first time in a looooong time i've seen oil that dark. MM was at 30% wednesday and changed to 20% somewhere between then and this morning. on my '13 civic si i did my first oil change at 2500 and break in oil was translucent and every subsequent oil change after that was translucent and not dark. each oil change after the first was 9-10k miles plus. yeah, one of my oil changes was at 15% with over 10,000 miles on it. i've always changed the break in oil early on all my new vehicles but decided to follow the MM and tech's advice in here and wait til it was closer to the 5-15% mark. well, i did at 20% and kind of regret it. i know that oil that dark doesn't mean anything bad short or long term, but it was disappointing to see. on that note, i would recommend changing oil before 5k mark. my gas mileage and acceleration were going downhill quick at ~30%. i know it's winter gas time but the break in oil started breaking down real quick. i put my usual 0w-20 valvoline full synthetic and i felt like i gained 15hp, better accel of course and better shifting though oil change should have nothing to do with that. many of you will probably disagree, but after what i saw today, next new car i go back to the 2500 mile first oil change and feel better about it personally. if you disagree, that's fine. to each their own. i just don't like seeing my oil that dark. my valvoline starts out vaseline colored but very clear when i pour it in, and i follow the maintenance minder, and it's come back out a reddish brown slightly translucent, meaning i could still see through it very well.