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http://drivingtelevision.com/videos.php?epID=403
Love it! Thanks!
FWIW, on our 2 Chevies, which use the "calculator" approach, my wife's Impala calls for 3,500 mile oil changes and my Cobalt calls for 9,000 mile changes. This is based on her all-city, short trip driving and my almost all-freeway, long distance commute.
In other words, oil life, even when measure by probably optimistic (to conserve resources) on-board computers can vary wildly based on YOUR driving habits and conditions (and we live in mild California conditions).
So when oil change shops recommend 3,000 mile oil changes, they are doing so based on their inability to judge YOUR driving habits, and OUR inability to judge them ourselves, in most cases.
Read the manual for most cars VERY carefully and you'll see a lot of "opt outs" for the longer drain intervals - driving in mostly freezing weather or desert heat, short trips, stop and go, dusty - it's no wonder oil life is all over the map. Depends completely on your driving habits and conditions.
Trust the Fit/new Civic calculator. If you are cautious, upgrade to full synthetic, or change when you still have 25% life left (I do on my Cobalt). Once again, FWIW, most Fit owners seem to be changing oil, based on the calculator, a lot earlier than the 10,000 mile intervals that Honda manuals used to recommended under their old set-up. FWIW, my Honda dealer (when I had the '03 Civic) recommended 3,000 mile oil changes,until I protested that I commuted on the freeway, whereupon they agreed 5,000 miles was ok but the 10,000 mile intervals were, in their opinion, nuts.
I was suprised too. I almost bought one but one thing I really wanted and would have had to wait on was side airbags.
Funny thing is, I dunno if i would have waited for side bags on a Yaris but here I am not minding horribly (anymore) if i have to wait for a honda with them.
They would have to be morons if they put 10-30 in your Honda. If you pop your hood it says to use 5-20 right on the oil cap. If you want to be certain, just bring your own oil and tell them to use that
My housemate just bought a yaris, and I asked when he did first oil change. He said 2500 miles or so, and I thought that was early. He said two diff sources listed two diff sets of miles. (one 1500 m and another 5000 m). So he called to see what to do and they said bring it in because its a thinner oil during breakin period.
I realize the honda and yaris are diff, yet I wonder who is feeding him the line of chit.
Do you think diff vehicles might be designed so differently?
Why? Because in the first couple of hundred of miles with *normal* oil, you take off a lot of grit and crud from the manufacturing process. The oil is filthy and full of metallic grit. This is a normal thing. Honda's oil has special solvents to make this a very slow to almost nonexistant process, but that just means poor ring sealing. I don't know why they do this when its counter to everything professional racers and engine builders practice.
I would like to do it myself, I use to have a high truck so that was easy to get under. Without a ramp, what is the best way to get under my FIT to change the oil? The sides are so low that I will probably need to park the side on the sidewalk to get under there.
I've heard that it's kinda difficult to change oil on a honda, is it the same for the fit or is it relatively simple?
What kinds of filter should I get for the Fit? I want a good filter and don;t mind paying a little more. If you guy can tell me the brand, size I'd very much appreicate it!
Thanks for your advices!
Also, the cylinder walls will create some of this as well during break-in. Now, it's not huge chunks, but there is this metallic grit in the oil that you can feel. And there's no reason that you can't or shouldn't dump the oil instead of letting that grime run for thousands of miles.
A couple of oil changes at the beginning of an engine's life breatly improves the long-term reliability. My recommendation is the following:
New - Do a proper break-in procedure on a dyno. Dump the oil.(toal mileage on car - 20-30 miles)
200-300 miles - new oil and filter
1000 miles - same
Follow normal oil changes afterwards.
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
If it works for racing engines and motorcycles, it's good enough for a production engine as well. Yes, the site is hard on the eyes and he comes of soundig like some infomercial, but the pictures and the data don't lie.
Aprilla and a few other motorcycle manufacturers break-in their engines this way before they put them in the bike. Honda and the rest should do this, but it would take time and money. Proper consumer break-in of course would invariably result in a few broken engines from people not doing it correctly(most don't even know what a dyno is), so they recommend the exact opposite to cover all of their bases. But this isn't what you as a driver want.
As far as oil changes, until my Fit becomes a race car or loses two wheels, I'll stick with the manufacture recommendations.
Just say "no" to periodic quick lane requests to take your car to the regular service lane for mysterious 7,500/15,000/30,000 mile "services" that go WAY beyond what the owner's manual calls for....
My Honda dealer only charged $29.95 for an oil change with Honda filter and top off of all fluids, plus tire pressure check - a quick bargain.
As far as oil changes, until my Fit becomes a race car or loses two wheels, I'll stick with the manufacture recommendations.
Thus far I have seen one white, one red, one blue and *maybe a silver one, and cannot recall if they were sport or base models.
I cant wait to get mine.
The gas tank is under front seat.
It is closer, so you are more likely to hear it.
200-300 miles - new oil and filter
1000 miles - same
Follow normal oil changes afterwards."
