I have a 2019 Honda Accord purchased new 24 months a go. My mileage is 1,478. My gauge state that oil maintenance is due. With little mileage is this accurate?
Probably it is . If you will look in the least read book in the world ( Vehicle Owners manual ) you will see that service is done by XXXX number of miles and XX number of months . I really hope you have not gone 24 months without an oil and filter change .
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Most makers will say go by the oil life monitor OR once a year whichever comes first . If it has been 2 years you have technically voided your engine warranty most likely .
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I am going to slightly revise your otherwise-accurate statement to read as follows:
ā¦ you will see that service is done by XXXX number of miles OR XX number of monthsāwhichever comes first.
For reasons that I will probably never understand, a LOT of people focus only on the odometer mileage factor and donāt seem to comprehend the verbiage of āwhichever comes firstā.
+1
While I hope for the OPās sake that he hasnāt voided the warranty, to the best of my knowledge every car manufacturer states that the oil has to be changedāat a minimumāonce every 12 months. After the warranty has ended, a car owner can do whatever he wants, but during the warranty period it is necessary to adhere to the manufacturerās standards for maintenance.
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The type of driving you are doing is the absolute worst that can be done. A 60 miles a month average and not changing the oil in 2 years can lead to oil sludging or coking problems.
With your type of driving I would want the oil changed every 6 months because the oil is never getting warmed up to operating temperature and quite likely not burning off any accumulated moisture.
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the oil is too old even though you did not drive your car so much
Would be helpful if the OP told us if itās one 60 mile drive per month or a 2 mile drive per day (or whatever).
If itās the former then 2 years is not such a disaster.
To maintain my Toyota warranty oil has to be changed every year, no matter the mileage.
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The manual calls for a service after one year, regardless of the mileage, has been the case for Hondaās since at least my dadās 2007 CRV which went in for an oil change once a year which amounted to every 4-5 thousand miles. Dad only drove 10mi a day a few days a week and used our Prius around town most of the time.
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The oil life monitor measures a number of things, plugs those measurements into a computer program, and decides when you need an oil change. The program was designed by Honda engineers that have been studying the issue of when to change the oil for decades. I think you can believe them, and you need to change the oil now. Total mileage is not the only thing that matters.
Your extremely short drives are a component too. Actually, I suggest that you take your car out for at least a half hour of continuous driving once every other week if you donāt already. This will warm up the engine and clear out moisture. It also keeps the battery charged.
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Honda no longer uses a recommended maintenance time/mileage schedule. The customerās only guidance is to use the vehicleās maintenance minder system.
While two years does feel like a long time to me, is there any evidence that r.terryfurst isnāt following Hondaās recommended oil change intervals?
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Again, an unfounded assumption.
OP didnāt say they drive daily. It could be longer but infrequent trips.
OP hasnāt come back to say anything.
However, I agree once a year oil change would be the prudent thing to do.
I would think dealer would have sent you a few (2) emails inquiring about missed service.
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I get all kinds of emails from my dealer encouraging me to come in for service, they have little to do with my actual service needs.
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"Maintenance Minder TM
If the engine oil life is less than 15%, you will see the Maintenance Minder messages
appear on the driver information interface every time you set the power mode to
ON. The messages notify you when to change the engine oil, or when to bring your
vehicle to a dealer for indicated maintenance services."
"U.S. models
CODE Maintenance Main Items
A ā Replace engine oil1*
B ā Replace engine oil1 and oil filter*
ā Inspect front and rear brakes
ā Inspect tie rod ends, steering gearbox, and boots
ā Inspect suspension components
ā Inspect driveshaft boots
ā Inspect brake hoses and lines (Including ABS/VSAĀ®)
ā Inspect all fluid levels and condition of fluids
ā Inspect exhaust system#
ā Inspect fuel lines and connections#
(fine print below Maintenance Main Items)
*1: If a Maintenance Minder message does not appear more than 12 months after the display is reset, change the engine oil every year.
# : See information on maintenance and emissions warranty in the first column on page 709.
*2: If you drive in dusty conditions, replace the air cleaner element every 15,000 miles (24,000 km).
**3: If you drive primarily in urban areas that have high concentrations of soot in the air from industry and *
from diesel-powered vehicles, replace the dust and pollen filter every 15,000 miles (24,000 km)."
Note that on page 611 of a 727 page 2019 Honda Accord Owner Manual, literally in fine print, it says:
ā1: If a Maintenance Minder message does not appear more than 12 months after the display is reset, change the engine oil every year.ā
I can see how this would be overlooked and I can see how somebody would become reliant on the Maintenance Minder.
It seems that Honda should be able to program the time passage into the Message Minder.
To use a mix of electronics and printed materials (with literally fine print below), both, to advise somebody of maintenance intervals is confusing. In my opinion the Manufacturer should choose either electronic OR written material, not a mix of two.
When one relies on a GPS navigation system they shouldnāt have to check a paper map to see if they missed anything. The electronics replaces the paper.
Also, the sales department at the dealership owes a car buyer an admonition that this system given to the owner is confusing.
I really donāt believe any/much harm has befallen this vehicle. For peace of mind, an oil sample could be collected at oil change time and sent off to Blackstone Labs (in a bottle provided gratis from the lab) for analysis, to be sure everything is okay.
CSA
Person buys new Honda.
Dealer sends emails asking if service is needed.
Itās been 2 years.
No dealer record of any service.
Ignore emails.
Ah, thatās it. Ask website for opinion.
Iād rely on the owners manual, which says change the oil at least once a year. Iāve gotten lots of bogus recommendations from dealers. A friend showed me their owners manual and the āservice recommendationsā manual printed by their Honda dealer. The dealer recommended much more frequent services than the owners manual. Iād go with the owners manual.
Itās an astrisk in the owners manual but basically says even if the minder hasnāt said itās time to change the oil, do if itās been 12mo since the last oil change. Itās been this way since at least 2007 because Dadās CRV had the same language in the manual.
Honda uses a break in oil that they tell you to leave it alone until the minder turns the light on but our dealer was a little shocked that it took almost 2yrs and about 9,000 miles for the computer to call for an oil change. Went to an annual change after that.
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there must be a software update dealers were begging Honda to implement to close this gap and make reminders to pop up like a clock-work 
on my 2020 Accord it seems that %% were dropping off with it sitting motionless for weeks at a time when pandemic started and did not drive much if at all
Dadās 2019 CR-V uses a more conservative version of the software as part of Hondaās efforts to curb the oil dilution issues, itās worth the $65 or so for an oil change just for piece of mind. Dadās been staying home except for 1-2 supply runs into town a week so hasnāt been piling on the miles except for a few day trips to the mountains.