Hi,
I own a 2016 used Honda Fit. I am not knowledgeable about cars, at all!

I am perplexed about when to perform maintenance. My previous car was an old Honda CRV that just got maintenance based on mileage intervals.


I drive my car 8k miles per year, so oftentimes, I do not need maintenance based on mileage, but based on time. But does the maintenance minder account for time? I couldn't find this info.

For example, the oil life indicator said my oil life was at 75% when I changed the oil a few months ago. But it hadn't been changed in a year. I read that people suggest oil must be changed yearly, if you don't need to change it sooner than that, so I did it although it said the oil life was 75%.

So now it's back to saying 100%, but I just feel confused about other maintenance.

will the MM still tell me when I need other work done on my car even though it just got reset when I got my oil changed? I don't really understand how it works.

can I even rely on the MM to tell me when to get work done if I drive less in a year than it expects?

I recently hit the 45k miles mark, which is usually a time to get maintenance done, but with the MM, they want you to follow it instead of mileage intervals.

I am nervous that by changing the oil too early, I messed up the MM timeline and I won't be getting repairs my car needs because it thinks I already had other work done or it doesn't know how long it's been since I had work done, etc, basically I have no idea how the MM works except that it's supposed to show you a letter code to signify what maintenance to perform.

If anyone can answer my questions, I would be so appreciative.

 

Welcome. The MM has a built-in algorithm which slowly decreases oil life (in a percentage) based on engine metrics (rpm, coolant temp, etc). You drive very few miles compared to average, but you didn't mess up the MM with an oil change, no need to worry.

Since the GK5 runs full synthetic, I don't think you need to change the oil until the MM indicates it, typically at 15% remaining. The recommendation of changing every year is probably related to older oils, which would break down sooner, and not really applicable anymore.

There are some here who take the MM oil percentage down to zero before they will change the oil. This is a personal decision, but I like 15% when the little wrench appears.

There are two levels of MM: A and B. A includes oil change and tire rotation if memory serves. B includes all the other stuff - tranny fluid, coolant, tune-up, etc.

The upshot of all this is that you really can't go too long without changing oil - that's what the MM is for. You can choose which services you want and when you want them, and the MM acts like a nanny if you don't attend to it.

 

The manual calls for an annual oil change if the MM doesn't trigger. I drive 7k miles a year, and my MM triggered once, but the oil has been changed every year. My Fit is a 2015. The manual indicates a number of maintenance intervals.

 

Thank you so much for such an in-depth answer and for sharing your valuable knowledge with me, I really appreciate that!!

 

I'm with exl500 - change your oil at least once per year if you don't drive enough to trigger the MM.
In the old days, the recommendation was to change every 3 months or 3000 miles. Synthetic oil is better, but it's not infinitely better.
I'm sure someone will comment that they change their oil every 2 years or every 20,000 miles or whatever without problems and that could be true, but if you compare the cost of an annual oil change to the potential cost of major engine damage it's pretty clear that a yearly oil change is cheap insurance. I don't drive all that much (5-8K/year) and I've never had my MM drop below 50% but I'm quite happy to change the oil each fall (for around $30 since I do it myself).

 

Thank you very much for your response! I will keep changing the oil and rotating the tires annually.