I think what people are having trouble reconciling is what exactly you’re upset about. How did you plan before? The window sticker giving you the date/mileage of your last oil change? That’s how most people plan it, and that sticker always tells you to take it to whereever you got the oil change last.
The manual tells you things like “change the oil every 3k at your (marque)-authorized dealer service center,” so that’s really enforcing the dealer/customer relationship while at the same time being inaccurate because they have to assume that everyone’s car experiences the worst-case-scenario conditions and therefore they bring everyone in for an oil change every 3k miles whether the car needs it or not.
The only thing that’s changed is that the car monitors the actual conditions it’s being operated under, and tells you to bring it in only when it’s actually necessary and not thousands of miles early.
I don’t know yet on this one but on past Acuras, when you hit the higher level maintenance minders, the dealer had to plug in the computer to reset them. You couldn’t reset the computer yourself like in an oil change. So I just waited until I was in there for something else and asked them to reset it. But really what’s the point if the minder doesn’t know when the service was done?
I still find it hard to believe that the maintenance minder knows the real condition of my oil, can determine the condition of the transmission fluid, and the transfer case fluid, and the differential fluid, and so on. The answer is it really can’t unless it is monitoring how often the front wheels spin and the rear differential engages. Maybe its that sophisticated but I doubt it. Does the maintenance minder know the condition of my air filter? Naw.
I don’t mind the thing as a comparison or a reminder to people that never open their hood, but let’s be a little realistic on what they actually are measuring. For a few hundred dollars of maybe extra services, I’ll continue on.
Honda has been using this maintenance computer for 12 years, I don’t think it can be called “new” anymore. Vehicle owners prefer less maintenance over planned maintenance so I believe it is here to stay.
Maybe there’s a work-a-round. If OP can determine what % of the usage before maintenance is due by pressing a button, OP could keep track of the mileage and get a recommended mileage between service estimate that way. Say 1,000 miles had gone by since the last oil change, and the button method reported the oil is at 20% of the usage, that’d yield an estimate of 5,000 miles between recommended oil services.
OP here. I missed a lot since I made the original post!
I notice me and another poster both have a big T for an avatar.
I can understand the explanation that there is software that determines when an oil change is needed based on usage.
I guess my main beef then is that they didn’t really explain all of this in the manual. If they had taken the time to describe a dynamic system, I would have been satisfied or even impressed. Yet they spent 47 pages on the smart phone stuff.
I did check the onscreen menu tonight and found a maintenance screen that says I have 90% on my oil, which makes sense as it was changed by the dealer a month ago. I will keep an eye on this and act accordingly - i.e. change my own when the time comes. The only other thing it says is tire rotation and it’s not set up with any input so there is no % left.
I still think stuff like lubrication or anything that’s not dynamic like the oil and tires should be in the manual. JMHO
Nobody “told you what to do”. I was refuting the ridiculous assertion that somehow you’re being forced into a relationship with the dealer that you do not want. I gave a step by step comparison to illustrate it’s no different.
If you don’t like it, don’t read it and don’t respond. That’s your choice. Last I checked, this is a discussion board and I’ll respond to any posts I choose as I see fit. You’re not going to bully your way into stopping me from responding to what I see as a ridiculous conspiracy theories. Your approach seems to be to complain about someone who challenges your ideas rather than engage in meaningful discussion. If all you want is to state your opinions and not have people challenge them, then this is probably the wrong venue for you…
The information you’re looking for starts on page 353. The code chart is on page 359.
BTW, the oil is dynamic. If your car spends most of its life cruising down the highway, it’s going to be a lot easier on the oil and everything else than if your car spends most of its life starting and stopping in city traffic and only doing 2 mile trips at a time before you turn it off again
I don’t think those who like maintenance schedules vs. those who are OK with the computer maintenance prompts are going to change their minds today. No need to ding the other side.
Old thread but I was reading my user manual for when to change my brake fluid and could not find this info in the manual.
My user manual is pretty useless. It does not have any maintenance interval info or what needs to be done at a certain mileage. Nothing of that sort.
Yet, the book is very thick of useless info I could care less about.
The last time I changed the brake fluid was at 42k miles in 2022 for $195. The car is currently at 66k miles. So should I change the brake fluid at my next scheduled appointment ( 70k miles ) ?
Some manufactures list the maintenance schedule in a separate book. For Toyota and Lexus, the maintenance schedule in in the Warranty and Services Guide, example below. Owner’s manual on the left, maintenance guide on the right.
Service data-bases often have this sort of information. Requires a personal-subscription (i.e. you have to pay fee). Some of the public libraries in my area provide access to some of these data-bases for patrons.
I replace brake fluid in my vehicles every 30K miles or 5 years, if that is of any help. I think 5 years may be a little too long, based on its dark-ish appearance.
@Clueless33 By reviving this old thread ( which you should have started your own ) if someone does read most of it they will get an impression of a past member of this forum that is wrong.
Mr. Mountainbike was a really good guy and this was about the time his health problems were starting effect his life. The posts in this thread are not the way he should be remembered.
