Maintenance for low use Fit
 

We have a 2016 Fit we bought used from a dealership with 2,000 miles on it in mid-2016. It was first placed into service early 2016. We really don't drive very much and I think we're only up to 7,500 miles on it almost 2 years after buying it and about 2.5 years after it was first driven. This is clearly a lot less than the nominal, normal 10k miles per year. We simply don't drive a lot. Maybe 500-mile trips twice a year and otherwise taking the car out on 15 mile city errands 6 times per month.

My question is about maintenance scheduling under a low use regimen. For example, I last had the engine oil replaced early last year and the car still says there's 50% oil life (not that I am comfortable with that). While I think the "change every 3 months" general guideline is more than we need in our case, neither do I feel comfortable about trusting the oil life guide. I did go with synthetic oil on the last oil change on the basis that it should be better for less frequent changes.

So my question is, considering maybe a 3,500 mile per year usage what kind of scheduling should I look at for:

i) oil changes
ii) coolant flush
iii) transmission fluid (CVT)?

I know some fluid breakdown is from use and some from just sitting around.

1) once a year
2) id do it on your 6th or 7th year, but modern coolant can last 10yrs.
3) go by milage

the most important item to maintain on low milage cars is your battery. unless u have one, i recommend you get a Battery Tender JR. they're like $25 on amazon or anywhere you want to buy from and will keep your battery in a 'float' state.

also check your tire pressure. keep it around 37-38psi to prevent flat spotting.
my hobby cars only get driven like 3k miles a year too. absolutely no issue.

I would at least change the coolant every 5 years as the normal maintenance interval is 30k.

Otherwise I agree with kenchan on points 1 and 3.

Change your brake fluid every 4-5 years as well as it will absorb moisture just sitting there.

Good feedback, thanks. Kind of along the lines of what I was thinking, maybe even slightly longer intervals since I'm used to maintaining a 1981 Corolla with 140,000 miles where I can't use modern fluids. The Corolla is now my hobby car and I definitely keep a battery minder on it. We drive the Fit frequently enough that the tires don't sit for long in one spot and the battery stays charged though I have been thinking about a battery tender for it for the occasional 3 week vacations we take. If it were just me I'd probably still get one but since it is our main driving car I have visions of my wife forgetting about it when suddenly having to take the car to work one morning (she usually takes the bus).

Oil changes: 1 per year (Honda recommendation)

Coolant: 10 years st change, 5 years after that (because you don't fully drain it) (Honda recommendation since the Blue Type II started)

CVT: 50,000 miles

Brake fluid: 3 years (Honda recommendation)

I'm not sure about the time VS mileage intervals...before the Maintenance Minder it was X,000 number of miles or x amount of time. eg 50K miles or 5 years

You can keep track of this at the Honda OwnerLink https://owners.honda.com/

yah, the battery tender comes with an umbilical cord that is friction fit so i suppose if ur wife forgets to unplug it, it wont damage the battery or the tender itself.

You can get magnetic plugs for battery maintainers, as well. So if a driver forgets to disconnect, it just separates without damage...

https://www.corvettecentral.com/mag-...battery-176103

Here's a video of how easy it is

:p

I expect to put on less than 5000 miles per year on my new 2018 Fit, and virtually all of that will be highway driving.

Oil drain and refill every year.
CVT fluid drain and refill 3 years first, probably 3 - 5 years after that.
Radiator fluid drain and refill 3 years first, probably 5 years thereafter.
Brake fluid drain and refill every 3 years.

All drain and refills - no "flushes". I do my own fluid changes so I tend to change more frequently than most since my cost will be insignificant, and being retired I have the time.

Don't forget about replacing the engine air filter. Aftermarket filters just cost $10 on . Its recommended to replace the engine air filter once a year or 15,000 to 21,000 miles. Takes less than five minutes to change.