Own a 2017 Honda Civic Ex-T. Local Honda service says I need to come in to the shop every 5k miles

[busydude]

My maintenance minder feature in my car and my owner's manual disagree.

I went in for my first oil change after 8.3k miles when my maintenance minder warned me about the oil life and the mechanic said I need to bring it in every 5k miles. I am getting close to 13k miles and am not sure I want to stick to the 5k maintenance cycle or just follow what my car says.

 

[postmortemIA]

Dealer would like you to come every day... if your MM has % of oil life left, then go when it is about 20%.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I don't trust the maintenance minders. Seen 'em pull too many weird numbers.

I'd also be rotating your tires every 5-6k miles anyway. Why not get an oil change when you do that?

Although if you're doing maintenance at a dealer, you're just asking to get overcharged for simple crap.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Ford has an owners website with coupons. I pay $39.95 + tax/fees - About $43 for a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation, and 20 point inspection check.

I'd be a fool to do it myself for that price!

Every 5-6K miles. No chance I'm going 8K miles with a turbo engine between oil changes.

I'm sure Honda has something similar for under $50.

 

[boomerang]

My maintenance minder feature in my car and my owner's manual disagree.

If the company that is providing your warranty wants you to follow the service schedule in the manual that's what I'd be doing.

 

[Meghan54]

My maintenance minder feature in my car and my owner's manual disagree.

I went in for my first oil change after 8.3k miles when my maintenance minder warned me about the oil life and the mechanic said I need to bring it in every 5k miles. I am getting close to 13k miles and am not sure I want to stick to the 5k maintenance cycle or just follow what my car says.

From what I gleaned from your owner's manual, it says only to follow the maintenance minder. Gives no "severe service" alternative for your oil changes. Does for both the engine and cabin air filters, but not oil.

Since you're under warranty, just do what the owner's manual states to do....that's the standard under which you keep your warranty intact.....not what the dealer suggests.

 

[NutBucket]

I assume it specs synthetic oil? IMHO 8k is fine for that.

 

[Zor Prime]

I tend to follow the maintenance minder for oil changes, but if you have a CVT and I imagine you do if you want it to last the life of the car I'd recommend changing its fluid every 2 and 3 oil changes back and forth at a minimum. I've seen several posts of other Honda CVT rides and people are like my CVT stopped working I have 80k miles what's up with that? Come to find out it only ever got changed once if that. Doh.

If I don't follow the minder I go with 10k mile intervals on Mobil 1. Been doing that over a decade now, zero issues. Primarily highway miles, I'd be prone to revise that if I did a lot of city driving.

 

[JeffMD]

It also depends on where you live. I have a mazda in florida and it is considered a harsh environment zone, so my warranty ask for 5k miles per oil change.

 

[dud]

My maintenance minder feature in my car and my owner's manual disagree.

I went in for my first oil change after 8.3k miles when my maintenance minder warned me about the oil life and the mechanic said I need to bring it in every 5k miles. I am getting close to 13k miles and am not sure I want to stick to the 5k maintenance cycle or just follow what my car says.

The wife has a 2007 Civic. It's been to the dealer 3 times during that time. Two visits were for free oil changes. The third was for warranty (airbag) replacement. During the warranty visit the service manager reported that the water pump was beginning to fail and needed replacement. The quote? $650. I checked the parts desk and they were charging $165 for the WP. I suppose that $500 was for labor. I bought the exact same WP on ebay for $35 and $17 for genuine Honda coolant. I replaced the WP, coolant, thermostat and hoses for $99 and 4 hours of my time.

Yes, the stealership would like you to visit as often as possible AND they would like you to spend lots of money on service. The margins on certain car models are quite thin ... they try to make it up gouging you for services, mostly services that are not necessary at shorter intervals.

 

[thilanliyan]

nm

 

[JeffMD]

I replaced the WP, coolant, thermostat and hoses for $99 and 4 hours of my time.

Yes, the stealership would like you to visit as often as possible AND they would like you to spend lots of money on service. The margins on certain car models are quite thin ... they try to make it up gouging you for services, mostly services that are not necessary at shorter intervals.

yes, because the average joe can replace a water pump. /facepalm

$500 for 4 hours of work is about average at a garage. No ones ripping anyone off, you needed a water pump, you were able to install it yourself. grats. You saved yourself labor fees.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

yes, because the average joe can replace a water pump. /facepalm

The average joe can replace the water pump in most cars*, with the right tools, good directions, and a little more confidence than is generally advisable. It's not brain surgery.

*every now and then you see a design where it's just kinda... like... wtf?

Being able to pay other people to do work for you is a luxury. It's nice to have the choice.

 

[mindless1]

yes, because the average joe can replace a water pump. /facepalm

$500 for 4 hours of work is about average at a garage. No ones ripping anyone off, you needed a water pump, you were able to install it yourself. grats. You saved yourself labor fees.

