I purchased my FG2 less than 2 weeks ago from Berkeley Honda. That night after deciding on purchasing the car, the sales person and I took the car to the gas station nearby so they can wash the car and fill up the tank. It was pretty chilly that night, so I stayed inside the gas station while they were doing the job. Then I thought to myself.. maybe I should go outside and remind them to use 91 octane. At the same time, I thought to myself what kind of moron would pump 87 in a car when it says "91 premium only" on the gas cap.

Just as I predicted, but it was already too late to stop them. I was really upset when the sales person pumped a full tank of 87 in my brand new SI. I told the him why I was pissed while pointing at the gas cap where it says "91 premium only". So when we got back to the dealership to finish up the paperwork, I complaint to the manager about the issue. This is what the manager had to say: "We had a contract agreement with that gas station where we only pump 87 in all our new cars." I never got an apology. I then thought to myself... are they going to pump 87 for the S2K as well? Anyways.. I still bought the car, it was a good deal and I found the color that I wanted. I know one tank wouldn't hurt, but you could only imagine how I feel when my brand new car got treated like that.

Has this ever happened to you guys when you bought your car from the honda dealer? I wonder if this is what they do at all the dealerships... or is it just Berkeley Honda?

 

i really don't know what they pumped in my car when i picked it up... then again i remember driving slow the first couple of tanks to help in with the break-in.

sorry to hear you got treated like that... i'd get pretty upset too!

 

pour a couple bottles of octane booster into it.... will help ease the pain, the rinse out that bad taste with some shell V-power....

 

Thanks, sometimes I rather not know about certain things... at least I won't be upset about it. Anyone has other experience w/ the fuel they pump in your new civic?

 

The first dealership that I test drove the Si at said "yeah and this thing takes regular unleaded!" and I was thinking "uh, no it doesn't."

The guy I bought it from said they don't pump premium at the dealership as well, so mine came filled with 87 also. I'm willing to bet 95% (or more) of Honda dealerships don't pump premium.

 

im pretty sure everyone got a full tank of 87 with their si

 

Same here.

Just wait till you go in for your first oil change and they put in 5-20W!

 

lol i WORK at the dealership and had to hound my own boss to put 91 in when I bought my Si... they've NEVER put anything more in the cars than 87 including the s2ks, etc. Its really pathetic that they dont address the issue more seriously but it honestly wont hurt anything. the ECU will notice the lower octane and adjust timing accordingly as to avoid any damage.... either way ALL dealerships should know better to put 91 in the cars that they KNOW require it.... but to them its all about the chedda son

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zygspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just wait till you go in for your first oil change and they put in 5-20W! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Totally agree with you there. Service Advisor: "If we put 5w30 oil in your car you'll void your warranty". Me: "What are you talking about? My car takes 5w30", S.A. "No it doesnt. Iit takes 5w20". Me: "No it doesnt. Check the oil cap and the owners manual". Guy ends up asking another S.A. who has to check some pamplet to find out.

I thought I read though somewhere that in some States they use 5w20 for Si's though. I know in Canada 5w30 is speced.

 

Honda Corporate anybody? Alot of salesman are morons. I never trust them

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Zesti1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


I thought I read though somewhere that in some States they use 5w20 for Si's though. I know in Canada 5w30 is speced.</TD></TR></TABLE>

US spec Si's take 5w30 just as stated on oil cap and in the owners manual as you mentioned.

 

You know, I wonder if they would do that to stock FI cars too? They probably do, and that makes me a sad panda.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TRE_ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

US spec Si's take 5w30 just as stated on oil cap and in the owners manual as you mentioned.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Right on thanks for the clarification. Just thought I read something somewhere about possibly being able to use 5w20 (which I wouldnt personally)

Stupid false facts on the internet!

 

Sure its possible, you could run 80w90 in the thing if you really wanted to... 5w30 is the best choice tho

 

Thank you everyone for the input. Now I don't feel as bad.. since I'm not the only person who got affected. But seriously.. the dealers need to start pumping the right fuel for the corresponding cars.

