New Article: Civic hybrid requires special expensive oil

Why does the Civic need this type of oil?

 

Sounds as if they got an unscrupulous dealer.

Even if they charged, say, $10/qt for the oil, used 4 quarts, and then charged another $10 for the filter, that still means they charged over $60 for the service. I think they saw those folks coming.

 

Getting that specialized oil was quite a problem in the past. But now you can find it at some automotive stores. It costs about the same as synthetic.

You're still up a creek though if you want to use rapid oil-change places. They don't carry it yet... and may not ever if it is only used by a handful of vehicles.

Prius uses good old 5W-30.

 

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The rapid oil-change places in our area let you bring in your own oil so long as they do not have an equivalent in stock. Might be worth it just to ask...?

 

The only thing wrong with the HCH is that there's a better car on the road. I bet you can't guess which one... Errmm, well, maybe you can guess.

 

If they mean a synthetic 0W-20, I've noticed the local Canadian Tire stores have been carrying Mobil 1 0W-20 for the past year or so. It claims to exceed the Ford and Honda specs for 5W-20 / 0W-20. It's priced the same as the other Mobil 1 grades they carry: $7.49 a litre.

Oddly enough, it's very hard to find Mobil 1 0W-30 here in Canada. Yet you can easily find it at Autozone in Mesquite NV in August, daytime temps +114 F. Go figure.

I noticed Motor Trend mentioned the "darty" handling on the highway. Hmm, sounds familiar. Wonder how it behaves on snow/ice?

 

My old Jetta was similiar... it required a very odd weight of oil (can't remember it offhand, maybe 0W-30). I distinctly remember trying to go to auto parts stores and not being able to find it. One parts counter guy, when I asked him if they had the oil I was looking for , just shook his head and muttered "Volkswagen".

However, that's just the car manufacturers doing what they do, and believe me, they all do it in some shape or form. There are synthetics which were compatible, and should be for the Civic too.

 

The Mobil 1 0W-20 at Canadian Tire is absolutely compatible with the Honda Insight or any Honda that needs 0W-20 or 5W-20. It also exceeds the Ford 5W-20 spec and states as such right on the bottle.

VW's have all those odd VW 501.01, 505.01, 506.01 etc etc oil specifications that don't appear to be compatible with each other. Many different viscosity requirements too, such as 5W-40 or 0W-30, and only made - surprise surprise - by one manufacturer: Castrol.

For that reason alone I'd pass on a VW. As Toyota claims you need an SL rated 5W-30, there are plenty of choices for 5W-30 and even a few synthetic 0W-30's.

 

These weight oils might be easy to find in the northern climes, but not be so easy to find in southern California.

Those guys at Motor Trend always seem to pay top dollar for service. As for the 577 miles at 48.5MPG for a tank of gas, these guys will improve as they get more experienced in driving the HCH. I've gotten close to 690 miles on a tank in mine.

But all around, I still like the Prius better ; except for that damn gas tank bladder.

 

On the way down to the Twin Cities two months ago, I stopped at the Wally World in Duluth. They had plenty of Mobil 1 0W-20 in stock. Same as the Wally World's in the Twin Cities.

AutoZone and Pep Boys in St. George, Utah also carry plenty of Mobil 1 0W-20 and Mobil 1 0W-30. I guess folks in St. George must really worry about those frigid +30 F mornings! :roll:

Oddly enough, here in the Great White North, Mobil 1 0W-30 is almost impossible to find. Nobody seems to carry it. If you're convenient to an Esso Bulk dealer, they carry Esso XD-3 0W-30 and 0W-40, which are PAO synthetics for HD diesel motors. They're also SL approved, so you can use the 0W-30 in a Toyota for winter temps.

As far as Motor Trend, I suppose the dealer must see them coming??