My personal experience has been NEVER TRUST WHAT THE DEALER SAYS! It's hard to avoid the stink of BS that oozes out of their mouths every time they drop their jaw to speak.

Yeah, 12k does sound pretty soon for service, but if you checked your manual and it says to go with that, then I'd go with that. However, I don't see how letting it go for only 26k could lead to a malfunctioning speedo!? In most cars, the speedo is a gear driven device and shouldn't really matter too much how clean or dirty your fluid is. I would get a second opinion.

What was the stealer's excuse for the other lights on the dash? Didn't fill 'er up with 91 octane? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Synthetics are good for old cars and if you're expecting to own the car you have for the better portion of your life. On a new car, I don't think it'd make that much of a difference... not one that you'd notice for another 100k miles anyways. I use all synthetics, but I've got an '89 with almost 150k miles on it. I don't even know if it makes a difference on my truck, it's more insurance and a confidence builder to me. Go with synthetics if you can afford it, go with the other specified lubricant if you can't. Follow maintanance mileages and deadlines. You'll be a happy camper 100k miles down the road. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />