Should I use synthetic oil in my new car

[dennis thompson]

I just bought a new Honda Pilot. Should I use synthetic oil in it?
Thanks

[Mike Lassiter]

Check the owners manual for the REQUIRED oil. It is a great deal more expensive than conventional oil and if you will be changing it at the normal range (3 -5 thousand miles) I don't see you really benefiting from using it. Long haul trucks run it (SOME fleets do anyway) because it offers extended drain intervals while maintaining the warranty with the engine manufacturer.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Yes! As someone who has built numerous engines from mild to wild, I ONLY use Mobil 1 in my cars. It does not break down as fast, nor does it gum up like the brown stuff. I have taken apart engines I built that ran only Mobil 1 and they are clean as new inside. (Other than the obvious places like combustion chambers, of course, which isn't oil related.) Many high-end cars require it in their specs.

Synthetic oils do not lose viscosity as quickly as regular oil when they heat up. We would run lightweight synthetic oil in racing engines because it flows better but it would give the lubrication of a normal weight oil at temperature. My VW engines had oil squirters machined in them to spray oil on the underside of the Pistons to cool them and of course this is hard on the oil, but with synthetics the oil handled it fine.

You also can go longer between oil changes, but I do not do that. The oil doesn't break down as quickly, but I change it because there are still metal particles in it.

[Tom M King]

My method of running cars and trucks is to buy new, and drive it as long as possible. My break-in procedure has never changed from one to the other. I run dino for the first few changes. Since my plans for longevity are different than the manufacturer's, I change every 2k for the first 10 with dino and new filter. After that, I've run Mobil 1 for as long as it's been available. I change it every 10k just because it's easy to remember. We typically put over 250 on cars, and more on trucks.

When I sold the last truck, a 1/2 ton 1500, it had 195k(something like that close to 200) on it (just needed a bigger truck), and compression was within a few pounds of new. My Wife currently is still driving a WRX with 284 on it, and it's as strong as it ever was, and doesn't use any oil. I parked the current diesel dually beside that last truck I sold 14 years ago at Tractor Supply a few weeks ago. The odometer had long since stopped working (electronic), but the farmer that I had sold it to was still driving it, and he said he still hadn't been in the Chevy 350 engine.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Over the years, I have bought cars and drove them into the ground. 250K is a minimum I expect. Numerous Nissans, Accuras, and BMW. Plus - one 1997 Dodge Ram 15000 @ 175k and counting . Did not expect that, to be honest.

I use the oil specified by mfgr, but I change @ 3,000 +/-. Sometimes, the cars don't put on a lot of miles, so it is 3,000 or 6 months, whichever comes first.

PLus - as an aside, my rules to LOML are: "When you change the oil, change the wiper blades. Otherwise, you will find out they are bad only when you need them. At which point, it is too late."

My 2000 Beemer specifies Mobil 1, so that's what I do. At 3k, not the book mileage.

[Paul McGaha]

Just my $.02 but I've always used conventional oil in all of our vehicles. We're running them up to near 200K miles and not seeing any engine issues due to using conventional oil.

I just use the regular Pennzoil, usually 10W30. I change it every 3,000 miles.

I agree with Mike Lassiter's suggestion of using what ever is specified in the owners manual.

PHM

[Chuck Wintle]

engines wear the most at first startup and synthetic oil flows faster and easier so it lubricates an engine much quicker. But in the long run is it worth the extra cost?

[Art Mann]

At least on Chrysler manufactured vehicles, the oil and change interval specified in the owner's manual is sufficient. The reason I know this is I was an engineer for the company for 25 years and I know what kind of testing is preformed to establish those parameters. In my experience, the engine is seldom the component in an old car that causes it to be abandoned or sold, provided the maintenance schedule is followed to the letter.

[Lee Schierer]

I just bought a new Honda Pilot. Should I use synthetic oil in it?
Thanks

Our Honda dealer uses synthetic oil in our 2012 Pilot. You will also see a oil life indicator in the dash that tells you how much life is left in the oil. We change ours at 50-60% life remaining. Push the reset button for the trip odometer until you see the oil life indicator.

[Chuck Wintle]

one question: What exactly is synthetic about this oil?

[Anthony Whitesell]

Does anyone actually know what the technical differences are between synthetic and conventional motor oil?

I do, but I'm wondering how many others do.

