When I bought my civic the sales guy told me to bring it in for service every 5000 miles. Once I got home and read the manual, there was no service/mileage grid to tell you when the service should be performed…it says to just let the car tell you what it needs. Meanwhile I still have the dealer telling me the car needs service even though the car hasn’t told me. For example…today the car says I need an ‘A1’ which is an oil/filter change. The dealer says “with over 20k miles you are due for a ‘C’ service.” What’s the deal? I think the dealer is full of it and like the idea of just letting the car tell me when it needs service and what type…who do I listen to?
I can’t believe thet Honda did not make a maintenance chart for your car. Sometimes the chart is in a separate book from the owner’s manual. Perhaps you overlooked it or the dealer conveniently forgot to give it to you.
Keep in mind that the dealer can recommend anything they want in terms of maintenance, and it may or not be based on Honda’s requirements.
You also do not need to go to the dealer. Any good mechanic can do the maintenance. Be sure to keep good records in case you need warranty repairs.
Congratulations on reading the manual! Wish more owners would take the time to do that.
The dealer is recommending services that make money for them. If your car has a computerized maintenance minder, follow what it (and the owner’s manual) tell you and forget the dealer. They are just trying to squeeze a little more profit from you.
Honda has a really good owners website off of theirs that details the schedules. I have an older civic and there is a heavy use and a light use schedule. Heavy calls for an oil change every 3,500 mi and light is a 7,500 interval. My honda holds 3.5 quarts of oil so i change it aroud 4,000 miles. Look at the website it is reallt helpful.
The dealer always recommends more than is really necessary. Just follow the owner’s manual’s instructions. Your new Civic might be sophisticated enough to tell you when it needs serviced.
You can also buy a Chilton or Haynes service/repair manual at an auto parts store for about $10. It will probably have the service schedule.