 

93 here straight from the dealer. they only do it for si's and s2k's

 

Sure it says to use 91 but there is a timing retard already programmed into the engine to prevent any damage from occuring when using lower octane fuels. If your worried about it...add some booster to it. Next fill up though go for something to clean that crap out! If your that into it go to some race track and get there green gas 94.

 

im not even gonna take it in for the first free change im just gonna do it myself !

 

This reminds about a funny story about a kid who bought an STi and was sold on the hard break in so he took it straight out of the dealership and redlined it right away. The motor went boom, and in the process of trying to get it warrantied SOA found out the dealership was putting in 87 in all their cars when the STi absolutely needs AT LEAST 91 if you are going to run it hard. Luckily the kid got a new motor for free and the dealership lost their allotment of STis for the month.

Jon

PS: The dealership I worked for never used anything more than 87 and we never had problems but none of the cars were FI.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zygspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Same here.

Just wait till you go in for your first oil change and they put in 5-20W! </TD></TR></TABLE>

They already ******* did..I went to check why my engine oil burns up so fast and they told me that they needed new oil change from ONLY honda dealer in order to run a test. So I said "go ahead and do it with synthetic." Only to find out that they did it with 5-20W...what a ******* retards!! I might go in and complain about this crap...

 

I just checked the sticker on my windshield and they did it to me too, 5w20 in my Si and I have already put 1000 miles on my oil. I use royal purple or castrol syntec when I can't get the good stuff. Should I go and get it changed asap or will it be ok? I have royal purple in there now and it dosen get very cold hear on the south coast.

 

Did some research on wiki and found this

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Wiki &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Multi-grade motor oil
The temperature range the oil is exposed to in most vehicles can be wide, ranging from cold ambient temperatures in the winter before the vehicle is started up to hot operating temperatures when the vehicle is fully warmed up in hot summer weather. The difference in viscosities for any single-grade oil is too large between the extremes of temperature. To bring the difference in viscosities closer together, special polymer additives called viscosity index improvers are added to the oil. These additives make the oil a multi-grade motor oil. The viscosity of a multi-grade oil still varies logarithmically with temperature, but the slope representing the change is lessened. This slope representing the change with temperature depends on the nature and amount of the additives to the base oil.

The API/SAE designation for multi-grade oils includes two grade numbers; for example, 10W-30 designates a common multi-grade oil. The first number associated with the W is not rated at any single temperature. The "10W" means that this oil can be pumped by your engine as cold as a single-grade 10 weight oil can be pumped. "5W" can be pumped at a lower temperature than "10W". "0W" can be pumped at a lower temperature than "5W", and thins less at temperatures above 99°C (210°F). The second number, 30, means that the viscosity of this multi-grade oil at 100°C (212°F) operating temperature corresponds to the viscosity of a single-grade 30 oil at same temperature. The governing SAE standard is called SAE J300. The motor oil grade and viscosity to be used in a given vehicle is specified by the manufacturer of the vehicle.

Many new vehicles are marked to use 5W20 oil (Honda, Ford and more recently Toyota). Some ultra fuel efficient and hybrid vehicles are marked to use 0W20 oil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_oil

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Basicly it seems that the danger to me is my oil breaking down at high temptures. Given the fact its as cold as it gets round here and I dont beat on my car for extended periods of time I am gonna call it safe enough to wait till I need an oil change before I complain so Ican get a free oil change

If I am wrong please correct me.

 

to dealers they are morons they dont really care if the car breaks down or anything after they have made the sale.

 

That's why there's an owner's manual. Don't listen to ANYTHING dealers say cause half of them are just in it for the money. When's the last time your salesman called you up to wish you a merry christmas or happy birthday or invited you out to the bar for a ???

Exactly......

Find out on your own what's good for the car and what's bad. You'll be better off!

 

The dealer filled me up with 93 here.