[Mike Lassiter]

My truck of over 14 years (99 F250 diesel) had 173,000 miles on it when I bought it in Dec 2003. It now has 341,000 on it. Never had anything done to the engine other than replace 1 glow plug, starter and alternator and water pump replaced. I have always used Rotella 15-40 oil. We had a 94 Cutlass 3.1 engine that we had over 10 years and around 200,000 miles on it when we sold it to my daughter. They drove it a year or two then sold it to my now other son in law who drove it with a leaking intake manifold gasket that was leaking coolant into the engine. It died with him from oil contamination. 2004 minivan we had had over 5 years just passed 190,000 miles with no trouble.

Years ago I ran Castrol Sentec (?) oil in a 89 Ford F-150 300 6 cylinder for a bit. Couldn't really justify the cost of it in my opinion when the oil was changed regularly. It had over 300,000 miles on it when I parked it after getting the 99 F250. It has sat in my backyard every sense. One day I guess I will put a new battery on it and drain the gas out and drive it again. The grade of oil has been upgraded over the years now where oil is really a lot better quality than "back in the day". There is a oil classification on the container that will be SG or something like that, that indicated the grade. Diesel engine oils have a different oil grade requirement that I can't recall now, but some oils are alright to use in gas or diesel, while some are not.

I think most oils are going to do a good job, if you buy a quality brand and get the right viscosity for the temperature. You can of course but the best available in if you want, and that's perfectly ok, but I really think it's arguable it will make the engine last longer. But again it's a personal preference.

Ever heard of "recycled engine oil"? Years ago now, my ex wife's father had a 79 Ford truck with the 300 6 cylinder engine in it. He didn't really take care of the truck, in spite of the fact he worked out of it and had to have it. He broke a piston ring in it (as told by shop when the engine was rebuilt later) but couldn't afford to fix the engine. It smoked really bad - that is when it had oil in it. I was in it one day with him going to roof a house and we were going about 40 mph around a curve on country road and I noticed the engine oil light was on. Just glowing red, and I ask him (sarcastically) what that meant. He just flipped the ashes off his cigarette and looked at me and said, " that means drive the hell out of it! It's STILL smoking - I know it's got oil in it" - and I just didn't know what to say after that. Anyway, he was buying recycled oil for the truck because it burnt oil so bad. Good oil then was around 99 cents a qt. and he was paying about 50 cents a qt. for the recycled oil - 2 to 3 qts. a day as I recall.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I use whatever oil is cheapest. I have never traded-in a car because of engine trouble. I have never had internal engine problems. Conventional oil, 200k+.

My cars have died because:
1) Wrecked
2) Rusted out
3) Rusted out
4) Accident that resulted in a problem with the ABS that could be not fixed and the dealer had no recourse (ie., not applicable under the lemon law)
5) Rusted out
6) Still going

Wife's car will be traded in this fall, why? Rusted out.
Truck will be traded in a few years from now, why? Rusted out.
My father's last four vehicles were all traded in due to, you guessed it, rust.

Regular LOF, every 3k. We just started trying the 5k oil change interval. As 55k of the last 60k were on the highway cruising at 65mph for 2 hours at a time, I'm sure even the last generation of oil could handle a 5k oil change.

[Art Mann]

I am not an oil expert but I will tell you what I know. Synthetic oil is not obtained from a distillation process from crude, but is chemically fabricated to have superior lubrication properties (don't know the process). It addresses many of the problems associated with petroleum based oil. It is not as subject to mechanical shearing. Shearing is a breakdown of the oil chemistry and viscosity due to the constant high mechanical pressure on the oil between the pistons/rings and the cylinder wall and other wear points. It is also not as susceptible to heat breakdown, which causes all lubricants to change their chemical properties to reduce viscosity ad lubricity. Synthetic oil does not improve contamination to any extent. Contamination is the introduction of foreign materials into the oil to reduce its lubrication properties. It can come from metal wear, combustion products (soot), fuel dilution or dust that made it past the air cleaner. There may be other sources as well.

Synthetic oil is truly an improvement over petroleum based oil. However, good enough is good enough. If an engine will last 300,000 miles maintained properly with petroleum based oil, does it really matter if the engine would have lasted 350,000 miles with synthetic oil? As I said in another post, engine failure is not what takes most vehicles out of service, provided the manufacturer's schedule is adhered to. Well, at least that has been my observation.

[Matt Day]

yes, I'm pretty sure the manufacturer would recommend it.