dvpatel said:
I might hate Honda for the design flaws and also for the problems and the way they're dealing with the tranny issues and other issues but I do have faith in their engineers. I myself don't have an engineering degree but I do trust the Honda engineers on this whole OCI thing.
To give me better peace of mind, I just Synthetic instead of their recommended dino oil.
I'm with you dvpatel. I do the MM, pick up a 5 quart jug of 5W20 Mobil 1 from Wal Mart for $21.00, and my dealer changes the oil w/ my oil for a reasonable price.
FWIW, my 2004 Suburban has GM Oil Life System, and it goes about the same 6-8k miles between changes. 80K on the clock on that one, had Mobil 1 since 1st oil change. My Father-in-Law's 2000 Silverado 1500 has 190k on the clock, it gets same treatment. Knock on wood, no engine problems on either of them.
Net, stick with the engineers on OCI's and save the environment a little. Thats my view at least. My guess is I will tire of the vehicle before I have engine failure due to following MFG Recommended Maint Schedule and augment w/ quality synthetic oil.
Now, regarding the MM codes never coming on if you reset before 15%. Still seems like a bit of a design flaw, but I guess they figured people would prefer to save environment and $$ by using the recommended interval. So, I would rotate tires at 7-10k, based on what others report about MM codes, and advice I have always gotten from tire shops in the past.
Finally, just to fuel the fire a little more. Reading the maint schedule, it says A service is "Replace Engine Oil" and B service is "Replace Engine Oil and Filter". So, how many of you actually don't replace the filter at A? This is another one where I just spend the extra $5 and probably overkill a little by replacing it anyway.