saying, "why didn't you change the part in the 80000 kms service." There are many such components; brake oil (every 3 years), manual transmission fluid (every 60000 kms), coolant (at 10 years and then after every 5 years) etc.

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Strange for Honda to keep 6 month/5000 km interval when most have 1 year/10,000.

There is no 6 months/5000 kms interval. It is 6 months/10000 kms for the newer models and 3 months/5000 kms for the older ones.

[greendream]

Originally Posted by ar@v1nd

I'm not sure of costs for a proper fully synthetic oil. Purely from a financial perspective, does it make sense to use synthetic oil and do service once a year vs using honda's synthetic oil and doing 2 services with oil change in a year?

A fully synthetic oil like Mobil 1 costing ₹1000 a liter, does a great deal of good to your engines long term health. The car is more silent and revvs freely soon after the change.The benefits of fully synthetic are innumerable.

Originally Posted by ar@v1nd

To avoid complicating things, I'll just go with 5K/6 months oil change and service.

The reason I hate services (esp minor ones) is that in spite of me telling the SAs not to add anything that is not mentioned in the service booklet as part of the service, they keep adding some useless value added stuff (like AC vent cleaning, Honda engine scan etc) to bump up the bill and then I have to fight with them over it. Unnecessary stress

You will only complicate things by depending too much on the Honda service.
These jokers donot sell spares over the counter,when other brands do.
Having a premium feel about themselves will be justified if they sell fully synthetic oil and price it accordingly,rather than give semi synthetic.
For major service you can visit them. Basic things can be addressed by a FNG.