You saved yourself vehicle downtime, the inconvenience of finding alternate transportation including a ride from and to the dealership unless they provide a loaner. There's also the inconvenience of unloading anything valuable from your vehicle and reloading later.

You might have to pay to tow it there and wait even longer if their schedule isn't open to get yours done right away, and they may not have the part in stock. Many shops overbook for a smooth interruption free workload, so there are many reasons it could take a while.

You may have saved yourself time. Many people would experience more interruption in their life to take it somewhere, drop it off, wait, and go get it, than just DIY. Most water pumps don't take 4 hours, not even if that's the billable shop rate, and that's DIY while a shop mechanic experienced at that model, will be able to do it in even less time. Is it a ripoff to be billed for more hours that it took? "Maybe".

You can choose to Do It Right. The typical mechanic at a dealership is primarily interested in conversion rate, getting it done quickest way possible. They may screw something else up in the process, then you have the fun of trying to prove that and either way, hopefully you notice before leaving the shop or you're headed into round two of the repair process.

You can buy a part with a lifetime warranty, which the dealerships seldom offer, and which usually only costs half as much.

If paying multiple times as much for a worse situation is appealing, have at it.

 

[Torn Mind]

yes, because the average joe can replace a water pump. /facepalm

$500 for 4 hours of work is about average at a garage. No ones ripping anyone off, you needed a water pump, you were able to install it yourself. grats. You saved yourself labor fees.

Dealership pricing always comes at a premium. Both for parts and labor. An ACDelco Professional line part or similarly priced competitor will provide essentially OEM matching specs for less most of the time.

Those who use Slickdeals pretty much know it is a ritual every half year that Mobil and Pennzoil run respective rebate promos every half a year that results in synthetic oil costing only 11-15 dollars after rebate.

 

[dud]

yes, because the average joe can replace a water pump. /facepalm

You are obviously not the "average" Joe. Many of us have become too dependent upon others and have lost the will or ability to be self sufficient. We pay others to do what we can/could do ourselves. Read the last three posts ... people can do things they never thought they could do because they TRIED and DID.

 

[Torn Mind]

You are obviously not the "average" Joe. Many of us have become too dependent upon others and have lost the will or ability to be self sufficient. We pay others to do what we can/could do ourselves. Read the last three posts ... people can do things they never thought they could do because they TRIED and DID.

I haven't changed a water pump, just letting people know that one should NEVER let the mechanic ever source the part. There is always a markup or unneeded expense somewhere.

There are certain environs where DIY is not worth doing, such densely packed urban environments where it is too dangerous like street parking, condos and HOAs that prohibit such things, or the ground cannot support jacking up a vehicle. But it is still valuable to self-diagnose problems so one doesn't pay for unnecessary repairs. There is a lot more content now thanks to the internet, but even in the old days, there were repair books like the Haynes manual.

 

[JeffMD]

I haven't changed a water pump, just letting people know that one should NEVER let the mechanic ever source the part. There is always a markup or unneeded expense somewhere.

The markup is usually considered as part of the warranty fee. I know of no mechanic who will install a part you hand him and then guarantee it for 1-3 years.

And while I am all for taking a shot at repairing or replacing parts of my car to save a buck, I know that if something like a water pump fails today and I NEED my car for work tomorrow morning at 6am, there aint no way in hell I am going to try and repair it myself in that time frame if I had never done it before.

 

[Torn Mind]

The markup is usually considered as part of the warranty fee. I know of no mechanic who will install a part you hand him and then guarantee it for 1-3 years.

And while I am all for taking a shot at repairing or replacing parts of my car to save a buck, I know that if something like a water pump fails today and I NEED my car for work tomorrow morning at 6am, there aint no way in hell I am going to try and repair it myself in that time frame if I had never done it before.

No, it's to make sure that they avoid junk level of parts like $10 brakes, but at the maximum charge possible. Situations like being trapped because they let the battery die and they try to force a $300 new alternator down your throat even though the old one is still good and then the old altnerator proceeds to function without issue for another four to five years. Mechanics want happy customers, but not without taking as large of a cut as they can exploit, especially on those ignorant of cars.

But that's when you're asking the mechanic to buy a part and perform service. People can also buy parts from the dealership to install themselves, and the markup is enormous. A postive battery terminal for Toyota costs about $30 while the China direct Ebay seller charges about $5. Toyota brakes cost $90 for mere OEM quality while the supplier of Toyota's sells their OEM equivalent at $40 while premium brakes like Red Stuff costs $70-$80.

Also, I doubt a garage is so underbooked that you'll get emergency priority before someone else. If your car breaks down during afternoon rush hour or after, you're generally stuck having to do the repair yourself or flipping through the phone book for a mobile mechanic who works emergency hours because the shops are closed. You might need to travel to Advance Auto Parts anyway to get the part in case they don't have it.