Oil Change

[up-country_sinclair]

unfortunately my knowledge of cars begins and ends with knowing how to change a tire, and the location of the gas tank.

i have a honda jazz which has scheduled maintenance every 10K, but i remember that my father used to change the oil, oil filter, and air filter every 5K.

will changing these items every 5K significantly increase the life span of the car and cut down on repairs? or have their been improvements in car manufacturing so that this 5K service is no longer necessary? don't know if it matters to the topic, but it is primarily city driving with the occasional road trip.

also, my local honda dealership charges approx 900 baht for the above....is this high? seems so to me, and i was wondering if you have learned through experience that it is worthwhile to go to a local mechanic, or am i better off just staying with the dealership.

thanks.

and btw, how often should i change the oil on a honda dream or wave motorcycle?

[billd766]

I have a 7 year old Ford Ranger pick up truck and I have always had it serviced at a Ford dealers. The first 3 years were easy as I used to live in Bangkok but now I live 125 km from Ford Nakhon Sawan which I have used many times or 65 km from Ford Khampaeng Phet which I have never used. The truck has 160,000 km on it and it still drives well and looks OK. I used to get it serviced every 5,000 but now the book says every 10,000 and that is what it gets.

City driving is much harder on a car and I would suggest that you stick to the manufacturers schedule but at 900 baht an in between 5,000 km change won't do any harm.

My Yamaha Mio scooter gets a service every 3,000 km and costs about 100 baht and it is so cheap you won't even notice it.

happy motoring.

[asiaworld]

with newer c ars it is more like every 10k. Don't worry its not going to make it worse(maybe even better) also i suspect you do not get around too much in your car(or don't push it too hard) 900 baht is fair, i spend upto 2,000 for the best fully synthetic oil & it lasts well to over 9,000km when i decide to bring it in for service & check anyways

Edited November 6, 2007 by asiaworld

[ZZZ]

My Yamaha Mio scooter gets a service every 3,000 km and costs about 100 baht and it is so cheap you won't even notice it.

A 100 baht service will probably not be noticed by your bike either

[goldfish]

My Yamaha Mio scooter gets a service every 3,000 km and costs about 100 baht and it is so cheap you won't even notice it.

A 100 baht service will probably not be noticed by your bike either

Unfortunately this is probably true. Am certain, for that money, they don't use the correct oil in the auto drive or measure the quantity if they do change it. I am a fond believer in regular oil changes and would personally change the oil a little more regular than quoted. At the end of the day it's up to you. If you sell the car before 50,000km it shouldn't affect you

[Thaiboxer]

I'm not sure if dealerships automatically do it, but if you get an oil change ANYWHERE in Thailand, make sure they change the oil filter since many independent mechanics won't do it. They may tell you it's ok to change it every other time, but if you do that you'll have a quart or so of dirty oil sloshing around in there. Everytime I have the corner garage change the oil, I specify that I want the filter changed too. Unless you know/trust the person doing the oil change, it's always a good idea to check the oil shortly afterward (when the engine cools down) to make sure it's clean....in other words, to make sure they did change it and not just charge you.

[asiaworld]

My Yamaha Mio scooter gets a service every 3,000 km and costs about 100 baht and it is so cheap you won't even notice it.

A 100 baht service will probably not be noticed by your bike either

Unfortunately this is probably true. Am certain, for that money, they don't use the correct oil in the auto drive or measure the quantity if they do change it. I am a fond believer in regular oil changes and would personally change the oil a little more regular than quoted. At the end of the day it's up to you. If you sell the car before 50,000km it shouldn't affect you

\ C'mon guys it's a tiny bike.. anyone could buy a pot of oil & refill bike without service's help..hence the costs..btw do u know it only costs a 100 to fill it upto brims with fuel also

[culicine]

900 baht is high, but fully synthetic is more than double that. I get fully synthetic through a friend for 1200 baht for 5 litres. It's good for 10K kilometres, and actually given me slightly better fuel consumption at highway speeds.

You can supply parts to honda for them to fit at the regular intervals, so don;t be worried about doing that. I gove them the oil and I use a K&N high flow filter, that has just paid foritself in replacement costs (the paper one is about 700 baht!)

[ZZZ]

My Yamaha Mio scooter gets a service every 3,000 km and costs about 100 baht and it is so cheap you won't even notice it.

A 100 baht service will probably not be noticed by your bike either

Unfortunately this is probably true. Am certain, for that money, they don't use the correct oil in the auto drive or measure the quantity if they do change it. I am a fond believer in regular oil changes and would personally change the oil a little more regular than quoted. At the end of the day it's up to you. If you sell the car before 50,000km it shouldn't affect you

\ C'mon guys it's a tiny bike.. anyone could buy a pot of oil & refill bike without service's help..hence the costs..btw do u know it only costs a 100 to fill it upto brims with fuel also

Fair enough if you by service only mean oil change.

My Novo manual have a periodic maintenance list with 27 points, most of these should be checked/done every 6000km (3000km for oil change). To check and do all these things will most likely cost more than 100 baht

[up-country_sinclair]

thanks for the reponses.

i got the oil change done today in hopes of increasing the longevity of the car.

the only annoying part is that it took honda nearly 2 hours to change the oil, oil filter and air filter.

Edited November 8, 2007 by up-country_sinclair

[buddhafly]

i used to change my own oil in my trooper all the time. i prefer to do it because you can let all the dirty oil drain out properly (with all the metal shavings etc) which takes time. i imagine a mechanic is more inclined just to finish it quick. or you can even flush it with a little extra oil while the filter is off to really rinse it out.

[Flatouthruthefog]

i used to change my own oil in my trooper all the time. i prefer to do it because you can let all the dirty oil drain out properly (with all the metal shavings etc) which takes time. i imagine a mechanic is more inclined just to finish it quick. or you can even flush it with a little extra oil while the filter is off to really rinse it out.

This, plus the emphasis on changing the filter is invaluable advice. Oil is the lifeblood of your engine in every way.

I would only add to watch out for the cost. I was charged 1,850b for 4 liters of Total a month ago, just before I realised that Total are still doing business with the Burmese junta, so that's 2 good reasons never to touch them again.

Just down the road another similar small garage, run by an Alfa Romeo qualified mechanic, charged me just 550b for 4 liters of Fuchs, a premium German oil comparable in many ways to Castrol when Castrol was still independent. I was fxchxng impressed, I can tell you.