When should I get my car serviced?
I have a 2018 Honda Fit. It’s generally due for service every 7,500 Miles but there’s a hiccup for me. I take a train to work and assuming I don’t ride my bike at any point I only put about 30 miles a week on it tops.
I assume there’s a certain amount of time that passes where I should bring it in regardless of mileage? I’m not sure because I grew up with 3,000 miles or 3 months which isn’t a thing anymore I guess.
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I don't think that's going to get him to 7,500, though. I think six months is the general recommendation for newer cars.
Edit: If you have bad winters, starting it every day to keep the battery charged seems like good advice outside of under the hood maintenance issues.
Use that for things like brakes, filters, etc. Oil changes, I’d just check the level every month or so and otherwise just take it in at 7500.
But yeah, drive more! Enjoy the car, take a trip somewhere on the weekend.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
You do want to come up with excuses to drive it at least a little bit regularly since that helps keep the fluids circulating, battery charged, etc. etc.
You do want to take it in longer trips every so often - nothing crazy, maybe a half hour once every couple weeks. Getting the engine up to full operating temperature for an extended time is important for longevity. One of the things they covered in my engine design class was how moisture condenses inside an engine after it cools. Simulating a winter's worth of short drives without letting the engine warm up resulted in over a quart of water sitting in the bottom of the oil pan!
You can't give someone a pirate ship in one game, and then take it back in the next game. It's rude.
@joshgotro an oil change every 3000 miles on a 2004 Odyssey is WAY too much. At least double the frequency you could possibly actually need on a car like that. You're just pissing money into the wind.
EDIT: I forgot, you can just buy a cheap "battery conditioner" (trickle charger) and park your car up for months at a time if you want with zero ill-effect.
Some maintenance tips:
a) You definitely don't need to go in more often than every 6 months. If your local Honda dealer tries to pressure you into coming in more often, be wary of that service department. A good Honda dealer sticks with the 6 month recommendation for their newer models.
b) Check your warranty and see if it stipulates any particular service schedule. If so, go with that until the warranty's out. If not, Honda will likely recommend you do Maintenance Minder A at 6 months and B at the year mark, but you might not need to do everything from the (kinda pricey) Minder B... especially since your car is new and you're not putting a lot of mileage on it. See:
c) Newer Fits are rather communicative about their needs. Check your manual and see what kinds of things your car will warn you about (needing an oil change is definitely one of them!). That way when you take it in for service and they recommend doing something, you'll know if it's on the list of things your car will tell you about and can say, "No thanks, I'll wait for the Fit to tell me it needs it."
Have fun! Google Maps interfaces brilliantly with the fancy schmancy panel, so plug your phone in and let the GPS take you somewhere cool sometimes.