o8EXLCoupe

i just recently went past the 5k mark on my 08' and did the oil change and filter cleaning myself, but it made me curious because the "oil life" meter on the dash read 50% at the time and owners manual stated no oil change was needed until 15% or the Maintenance Minder identified it was time for service....

so i called a few local dealers and of course, all suggested bringing the car in every 5k. they all read the same recommendations off to me... every 5k. first 5k miles is an oil and filter change. 10k is a minor service. 15k is an oil/filter change. 20k is a minor service. 25k is an oil/filter change. 30k is a medium service... and so on and so forth. supposedly the service intervals in the above follow the Maintenance Minder preset in the car's computer, i.e., the 10k service intervals and service recommendations...

only difference between the dealer and the Maintenance Minder is the 5k stop between each 10k for an oil change, which makes sense (actually, i couldn't believe Honda factory is only saying every 10k for oil...!)

just curious what you all have been doing, and what point you're at with your cars, and what the Minder has read off at your point.

Smitdog

I would suggest following the 5k service. The oil life will go a while, more with highway miles on the car. You do not want to oil to go past 5k. Clean oil is always better for any motor. I tell customers to go by mileage and not the Oil life.

MustangLX6.0

Best thing to do is follow the maintance minder system, It bases your oil changes off of your driving style. Changing anything before the system says is IMO a waste of money. The engines of todays cars and way more efficent that the engines of old and do not need an oil change every 3k. So save your money and just follow what the maintance minder system says

GoLowDrew

I like to believe there are improvements in oil and how the engine uses oil.

No proof, but I feel that the "new" maintenance schedule will cause the engine to wear out faster. What good is it for Toyota or Honda when customers run 250K+ on their cars and it's still a champ? Will they buy new cars? No.

You might say "if Honda and Toyota make their engines less reliable, then people will not buy their products?"

True up to a certain point. If my Honda runs perfect from day one to 100K, I would buy it again. I would tell everyone about it. AAA+++ So I buy another new Honda. Honda makes money again. I'm happy. Honda's happy too.

If I buy that same car used (2nd owner), and it falls apart at 150K, I don't blame Honda. I blame the previous owner for lack of maintenance or abuse. "Maybe I should have choose a better used car instead????" Honda does not make any money in the used car world.

Again, no proof. I think today's cars are designed and maintained up to XXXK miles, before it's time to replace them.

Do I change my oil at 3K miles? No. I do it at about 4K-5K miles. As much as I like to say I'm keeping a car forever, my history have shown that I have not kept it past 120K. So how did my old cars held up? No idea. But my current cars are great.

o8EXLCoupe

i agree with your comments to a point...

another thing was the recommended interval for tire rotations at 10k. if i didnt care about the OEM Michelin's then i'd be a little more concerned, but the next set i get will 90% be from Discount Tire with free rotations & balancing every 6k.

the Service Tech gave me a list of all checks performed at the minor, intermediate, and major service intervals and what their recommended interval was, compared to the Maintenance Minder... i'll post when i have time the next few days...

but back on topic, i think im just going to play it by ear as it goes. i'll do the oil myself every 4-5k along with periodic checking of any other fluids & filters and the rest i'll see as they come up.

GoLowDrew

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by o8EXLCoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
another thing was the recommended interval for tire rotations at 10k. if i didnt care about the OEM Michelin's then i'd be a little more concerned, but the next set i get will 90% be from Discount Tire with free rotations & balancing every 6k.

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Speaking of tire rotations, I noticed on my 06 Accord the threads on the lug nuts are "weaker" than in past Hondas. I had three Civics prior since 1988, and done XX?? tire rotations myself. The threads were like new, and I didn't even have a torque wrench until a decade later.

On my 06, I feel like the threads are being stripped a bit with each rotation. And I'm not that strong on it.

Which goes with my posts above. Cars are engineered to satisfied the first customer. IMO, cars from the mid 90s were designed to be their best. I did not noticed cost cutting until the late 90s. Now it's more and more cost cutting.