The probability of you needing engine warranty repair that is lubrication related is very low, but its not zero. A lot of things in life are about chances.
The manufacture has to have evidence that failure is oil related.
Problem is that you are now involved in a proverbial “pissing contest.” In the case of my friend, we had the burden of argument. This is, mind you, the same dealer that serviced my wife’s Honda and they were honest and did not upsell anything. You can quote Internet forums all you want, but the reality is they have something you want and the best, least aggravating way to get it is to not give them pretense to deny it.
Another quick story: wife now has a fairly new Subaru. Last time it was serviced, before she was going to go on a long trip to see her ailing dad and I couldn’t come, so I checked the car over. Noticed the dealer service sticker said the car was serviced with 0w30. Now the manual and the oil cap say 0w20. I was not alarmed at all, because the chances of this causing an issue are the same as Santa sliding down the chimney on Christmas Eve. But I was curious so I called the dealer and spoke to the service advisor. He sounded nervous and said he would call me back. Service manager calls me back and says bring the car in so they can put in the 0w20. I say thanks but no thank you that’s a waste of my time and their oil. He says he wants to check something else and will call me back. Calls me back in a few minutes and says he checked the service records and their record shows 0w20 was used. Sure enough, I check the receipt my wife received and it says 0w20. He said sometimes the stickers are printed incorrectly. No big deal I say, thanks for checking.
Now those of you who had cars serviced at a dealer know how hard it is to get a hold of a service advisor, never mind having the service manager call you twice in a 30 minute span. Based on this experience, does anyone think that the manufacturers aren’t checking what the dealers use? Or are these guys just really nice? Or perhaps I just have such a terrific personality that they like talking to me? Perhaps, I am pretty charming. Much more likely is that the manufacturers are looking as part of some sort of oversight for warranty or just general customer satisfaction. Now to be clear, do I think that 0w30 would cause damage? Absolutely not. Probably a better choice but irrelevant to the lifespan of the overall car. But my sense is that this experience is in accord with the Honda dealer experience, and if you show up looking for thousands of dollars in warranty work - I think the cost of the ring job required to fix the VCM related failure was most certainly a factor in their posture - and the service invoices do not show you have done what the owners manual says to do - irrespective of how it is phrased - you are courting needless aggravation. Life has enough unavoidable aggravation so I try to limit the needless. And none of this means dealer service is required, but the manual should be followed. And once it is out of warranty do what you like. But again, not following the manual and then telling the advisor that you read differently on an Internet forum is not a sound strategy.
Really just trying to help people avoid aggravation here. If the poster above still disagrees, that is fine. This is the last comment I will make, but people always make the “proof” point and it may be correct but also somewhat irrelevant in reality.
