[ronnie]

The manual (page 557) clearly says to change oil when the oil indicator reads 15%. I'm at 4,100 miles on my Insight and the oil indicator reads 70% remaining. If that continues, it will be well over 10,000 miles before my first oil change. I'm assuming at the factory they did not use synthetic oil. I'm wondering if this longer cycle is because the internal combustion engine mainly is used to recharge the battery.

Your thoughts on this?

 

[NewInsightOwner]

Why would you assume that the factory not use synthetic? The 0w-20 oil specified by Honda to use for these vehicles are only found full synthetic or synthetic blend. No such thing as conventional 0w-20 oil.

 

[ronnie]

Thanks for the info.* Never knew that.

 

[tylers65]

On my 2014 Accord, I get the maintenance minder at about 6500 miles or so (depending on driving habits and conditions).
It would be safe to assume, that because the ICE on the Insight runs about 2/3 the amount of time as a non-hybrid (my observation), that 10,000 miles is not out of the question.

 

[FRR]

I can't find where it says specifically how many miles between oil changes on my new Insight. Any ideas

 

[Jc_vt]

There is no standard, depends on your driving style and conditions. I was told it is typically 8-10,000. May choose to do first change earlier.....

 

[Mr. Natural]

I can't find where it says specifically how many miles between oil changes on my new Insight. Any ideas

I’m over 6000 miles now and it says I’m at 50% life. I’m leaving on 4500 to 5000 road trip in two weeks, so I’ll probably get it changed before we leave. Otherwise I planned on going until I reached 15% remaining life.

 

[insightfully]

I’m over 6000 miles now and it says I’m at 50% life. I’m leaving on 4500 to 5000 road trip in two weeks, so I’ll probably get it changed before we leave. Otherwise I planned on going until I reached 15% remaining life.

Helpful, thanks for sharing. If 6k miles is 50% life, you would've been ~10k miles at 15% life - which is right in expected range.

 

[fernandocolon]

Maintenance schedule

At what point you guys take your car to service maintenance, when oil life goes to 0% or miles driven???? Thank you in advance

 

[J. Bond]

Years ago, on regular ICE cars, Consumer Reports tracked taxicabs in Detroit and found that there was problem not changing oil for 80-100,000 miles! I may be misremembering!

So take with a grain of salt, but it's definitely been established that the recommended oil changes for decades were far more aggressive than need be (source of dealer profit?) and that even when changes every 3,000 miles were being advised, 7-10,000 was fine.

Having said all that, one questions why, with the Insight, and its Mainetnenace Minder, some dealers still slap a vinyl sticker with 3,500 mile oil change reminder on the windshield!! 😎 🙉

 

[Misterb]

At what point you guys take your car to service maintenance, when oil life goes to 0% or miles driven???? Thank you in advance

It doesn't just depend on miles driven. I was in my younger years a licensed mechanic. Guidelines for oil changes have changed dramatically since those days. However, in my case I do a lot of short trips as a senior and the car really doesn't get to stay at operating temperature very long. Given the climate I drive in (Canadian winters) excess moisture can form in the engine and will not be removed and that can lead to shorter engine life. For that reason, I plan to change oil at the end of the winter season even if I haven't reached the manufacturer's recommended mileage. I have had my insight for 8 months and only accumulated 4000 kms. That is 2,485 miles. My maintenance guide on the car tells me I have 40% life left on the oil so I think it is doing a pretty decent job of analyzing my driving habits. Regardless though of what it tells me I will be changing oil by the end of April. I will be interested to see how the onboard oil guide reacts to summer months where the engine is not working to provide cabin heat and comes to operating temperature much quicker.

 

[insightfully]

Having said all that, one questions why, with the Insight, and its Mainetnenace Minder, some dealers still slap a vinyl sticker with 3,500 mile oil change reminder on the windshield!!

Ha, I'm guessing the cheap window sticker is worth a shot a doubling oil service revenue if/when the driver returns twice (3.5k x 2) rather than once (7.0k)...

 

[insightfully]

Maintenance minder messages will start showing up on the dashboard when engine oil life is <15%, to let you know maintenance is recommended. It's totally your option to service earlier, if warranted by preference or conditions as Misterb mentions in current thread. maynrd150 also offers helpful perspective on service approach in the 'maintenance' and 'crush washer' threads.

 

[andrew28]

My driving is considered severe condition due to short trips and stop/go traffic. Will most likely do my first oil change before 10,000 miles. Planning on replacing it with Honda ultimate full synthetic oil from the dealership.

 

[andrew28]

At what point you guys take your car to service maintenance, when oil life goes to 0% or miles driven???? Thank you in advance

Severe Conditions:

Driving less than 5 mi (8 km) per trip or, in freezing temperatures, driving less than 10 mi (16 km) per trip.

Driving in extremely hot (over 90°F/32°C) conditions.

Extensive idling or long periods of stop-and-go driving.

