Thanks for the advice.

 

well....depending on how much it would cost to get everything repaired would sway my choice either way.Don't think your insurance would go up for that type of accident also...not sure.It's not like it happened because you are a careless driver.just one of those things you couldn't avoid,it was raining and you couldn't see the puddle...

 

Possibly more bad news, if you are saying your car just had it's first oil change with 1,900 miles on the odometer total then it may be too soon. I don't think it has changed from generation to generation, so as far as I know Honda says not to change out the factory oil for around 5,000 miles. Supposedly there is an additive in the factory fill oil which helps the rings on the pistons to seat properly. I may be off on the terminology, if thats the case I'm sure someone will correct me. In any event good luck.

 

I was just about to post this as well

 

what oil did you put in?

and regarding your accident, most reputable bodyshops will give free estimates. Go get one and weigh up your options. I wouldnt worry about a wheel thoough, you can get those cheap enough on here or ebay.

 

I was under the impression Honda doesn't want us to change our oil until 7500-10,000mi. This is what I think I read. And if you need to before then, you need to use their oil with the additives. Because it helps seal everything up. There has been a lot of talk about this. Anyone know the actual page in the owners manual it talks about this? I will have to go look.

 

It's a myth. It does no harm to change your oil too soon. IMHO, it's better to get the 1st oil change done early anyway to get all the metal particulates, casting sand, etc out of there as soon as possible. There is no magical Honda oil.

As far as the damage to the wheel - you most likley bent the suspension too if you hit hard enough to bend the wheel. Call your insurer and get a claim filed.

Andrew

 

Not so. There has been tons of testing done on the break in oil that honda uses. I think RoadRage covered some of this in the oil journals. Anyhow, the break in oil has a high moly count that helps strengthen the metal parts so they last longer. Also a number of other additives that contribute to longer engine life. Some of the long life oils like valvoline extended performance (or whatever the red bottle is) is known to have similar additives and was recommended to be used as a first oil change oil. You won't do any damage if you change it early, but your car will be as strong as it could be.

If you plan on selling your car before 90k miles, I guess you would never know the difference though I'm sure the seals and the tollerances wouldn't be as good as a car that was broken in properly.

 

Dino oil breaks down fairly quickly compared to Synthetic oil. I would personally change off of the "break-in" oil after 3500 miles or 6 months, whichever is sooner.

However, since the S2000 engine seems to need about 10,000 miles to fully break in, I would not switch to synthetic until at least 10,000 miles and I would also add a quart of Valvoline Maxlife which has been noted in the oil journals to have a similar moly count as the Honda break-in oil.

 

Well is time a factor? Suppose you drove very little and only put 3,000 miles on your car in a year. Would you then change the oil at a time interval? If so when is it?