I had my oil changed while my HCH II was getting the IMA battery software updated today.

When I was paying for the oil change I noticed that the cost was about $15 lower than it should have been. A closer look at the invoice revealed that they had used 5W-20 oil vs. the 0W-20.

When I brought this to the service advisor's attention he said that it was just a typo because only 0W-20 oil can be put into the car. Otherwise, all of the "check engine" lights would be going off etc. I didn't call him out directly, but instead asked him if he was certain about that, to which he replied, "absolutely".

I'm going to talk with the service manager tomorrow because this guy was obviously lying to me. I know that it is a pain to have to put the car back up on the rack and change the oil again, but he didn't offer, and chose to try and BS me.

I know that the oil is safe, and I would lose some MPGs, but am I being unreasonable here?

 

His theory is that your software can detect which weight oil was installed??? What a joke!

When I bought my '07 Camry Hybrid (new), the dealer installed 5W-20 at the first oil change. I was infuriated, and noticed a 10 percent drop in fuel economy. They argued that it made no difference, and I had to get Toyota corporate involved to educate the dealer.

With my first oil change (last month) on my '09 HCH, the technician installed all four quarts of my 0W-20 synthetic oil. This overfill caused my fuel economy to drop to its lowest-ever level. Once the dealer drained the excess, my fuel economy returned to an excellent mid-40s level.

Moral: Never trust a dealer even to know/do the most basic services right. And don't be afraid to SPEAK up when they SCREW up.

 

Can we throw in horror stories? No nays? Here's one:

In my more inexperienced days I kept hearing a whistling sound from somewhere around the gas filler cap, after parking. Particularly in hot weather. In for an oil change, I just asked if this was normal. Over the next few days I'm now noticing a smell of gas:

The jokers solved the whistling sound: drilled through the gas cap.

 

Absolutely not, you are not being unreasonable at all. Car calls for 0W-20, the dealership should put that in there unless they can prove that Honda is now recommending something else (i haven't seen that TSB though yet).

This is a similar reason to why I stopped using the dealership for my oil changes and do it myself. They'd inevitable shove all 4 quarts into my vehicles. They don't take 4 quarts, they take 3.7.

I'd also get them spilling oil on the exhaust manifold, causing smoke when driving home at the next stop light. Service adviosr said this was normal and hard to avoid. What ever dude: I never spill oil because I use this really kewl innovative technology called a FUNNEL.

I even caught one of our local dealerships (NEVER TO BE USED AGAIN) to NOT change the oil when I took it in for an oil change in my wifes Odyssey. I caught it right away cause I checked the oil after change when filling up for our road trip, and the oil was still dark. Boy I ripped into them.

 

Follow-up: Well, the Service Manager was very apologetic after he called the service advisor into the office and confronted him (with me still in the room) about the incident. They took my car back in and changed the oil and filter. When I left, the service advisor was still in the Service Manager's office and neither looked very happy.
Thanks for the replies.

 

The spec'd capacity with filter change is actually 3.4 us quarts. But "take" is debatable:

This is from the 2006 Civic Hybrid Manual

Engine oil change capacity
(including filter):

3.4 US qt (3.2 liter)

FWIW, even that can be reduced: "capacity" means amount required to get the level to the upper dipstick mark (with typical drain time). But: there are two marks on the dipstick, if you're not losing any oil the perfect spot would be mid-way between the marks.

I find I lose maybe 2 cups over one oil cycle. I'll start with 3.0 liters (3.2 qt), with or without filter change (without filter change reduces requirement by ~ 1 cup), and just keep an eye on it, do a 1~2 cup top up maybe 1/2 way through the oil life.

BTW, our dealership also routinely put in 4.0 liters, and that was what finally drove me back to doing my own routine maintenance. That, and arguing with them over not replacing oil filter at service "A", deflating my tires back to spec., over tightening the parking brake, and so on.

Also, it's simply more convenient to do the minor maintenance yourself, instead of tying up the car for up to a full day, paying labour and getting dinged for "shop supplies", etcetera.

Still, it is good to remain on good terms with them if doing your own minor maintenance: keep them in the picture, for the more serious problems.

 

You are right, I've just got down what exactly brings it to the top mark by eyeballing the side of the Mobil 1 quart bottle. I know after 4 or 5 oil changes, I end up with a "free quart" since I just keep combining the left overs into a catch bottle until full.

 

I believe that by using the top mark you are actually overfilling your crankcase, and losing several MPGs. When my dealer used the top mark as a guide, my fuel economy plummeted to its worst-ever level (mid-30s). This could explain the poor fuel economy you mentioned in another recent thread. I had my dealer drain it to the half-way mark, and immediately my fuel economy went back to normal. The way I read it explained in forums, the excess oil creates extra resistance/drag on your crankshaft.

 

kewl, next fill i'll take it a little under. My oil life is at 60%, but I checked it this morning when I filled up and its starting to get dark. So when it hits 50%, I may just go ahead and change it and try out lowering the level a smidge.

Usually when I take it in for a fill, it's well above the top mark!

 

I only use 3 liters with all my oil changes with or without filter change. My HCH is always below the mark when filter is changed and on the mark when adding new filter. Simplifies things this way. My HCH2 never has used oil to date. Its a 2006 model.H