I couldn't seem to search this.

1st Honda owner. Purchased a used '05 Civic LX with 48K miles. As we are in a city, I expected to follow the serve drving maintenace schedule. (Lots of short trips) Manual says every 5K miles. The oil shops says 3K for changes. I was thinking of splitting the difference and changing around 4K. This model doesn't appear to have the oil monitor system. Comments?

 

about 5000 miles. shops want you to change your oil often so they can get more business from you.

 

I change mine every 5k just to be safe (extended use filter and full synthetic oil).

I'd go every 5k if that's what the manual says. I'd bet the farm that the shop doesn't know every recommended change interval for every vehicle; they're going with the age-old every 3k mile schedule.

Speaking of the every 3k mile schedule, it's one of my pet peeves. People assume every 3k miles because the old "If it's good enough for my dad, it's good enough for me" mentality... engines have changed a good bit in the last few decades, and oils have advanced quite a bit as well. Of course, you have to take wear and tear and condition of the engine into account, but there's not reason you should be changing the oil in a modern car every 3k miles unless you're bored and want to kill half an hour.

 

yea 5k miles should be fine

 

5k is fine for a Honda. If you do a Mobil 1 oil change with a Mobil 1 oil filter you may be able to let it go to 6k. Like reaper2022, and sfazngiants both said it depends on the condition of your car and that shops say 3k to get more money from suckers who don't know any better or because back in the days 3k was indeed the average interval for any car and they just made that as the rule. As always go by your owner's manual. If you don't have an owner's manual you can just google it or find it in the Honda Owner Link website.



My personal opinion on this subject and i'm sure most people would agree is that if you know your engine has been taken care of (like maintenance records from previous owners, like my car has) my suggestion is to do your oil change a little below what we or honda recommend. So if were telling you 5k and your engine is like in excellent condition go ahead and change it at 3k, 3.5k or 4k, not because of what the shop is telling you to do it but because i want to keep my engine in tip top condition so it lasts longer, or maybe even gets to a million miles....



I'll probably do my Mobil 1 oil change at like 3.5k - 4.5k just so i know my engine is gonna last longer.

 

I always go for an oil change every 3k-4k miles.

 

i change mine every 4000 with royal purple but i just switched to lucas oil i feel its better then royal purple want to try out eneos with a hamp oil filter and see how that works

 

I change it every 4-5k. I try to change the oil before I go over that.