Wow! I'd doubt you would find even dealers, who would have the most to gain by such a procedure, recommend this routine.
I think this may be relevant for highly finicky racing engines. But for a production car -- no, I wouldn't own it long enough to reap the benefit, if any at all. I certainly would not even consider it for a Fit.
Be aware that your Honda dealer will most likely be using a Honda oil filter A02. This filter is made by Fram and considered by anybody that knows oil filters to be very subpar. Your dealer may give you a A01 Honda filter which is an excellent fiter made by Filtech, but probably not, they are kind of hard to come by.
I have the Honda dealer change my oil and Filter, but I supply them with my Filter (Napa Gold made by Wix) which is a very high quality filter. I like their quick lube lane because I can stand right there and watch the whole oil change without being told I can't be in the garage.
Is there a Napa Gold filter that will fit the Fit? Is there a model # or any other info I need to get one that will work? I will take your advice if I can get the right one for the Fit.
Yes, there are napa Gold filters for all the Honda vehicles. Just go to a Napa auto parts store and request a Napa Gold oil filter for the Honda Fit. If the Fit isn't in their computer yet, ask for a Napa Gold filter for the Honda Ridgeline. The Ridgeline, Fit, civic, Pilot, Oddyssey, CRV all take the same filter.
Let's hope not. Depending on where you live, Jiffy Lube is a whole different level of corruption. It depends on the individual franchise owner I guess, but I've heard of them just draining the oil but not changing the filter or just not changing the oil altogether, cross threading the oil bolt etc. I won't go anywhere where I can't watch them do the whole change. My wife's sister drove home from an oil change where they (not Jiffy Lube) forgot to even put oil back in the car.
How can so many things go wrong with a simple procedure that you'd think a monkey could perform competently?
At the honda quick lube I go to, they use a torque wrench to tighten the oil bolt, nice. I feel pretty comfortable with them. Plus, they use all honda fluids when the other things need to be filled. Again, nice. I'm just not sure why the premier engine builder in the world (Honda) puts the Honda badge on a Honeywell (Fram) filter. The factory filter that comes with the Fit is probably one of the best filters made.
Now, I've been known to be absent-minded at times, but how in the world could they forget to put in oil, if their sole function is to change oil?! :confuse: :sick: I mean, it's not like they had to go service some other parts of the car!
My litmus test on repairs is to say no to chains/franchises. Actually, this works well for most everything in life. The guy who works at his own independant shop isn't going to make those sorts of mistakes - not with his own business on the line.
As for oil changes - which dealer isn't important most of the time, either. The local GM dealer has a $25 oil change that's quite good - because they check a dozen other things while the car is being serviced. Sometimes they even pull the engine codes to double-check there as well. A far cry from the places that change it and spit you out like a fast food joint.
In other words, I'd much rather see a relabled Fram filter go onto a Honda at a Honda quick lube lane than see someone go ANYWHERE else, for all the good dealer reasons you listed. In fact, with the advent of quick change lanes at dealers, the whole reason for the evil Jiffy Lubes of the world is gone.
But for those of us who post here, Napa Gold (or Wix or a good Purolator) is the way to go, and I used to carry in my own Mobil 1 too!
You have an astute observation. Actually, in Japan there is a model called Mobilio which uses the same Global Small Platform as the Fit, except that the wheelbase has been extended about 11 inches in order to accommodate the third row (exactly the dimension you were thinking about bobw3!).
The Mobilio is a pretty funky-looking car:
Mobilo
Mobilio Interior
Seven passengers are pushing it in this car, but six can fit in fairly reasonably.
Funky...or ugly! :P
Unless they upgrade the powertrain, with 7 passenger, the Fit wouldn't be able to get out of its own way.
Mobilo
Mobilio Interior
Ewww....it is GHASTLY Ugly!
With the rear seats down flat (utility mode), how far is it from the tail end of the car (with hatch closed)to the front flat part of the cargo area?
(In other words, it would be basically be the entire flat portion, but not the air behind the driver and front passenger seats.)
Also, with seats positioned like that and the hatch closed, what is the shortest distance from the floor of the cargo area to the roof?
Thanks in advance to any willing to take a moment.
In person, the Mobilio does not look all that bad. Honda says its design motif is those streetcar trains found in Europe.
Perhaps I am too used to seeing odd-looking cars in Japan and in Europe.
#1: Has anyone paid attention to the cruise control lights on the steering wheel? Mine don't appear to be very bright at all, almost illegible at night. These lights are certainly not as bright as the stereo or other dash lights. My question, am I the only one with this apparent disparity in brightness? This is not really a problem, I just want to know if anyone else has noticed it. If other people have a similar situation it might be worth mentioning to my dealer. This is my first experience with steering wheel mounted, illuminated cruise control. Is a lower level of brightness just par for the course considering the price point of this car, space constraints within the steering wheel and so forth? Please let me in on your experiences.