Trailer towing, driving with a roof top carrier, or driving in mountainous conditions.

Driving on muddy, dusty, or de-iced roads

Lesson No. 4 - Signs of an Aged Oil

• Oil is not like a fine wine that gets better over time. Instead, it ages at a rate that is influenced by driving conditions, fuel quality, engine age, motor oil quality and climate. If not changed in time, your oil will wither and fail to protect your engine.
• So, let’s take a close look at the oil on the dipstick. The oil should look smooth and glossy and somewhat transparent. If it has sludgy deposits or grainy particles of dirt, it’s time for an oil change. The same is true if the oil looks too thick, is too dark (opaque), and/or has a putrid rotten-cheese smell.
• If you still don’t know whether you need an oil change, consider doing a blotter spot test.
• Oxidized and contaminated oil will lose interfacial tension. A simple test for interfacial tension is to place a drop of used oil from the dipstick on the surface of water. If the oil drop spreads out over the water’s surface (instead of beading up like a new oil) it may be time for an oil change.

https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/541/dipstick-oil-analysis

It depends on your driving condition and oil quality by checking the dipstick. I check the dipstick when the maintenance minder shows around 70%, 50%, 20%.

 

[OutWNewInsights]

My apologies if this has been discussed before.

This is my first brand new car and because of the pandemic and in mostly lock down, I have not driven my car very much. Bought my car this past December and only have 1046 miles now. And most of that was back from March. I drove my car recently and the Reminder A maintenance showed up with 15% oil life.

Should I get the oil change done soon and ask to use synthetic oil only?

Since I probably won’t be doing a lot of driving unless I am supposed to every 2 weeks to not destroy my car. Which please advise me on that too.

Thank you very much for your time and input!

 

[insightfully]

This is my first brand new car and because of the pandemic and in mostly lock down, I have not driven my car very much. Bought my car this past December and only have 1046 miles now. And most of that was back from March. I drove my car recently and the Reminder A maintenance showed up with 15% oil life.

Greetings, fellow low-mileage driver. I had similar experience, where the oil life changed significantly between drives. For people that drive less than ~10k miles per year, the Maintenance Minder seems to trigger on a time basis (1 year between oil changes) rather than mileage. This practice is the same as the prior 'standard' recommendation to change your oil at least once annually, due to oil oxidizing/aging and reducing its lubrication effectiveness. Net, I've been following the Maintenance Minder recommendation and/or changing the oil at least annually and would suggest same.

Should I get the oil change done soon and ask to use synthetic oil only?

@andrew28 learned that if your dealership is using bulk OEM Honda 0W-20 oil you're already getting full synthetic with each oil change. Maybe asking your dealer can provide confirmation or detail of this, and avoid extra cost.

Since I probably won’t be doing a lot of driving unless I am supposed to every 2 weeks to not destroy my car. Which please advise me on that too.

I've gone up to 1 month / 4 weeks between drives. Honda's recommendation is that the Insight be run for 30 minutes at least once every 3 months, but I've not wanted to push it that long. The risk/need for this interval is to maintain HV battery charge, which can deplete over time even when not driven... kind of like your cell phone battery when on standby When it's been a while since last drive, I'll intentionally take a longer drive and/or include a highway driving stretch to give everything a workout.

 

[mcm626]

The oil change interval from Honda says 3000 - 5000 miles for conventional oil and 7500 - 10000 miles for synthetic oil. Personally, I'll go with every 7500 miles.

 

[insightfully]

The oil change interval from Honda says 3000 - 5000 miles for conventional oil and 7500 - 10000 miles for synthetic oil. Personally, I'll go with every 7500 miles.

That mileage-based interval information is for older Honda's without Maintenance Minders... and also for conventional engines which run all the time while car is on (versus ~50% less ICE run time in a hybrid). Maintenance Minder supersedes those recommendations, but it's always an option to err on the conservative side and perform extra maintenance before it's triggered and your dealer service advisor certainly won't object.

For 'low mileage' drivers (<10k/yr), the Maintenance Minder oil life reminder appears after ~1 year. For 'high mileage' drivers (10k+/yr) the Maintenance Minder oil life seems to trigger around 10-12k miles.

 

[andrew28]

My apologies if this has been discussed before.

This is my first brand new car and because of the pandemic and in mostly lock down, I have not driven my car very much. Bought my car this past December and only have 1046 miles now. And most of that was back from March. I drove my car recently and the Reminder A maintenance showed up with 15% oil life.

Should I get the oil change done soon and ask to use synthetic oil only?

Since I probably won’t be doing a lot of driving unless I am supposed to every 2 weeks to not destroy my car. Which please advise me on that too.

Thank you very much for your time and input!

Yes, you should get your oil change since it's due by time. Ask for 0w-20. Definitely drive your car as often as you can. Just like us the vehicle needs exercise and for the various fluids to circulate. It will also keep both the 12v and main lithium ion battery healthy.