We have 2,400 miles on it and I want to make sure I take it in for all of the necessary tune ups.

Thank you!

 

There is no schedule. You take it in when the Maintenance Minder tells you it needs to be taken in. From what I've read in this forum, your first oil change will be somewhere between 6000-10000 miles. (I'm at 5800 miles and my oil life is still at 30%)

 

The details are in the owner's manual. But, for most things (as mentioned above) the maintenance minder will prompt you. The main exceptions are things that are time-based rather than use-based. Offhand, I can think of two of those: if you go for a year without it requesting an oil change, change it anyway; and after three or so years, change the brake fluid.

Things like tires and wiper blades and light bulbs should of course be changed out when worn or broken or burnt out.

 

Over 9,000 miles before my first oil change.

 

The maintenance minder system drives me bonkers. The purpose of it makes sense for people who never refer to the owners manual and just rely on the car to tell them when it needs upkeep.

This is the first car I've ever had with one, and I'll be sure to avoid it in the future. Before you grab your pitchforks; here is my reasoning:

- It's nice to prepare for upcoming maintenance. If I follow the owners manual of any other car, and I see that at 30k miles, I need a tune up and transmission flush, I can prepare ahead of time for that expense. Having the maintenance reminder pop up randomly doesn't give me that luxury.

-I don't trust the computer. My Fit is over a year old, and the oil change reminder said that I had 50% of oil life remaining before getting it changed a week ago. If I went by that logic, it'd be two years before the first oil change. I'd rather have a logical schedule by time and mileage to do this work

- It seems like a way for Honda to have control over the maintenance and to have it done at dealers. Resetting the reminder is something often neglected by independents.

Somehow, somewhere, I managed to print out a traditional maintenance schedule for the Fit. I do have the hard paper copy if you'd like me to scan it and send it

I don't plan on keeping this car more than the three years when the warranty expires, and at that pace, it'll probably have much less than 10k miles on it. It'd be doubtful I'll even make it to the first major service

 

Go to a dealership website and click Maintenance. It will indicate which maintenance packages (budget, standard or premium) correspond to which mileage intervals. I take cues from the maintenance minder as to when to address the details and decide when to make a maintenance appointment.

 

No pitchfork. But maybe alternative reasoning.

Heck, if it can figure it out, why should I read the manual to find arbitrary intervals, and, worse, those "if driven in hot conditions" modifiers they used to have. Hot? How hot? For how long? …

Some people avoid traction control and ABS. I suspect you will have a hard time finding cars without them I think they are fast becoming the norm. Because they make sense.

It's not like it pops up with ten miles to go or something.

Seems to me like the ECU knows a heck of a lot more about the conditions of use over time than I can keep track of and knowing about conditions of use is a lot more logical than some arbitrary interval that has nothing to do with conditions of use. Also seems like the guys who program the computer know a whole lot more about whether two years before the first oil change is OK or not OK than I do, or than some arbitrary fixed schedule does. They are warranting the powertrain for 5/50k, so they surely wouldn't set the maintenance bar so low as to threaten reliability. What would the benefit be to them?

Well, that wouldn't be a problem if you didn't get the maintenance done at some arbitrary "feels like a good time to me--why trust the computer instead of a calendar?" point. If you get in it to drive it away and it still says you need an oil change--which is why you are getting an oil change--reset it yourself. It's documented in the OM.

So then what on earth do you care about scheduled maintenance for or whether the oil change wants to be at some arbitrary on-condition date or is fixed at 3 months/3,000 miles? Given this, it seems like you should be the last person who cares one way or the other about the maintenance minder.

 

It's not random at all.

 

Maintenance doesn't "pop up randomly" if you check the "oil life remaining" screen once in a while. I know from experience that the MM goes down about 10% for every 1,000 miles I drive. Plenty of time to plan. Also, you can view what the next service will entail at any time, by pressing and holding the reset button while the "oil life remaining" screen shows.


Owners manual says to change the oil by the maintenance minder OR once a year, whichever comes first. Not a big deal. You don't drive your car very much. Some of us do.


I change my own oil. Page 360 of the owner's manual tells how to reset the maintenance minder. It's easier than resetting my wristwatch to daylight savings time. Sorry, your conspiracy theory doesn't hold up.


I put 86,000 miles on my '09 Fit in the six years I had it, and I expect the same from the '15. To me, the maintenance minder saves a lot of guesswork (is my use of the car "severe service" or not?). It's also saved me money from "over maintenance"

 

My experience is similar, I've got 110,000 miles on my 2008 Fit Sport, and I expect to keep it for several more years.

I don't take it to the service department at the dealership where I bought it any more (Bernardi Honda, Natick MA). One of the reasons is that they don't go by the maintenance minder; they have their own mileage-only maintenance schedule, and it was just annoying that it never was in synch with the Maintenance Minder. Also, their mileage-based service schedule would put the car in the shop much more often than the minder schedule. More money for them, less for me.

At one point, I convinced them to follow the maintenance minder schedule, but it was like pulling teeth to persuade them. Then I found out that I had to go through the whole persuasion charade all over again, every time I brought it in. I made it quite clear that I would take my business elsewhere, but apparently they didn't care, so I went elsewhere.

Now, my mechanic (an independent Honda-certified mechanic) follows the minder, and I know what's next on the maintenance schedule, and I can follow the "oil life percentage" to know when it's due (nothing random about it). It's so much easier, for me, than a mileage-based schedule.

 

My kid needs a reliable car. Let me know when you sell it.

 

My honda did not come with maintenance minder even though the internet and brochure says so.

Other than that mine came with a booklet of the service and they need to be sing by the dealer every 3 miles if not I will lose my guarantee. The services are a bad joke for every 3 miles 80 dollars and around $120 for the 5 miles. So no, I was planing to do my DIY maintenance.

Anyway I did a schedule sheet if you are interested and I posted here before. So here you go:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...gid=1411576362

 

My local Honda dealer won't do a service on the car until the maintenance minder says to. Of course, I do my own oil changes and tire rotations anyway, and take the car in for the more involved stuff.