Our 2016 Fit LX CVT has 32,000 miles so we're only putting about 5k on it every year. I do follow Honda's guidelines for low annual mileage Fits about getting the oil changed every year (synthetic). I also follow the manual's guideline (read the tiny print) about brake fluid every 3 years. My oil changes tend to be when there's still 50% or more oil life left. That's well above the life percentage of 15% for triggering the Maintenance Minder (MM). I have never once seen the MM kick in despite the car now having 32k miles. I just checked the Fit manual and it does talk about extra subcodes telling you to get certain things such as coolant, CVT fluid, tire balance and rotation done when notified. Do these codes only appear when the MM kicks in for an oil change (which it never will for our car)? If that is the case, does anybody know an alternative maintenance plan for coolant, transmission, balance and rotation, plugs, and other items on that list?

I had kind of been putting faith in the MM, and unfortunately our mechanic has too even though every time I take the car in for an oil change I ask him about regular maintenance items (I had to tell him to do the brake fluid change at 3 years). The last car I owned was a 1981 Corolla so I am hesitant about just applying the general guidelines I used for that one.

 

I completely ignore the MM on my 2018 and simply reset it whenever it pops up. I follow my own schedule which generally exceeds anything Honda says. eg:

Oil changes twice a year. My annual mileage is comparable to you but I'm further north in Canada and the climate here is fairly severe.
Tire balancing - never do,
Tire rotation - never do. I visually check the tires to make sure wear is even.
Brake fluid change - had it done at the 3 year point but I may go 5 years from now on since fluid still tested good at the 3 year point and I should have waited longer.
Radiator fluid - was going to do it at the 5 year point but ended up at 3 years, covered under warranty because of a leakage issue.
CVT fluid change. I'll probably do this at the 6 year point even though my mileage will still be very low.
Cabin and engine filter - vacuum clean every year, replace every two years.

 

I follow the oil percentage indicator to a tee. I get my oil changed at the 20% left level. At 15% the oil change reminder will kick in.

As for the other maintenance issues I just ask my dealer service advisor.

I maintained my 1995 Saturn SC2 stick like this. It lasted 234,000 miles before it was stolen for the Catalytic Converter.

 

I am following the oil service instructions on page 357 of the owner's manual to a tee which is probably why I am not seeing the Maintenance Minder. It very clearly states, "If a message SERVICE does not appear more than 12 months after the display is reset, change the engine oil every year." It never gets down to anywhere near 15%.

As for dealer service, I just spent the past hour and a half trying to contact customer service at 2 Honda dealerships near me. One lets me send an email but then insists that I agree to receive telemarketing messages and let them also provide my email address to other services. I then try their chat service and it crashes on me. If I call them I end up with a message saying they will call me back (oh yeah, big chance of that).

 

Thank you for your suggestions woof. They were along the lines of what I had seen others recommend for air filters.

I finally got through to a service person at a Honda dealership. As I suspected, things have changed a lot since my model year 1981 Corolla. Here were his recommendations, plus some from the owner's manual:

Oil: When Maintenance Minder reports 15% life or lower (see page 357 of owner’s manual), or if no Minder appears, every 12 months.

Air filters: There’s two, one for the cabin (behind the glove box) and one in the engine compartment. Inspect every year. Frequency of change depends upon driving conditions (this information based upon guidelines from Fitfreak forum but also close to Honda technician’s recommendation). Some people extend the life of the cabin filter by vacuuming it.

Coolant change: First change 10 years, every 5 years afterward.

Tires: Rotate and balance every 6,000-8,000 miles

Transmission fluid change: First change at 50,000 miles, then roughly every 5 years (low mileage car can go longer to first change).

Spark plugs: At 100,000 miles or roughly every 7-10 years (do not leave them in too long or they are very hard to remove).

Drive belt: Change every 7-10 years (rubber gradually dries out).

Brake fluid: Every 3 years (from owner’s manual).

 

Hi. You don't need to balance your tires unless they've lost a weight. You'd know because you'd feel it when braking. And if the steering wheel vibrates, it's a front wheel.

I haven't seen any studies showing that frequent tire rotation is that useful. The idea is to have all four tires wear out at the same time so you can replace them as a set. But if you have tires that will last 60,000 miles, rotating every 6-8000 seems like more trouble than it's worth.

 

Good point and the manual does just say rotate the tires.

 

If you don't rotate your tires often enough, if you make tread wear on the tires, they might not honor it. Please check the term on the tread wear warranty. Also, check the fronts vs the rear you will see that after a few thousands miles, the sides on the tires in the front will be worn since the front tires do turn "right/left" regularly.

 

For me..

2015 Ex CVT here.
Oil changes: - Once a year now, since I don't drive as much as I used to. Before that it was MM when I was driving a lot more.
Tire balancing: - Every 5k - Free from America's tires since I got tires from them.
Tire rotation: - Every 5k - Free from America's tires
Brake fluid change: - At 50k, when I was driving a lot. Then at 75k when I drove a lot less
Radiator fluid: - Not yet, but I will when my car hit 90k-100k
CVT fluid change: - At 50k, then at 80k. Basically 50k then every 30k after that.
Cabin and engine filter: - Every 20k

Except for tire balancing/rotation, the rest are DYI.

 

Things like brake fluid I believe are time determined unless you really make heavy use of your car. I don't know what's in Honda brake fluid but unless it is silicone based the old stuff slowly absorbed water vapor from the air. Apart from changing the behavior of the braking it would also risk corrosion of the line parts. I know when I lived near the coast the mechanic there recommended silicone brake fluid because any water vapor also contained trace amounts of salt which enhanced corrosion. Anyway, I'm assuming that's why they say every 3 years. For a nominal 12k per year driver that would be about 36,000 miles.

 

2017 Fit LX CVT at 109K miles. The MM has never come on. I change oil/filter at 20% usually the ODO has advanced about 9,500 miles. The CVT fluid changed twice. I change the coolant myself about 2 times so far. Still original brakes and fluid. I consistently get over 40 mpg (calculated not the MPG guage wrong reading) on the highway, around 35 mpg around town. I am so used to getting over 40 mpg I don't know what car I will replace the Fit when the time comes. I am a single traveler, rarely with a passenger, both back seats removed - 65.3 lbs. I had the front passenger seat removed -45.2 lbs , but I didn't like the fact that the airbag light stays on all the time. The mechanics told me there is nothing I could do for the light not to show up so the passenger seat stays..