Well I broke down and did it - my first oil change in my '09 Accord the other day from a Honda dealership (Not the dealer I bought from.) I paid extra for the synthetic oil change $63.95.

Question: The service person told me they use Mobil 1 products (oil) for their changes. Does anyone know this to be true? Ya I know if they said so it must be however, is there anyone out there like a dealer employee who knows this to be fact? Reason I would like to know is cause I would like to do some myself in the future and do not want to mix different brands of oil. I can do a Mobil 1 change for half the price I paid soon as I get ramps that the car will clear without scraping the front end.

So about the oil.......Can someone out there verify the Mobil 1 claim? I was told Mobil supplies all the fluids to Honda dealerships.

 

I bet each dealership is free to choose it's brand of oil. Maybe Mobil makes em such a good deal that most (or almost all) Honda dealers choose that??

If you want to change oil yourself, just go ahead and do it. The little oil that's left in when you drain won't matter. Then you'll KNOW what's in there.

 

Mobil1 is the only warranty approved oil for Honda's. Look at the Honda Genuine Oil bottle and you'll see on the back it is in fact Mobil1 oil. As for the other fluids, I doubt it's Mobil1 and the filter's aren't Mobil1 either (I think they're Wix or Hamp)

 

Are you saying someone putting in Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 is in violation of Honda Warranty?

 

I really don't know, but Mobil uses it for marketing. I don't think they could possibly enforce that.

 

always use mobile 1

 

I believe that honda has signed a contract with Mobil to use its oil,, but on a regular oil change they do not use Honda oil or Mobil 1 ,, they use regular mobil 5w20 ,, at least the dealerships here do..doing so o'f costs around 25- 30 dollars .... if they use the Honda brand than price will go up each qt of Honda motor oil is around 7-8 dollars

You DO NOT void warranty if you use a different brand of motor oil,, if someone told you so , they are full of crap
personally i would rather pay 25-30 dollars each oil change and do it every 3000-3500 miles than pay 63 dollars and do it once every 7500 miles ..

I have several customers cars that have been using nothing also than regular motor oil that have over 300,000 miles ,,a few over 400,000 miles , they change it every 3000-3500 miles ..and do not have any engine issues, never using oil, never smoking ,
When it comes to which oil to use people have different opinions ,,my personal opinion is to keep it clean and much as possible spend the 25-30 dollars and do it every 3000-3500 miles ,

 

Thanks deserthonda - your right, ask 20 people about motor oil and you will get 18 different answers. I think I'm going to pay for (and hopefully keep getting ) synthetic oil in my Accord. I am not going to go 7500 miles with it, 4500 tops and I'm getting it changed. With synthetic I do not believe the quality of the oil is an issue for 7500 miles it's the quality/effectiveness of the filter. Actually the dealer did not recommend going 7000 miles either, maybe to just make more money , not really sure.

 

I think according to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, they cannot require specific brands unless they provide it free of charge. They can only require it to meet specifications, like you'll find in the owner's manual.
API service SM
5w-20

 

You hit the nail on the head there. I feel very strongly that oil change places and dealerships recommend shorter intevals in order to make more $.

I personally use Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic Blend 5w30 (5w30 is recommended as per honda for the 2000 LX). I change the oil every 5000 miles or 4 months (whichever comes first.)
I change my own oil and filter.
5 quarts of Maxlife at WalMart = $15
Purolator filter - $3 or $4
Total oil change cost - under $20