#2: There is a strip of rubbery, textured material placed above the opening of the glove box on the dash of my Fit. In other words, this part of the top opening of the glove box and doesn't move with the glove box lid when the glove box is opened. (Hope that's making sense, hehe :P ). There is a small space between the plastic top of the glove box and this strip of rubber. I inspected this briefly today before leaving the car to come into work, and the rubber would pull away very easily. You can access it from inside the glove box in fact. Am I just being picky in wanting this strip of rubber to be flush with the top of the glove box with no discernable space? In order to keep this seemless, should I apply some adhesive, a little do-it-myself job? Or should I bring this up to the dealer? Its a very minor amount of space, really almost unoticeable, but I guess it bothers me how easily that strip of rubber can be pulled away from its anchor holes in the plastic. So, ignore it and realize that this is part of why the car is inexpensive, or should I pursue it? Any advice or commiseration is appreciated. Thanks all.
Sorry to be so picky, by the way, but its my first new car in a long time and I really want to take care of it and keep it looking great. Thanks again.
As far as the rubber strip goes, I can only think that it must be the liner for the storage try above the glove box. Mine is not super tight, & i saw in a post here or on another site that someone else noticed that as well.
One issue for her is ride height. She's currently in a domestic coupe (she's being converted to the ways of the imports
Honda does not list ground clearance for the Fit on it's website. For that matter it doesn't list clearance for the Civic (another Honda vehicle under consideration). Can someone provide me with the figure? I imagine the Sport model has lower clearance due to the ground effects. Also how is the seating position? Is it higher than a typical sedan type vehicle, similar to what Toyota did with the Matrix? Thanks
Good to know on the rubber strip also. I took a further look at it on lunch, and it seems as if the thing is easily removed and reinstalled. Maybe they intended it that way. If it starts to show more space in the future, I could always use a bit of adhesive to keep it anchored in place.
Thanks again all. Still loving my Fit and I hope everyone else is too!
I guess I'll get out my own measuring tape and make a trip to the Honda dealer
Ground Clearance
About the seating position, I would describe it more as "upright" rather than "high."
It definitely feels higher than the Civic's seat and the Accord's as well. It's been a while since I last drove a Corolla, but I do recall sitting up pretty good on the Corolla. Was it just the preception or the actual height? I have no way of knowing for sure.
Oh, by the way, about the accessory socket, ours does not move even though we, too, have a cellphone charger plugged in. If it is loose, it may be that the tab that is supposed to lock it in is not in place or broken. Take a look at Page 2, Items 7 and 8, of this PDF file:
Accessory Socket
When the cruise control is engaged on my Fit, it generates an electrical noise that absolutely wipes out any AM signal on the radio!
I know they targeted this car to a demographic that mostly doesn't know what AM radio is, but we old farts (who also use iPods and other MP3 players) are buying the cars, too.
FWIW, the #1 rated oil filter in a number of independent tests is the Purolator PureOne filter.
Unfortunately after doing some more research it seems like availability is an issue, and also pricing. I never have paid MSRP for a Honda and this goes back to the '80s when they along with Toyota were really the only imports of choice. Though this market is very competitive with a lot of Honda dealers including one I previously purchased from who gave a good deal on a very in demand vehicle so you never know.
I had a chat about it with my sales rep (a new guy who needs a good review from me to Honda, as does the dealership, as it just changed hands) yesterday, and he promised to look for answers. When I go in Friday for the cargo cover, I'll show it to the repair techs and see what they think.
Considering that the difference between MSRP and invoice is only about $600, even if you paid 1/2 between invoice and MSRP you're only out $300. If the Fit is what you really want, it seems silly to me to buy another car just so you don't pay MSRP, especially if you end up paying a higher overall price for the other vehicle (eg. Paying under invoice for a Civic but still pay $17K). I think it would make more sense to figure out which vehicle meets your needs and then compare the overall price you'll pay for the two vehicles to see which one is the better value.
I paid the MSPR $16,500 for my Fit Sport Auto, so I compared that to what else was out there for $16,500 that had everything the Fit had and for me, the only other option was the Versa but it wasn't available with ABS in the CVT form. The Matrix, Civic, Corolla, and other small cars all had things about them I didn't like, regardless of the price, so for me buying another small car at a less-than-MSRP price wouldn't be worth it...for me it would be sort of like buying a brand "X" suit for $300 because it was 50% off ( because "I always buy suits on sale"), although the suit I really liked the best (brand "Y") cost $280 but that was full price...I'd rather pay for the full-priced $280 suit that I really liked then $300 for the 50% off suit.
The air filter part number is 49086, but this is still technically an invalid number as it has not yet been announced through an official new part number release. So if you have any problems with an air filter for your Fit from a Wix box, as of right now, don't blame me :P
By the way I am not affiliated with Wix (or NAPA). I work for an automotive parts distributor/retailer operation. Though I do like the Wix products
Hope this helps those looking for oil filters.
OK, question....if you buy the filters in bulk and bring one in for your oil changes, do they charge you less for bringing your own filter?