TIL why my mechanic kept pushing synthetic oil on me

I used to think synthetic oil was a total scam. My buddy at the shop always said it was worth it, but I figured he just wanted to upsell me. Then last Saturday I overheard him explaining to another customer how conventional oil breaks down way faster in modern engines, especially the turbo ones. He mentioned that after 3,000 miles, conventional oil loses its viscosity and starts letting metal bits circulate. That got me thinking about my own car, a 2017 Honda Civic that I've been running on cheap oil for two years. I checked the service records and saw I had driven about 45,000 miles on conventional without any issues, but now I'm wondering if I've been slowly killing the engine. Has anyone else had a mechanic drop some truth on them like that? What did they say that actually made you switch?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaret_gonzalez254mo ago

My 2012 Toyota has 130k miles on conventional oil and runs fine, I think people freak out over nothing sometimes. A buddy of mine drove his old Subaru to 200k on dino juice before it finally gave up, so I'm not rushing to switch just yet.

lindaowens4mo ago

My car's probably holding a grudge against me right now, whispering "remember all that cheap oil you fed me?" to my mechanic. Maybe I'll switch to synthetic and bring it a peace offering of a new air filter or something.

max4154mo ago

Add a bottle of that engine restore stuff to the synthetic oil change too, it's supposed to help clean out the gunk from the cheap stuff. I've seen guys on the forums swear by running a can of Sea Foam through the intake before switching too, just to clear out any carbon deposits. Your mechanic's probably gonna recommend a full flush anyway if the sludge is bad enough, so be ready for that. The filter is a good idea though, might as well throw in a new PCV valve while you're at it since those are cheap and easy to swap out.