Why Does Honda Say Canadians Should Always Use Severe Service Maint Schedule ?

I was looking up some service interval information for my '03 Honda Accord
today and noticed that Honda says for US customers to use the normal service
schedule unless certain conditions are met (frequent short trips, etc. etc.)
but that Canadians should always use the severe service interval schedule.
This correlates to oil changes every 7,500 miles for US residents but every
3,750 for Canadians?

This is rather peculiar to me. Ontario is by far the most populated province
of Canada and it's climate is largely similar to that of Michigan, Upstate
New York, Vermonth, New Hampshire and Maine. Prevailing weather conditions
are not enough to explain Honda's doings.

Does this have something to do with different fuel formulations in Canada,
or is it more evidence of things other than good engineering being behind
Honda's recommendations?

John

 

They want to sell you some $28.95 oil changes at the dealer.

 

John, You've brought up a very good point. It seems to be a 'blanket
statement' that's just not true for all users. Victoria, British
Columbia certainly doesn't have the same climate as Edmonton.

And a person in Edmonton who always parks in a heated parkade and a
semi-heated garage will have WAY less wear and tear than a guy in the
interior of BC who climbs mountains with his Accord, and parks it
outside, unplugged.

The guy who lives 2 blocks from the on-ramp of the 401 freeway will beat
the heck out of his engine compared to the guy who slowly drives six
kilometers to the highway and then drives a half-hour to work at a
leisurely 100 km / hour. (me)

The manual is pretty good at explaining what 'severe' is defined by, but
to lump all Canadians into the category is just DUMB, so it's up to each
of us to figure out where we stand. . . .

I won't even touch the financial reasons why Honda Canada may have said
that.

'Curly'

 

My DEALER in Buffalo NY advised me to follow to "severe", so when I
asked he said it was their call, due to climate. I can live with
that, I guess.

PS--the manula notes "sever" if you drive with a roof race--I have a
bike race on my car, is this what they mean?

 

I live in Northern Vermont, and my dealer insists that the "severe"
schedule is what must be followed, based on Honda America, since we're
so close to Canada. What I really want to know is - what do they do in
British Columbia, where the weather is mild most of the year? Do they
follow the "severe" schedule, too?

 

In B.C., the reason why Severe might be in place is because

1) Not many highways to drive over 60mph.
2) Traffic lights are almost on every street corner
3) It's a hilly environment, depending where you drive.

Adrian

 

7500 miles = 12,000 kms is along way from 5,000 kms oil change
interval in the normal petroleum products. I cannot accept Canadian
driving and weather demands are more than twice that of U.S. Why not
check out what options Amsoil offers (www.lubedealer.com/hiebert)
If your dealer would give you a better oil, they would sing a
different tune.

I live in B.C. and I've never heard of a dealer demanding the "severe"
schedule. I got approval from my Toyota dealer to honor my Amsoil
XL-7500. I've also had an oil analysis done on my Sunfire's 13,000 kms
oil change interval and it came back: "No Action Required, Sample at
Next Service". Naturally I'll be changing it until I get the oil & air
filters and use the 40,000 kms. option product.