Hi, my daughters 2009 Honda Accord is a few hundred miles over the scheduled oil change maintenance. We are getting the oil changed this evening, but she is telling me now that her oil light is "blinking flashing red" and she has never seen this before. She is about 20 miles from home and will have the oil changed this evening.

Should we be worried about driving it this last 20-25 miles before the oil change now?

Thanks,

 

If you are talking about the maintenance minder, In a word "no", but if it was me, I would check the oil level first before driving it again. If the oil level is between the lines on the dipstick, then it is fine to drive it to get it changed. If it is the oilcan symbol that is lighting up, that means low oil pressure, and in that case "yes" it would be a problem to drive it 20 miles. I would try to change it in place. If the oil is just too low on the dip stick, I would send someone to get a quart or two of oil and add it first, and then drive it to get the oil changed (even though you put in some fresh oil). You should know that almost all car manufacturing companies have gone to longer oil change intervals than are healthy for engines. The faster the engine wears out, after all, so long as it is after the warranty is up, the better for the car companies, because then you have to buy a new car. If you watch experienced mechanic guys like Scotty Kilmer (mechanic for almost 50 years) and Ericthecarguy, and Humble Mechanic on YouTube, you will find that they recommend changing your oil, yourself (so it is not a self serving advice), and use conventional oil, every 3000-4000 miles, unless your car has a turbo or you live in the far north (Alaska) in which case they recommend synthetic. I have a 2007 honda accord and it automatically recommends a 7,000 mile oil change interval, so I have started changing mine when the oil life indicator gets to 50%, and then again at 0%. I use Castrol GTX 5w-20 conventional oil. Of course synthetic is okay to use but it is more expensive and even if you use it you should change it the same as if you used conventional. Oil picks up contamination from the engine from blow by of the rings, and wear of the metal, and heat degradation. Synthetic oil is just as susceptible to this contamination as conventional oil.

 

It's true that manufacterers are recommending longer durations but also oil is a lot better than in previous past. Honda even has a fully synthetic and semi synthetic engine oil which it didn't used to have