Increasingly the mfg’rs are building service reminders into the car’s electronics. The lack of preventive maintenance info in the owner’s manual is an issue. Dealer’s routinely recommend excessive services, and without a maintenance schedule in a manual owner’s have less information to differentiate a needed service from a bogus dealer upsell service.
My latest car is an '04 so I haven’t encountered this issue personally but if I were to buy a new car I’d make an effort to find a maintenance schedule for it. The manufacturer should publish a schedule on line at the very least.
This is a consumer beware situation which will further erode customers trust of dealer recommended services. Automotive writers and experts like “Click and Clack” need to speak out on this issue to protect auto buying consumers.