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I have a 2003 civic coupe.

My dealership has just changed--so they say--to stocking only synethetic oil. My specific questions are at the end, but
first some background info.

I'm an older woman retiree. Car purchased new in 2003. It has had all maintenance done at recommended intervals per the manual at a
dealership. I do not drive much. I use time rather than mileage when that option is given for a particular service. The car is
driven regularly, but quite a bit of short 5-10 mile trips. For that reason and because I live in Florida I use the severe maintenance
schedule. The car is your basic creampuff both mechanically and cosmetically. 55,000 miles, no real "repairs," just scheduled
maintenance and a few wear/tear items.

Until about a year ago I had a terrific service advisor for the previous 8-9 years who never tried to upsell, recommend accelerated
maintenance, or overcharge. Unfortunately, he has left this particular dealership.

First question: In an older car like this is it preferable to use an all-synethetic oil? I assume it is, but just
to be certain as I've heard at least one dissenting opinion. I had been given 05W20SB synblend oil previously. My last oil change
was 0W20S SYN OIL.

Second question: The severe schedule I have been using per the manual gives a time interval of 6 months between changes (5000 miles if
mileage is used). Do I need to keep to this 6-month interval regardless of the type of oil used (I understand synthetic oil has
a longer useful life) or can I now safely go a year between oil changes?

Thanks for any help!

 
Rep Power: 518

The 0w20 synthetic oil they used is fine for your engine. Several years ago Honda approved using that oil in many older cars.

I'd evaluate the oil condition at 6 months and decide whether to change it or wait a while.

 
Rep Power: 244

Synthetic oils do typically allow you to go longer between intervals then conventional oil. Like ezone said I would have the oil evaluated at 6 months to see how it is doing. Oil is cheap insurance.

 
Rep Power: 512

I used nothing but full synth in my 2002. Granted, 5w-20, but if ezone says 0w-20 is usable in your car, I'd listen to that. Used to stick to the 3-5000 mile interval, for the most part. 5-7500 when i was feeling lazy. Laziest I ever got was nearly 10k.

 
Rep Power: 518

I'd just check the color of the oil.

 
Rep Power: 244

I would send a sample in but I can be extra sometimes lol

On a side note the oil I use in my GTI goes in a dark amber color and goes dark (almost black) in a few hundred miles. From my reading some synthetics can change color very quickly unlike old dino oil which seem to darken as it wore.

 
Rep Power: 119

As long as your dealer didn’t jack up the charge, the synthetic oil (made from natural gas instead of crude oil) will hold up better in every way.

A 5qt bottle of normal oil sells for $17 at Walmart and similar bottle of full synthetic Mobil1 is $24. Some oil change places charge extra $30+ for “full synthetic”.

 
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If you are driving les than 5000 miles per year and using synthetic or synthetic blend then one oil change per year seems OK to me.

 
Rep Power: 210

sold my 2005 about a year ago, and i no longer have the manual for it,

but if i remember correctly, i believe the manual recommends changing oil once a year, if the mileage has not be reached,

that was with regular oil, not synthetic,

so going by that (assuming im remembering correctly) you should be able to go a year with synthetic.....IMO

 
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Thanks so much to everyone. Opinions differ somewhat, so as everyone pointed out, oil changes are cheap insurance. For the time being, I'll stick to every 6 months. Yes, the dealership has jacked up prices, but it's on everything. They joined with a few other dealerships to form a "group" and that is when all charges went up. You'd think they now have economy of scale working for them, but they now seem "empowered" so to speak