2008 Honda Civic Ex Maintenance Schedule

Hi, I recently bought a new 2008 Honda Civic Sedan EX after my older
model (2005) was totalled during a car accident. I'm still getting
used to the new car but so far so good. One big big change with the
new car is what appears to be the absence of a maintenance schedule.
I'm used to going to the service at 5000 miles intervals and following
the owner's manual as to when to service my car. Now with all the new
features in the 2008 model like maintenance reminders etc, and the
absence of a schedule maintenance in the owner's manual, is there no
point to following your standard 5000 miles scheduled maintenance to,
say, get your oil change etc or your typical 10,000-interval mile
service to a shop (like tire rotation, brake fluid check, etc)?

 

No, there's a maintenance schedule. Read your owner's manual.

Read your owner's manual. It spells things out quite clearly.

 

The only "schedule" I see in my manual is the one mentioned in pages
228-229 of the 2008 Hondai Civic Sedan, but this is exactly what I"m
talking about, its not a "schedule" like you said but more of a
"minder" which I posted originally. In my old 2005 manual, it spells
it out such that at every 5000 mi, you change the oil, at 10000 mi you
change oil + other stuff, at 30000 mi interval you do major service
etc (located at the middle of the page). What "manual" are you
talking about?

See my reply above. Show me what page where "it spells things out
quite clearly". For example, I've always replaced my engine oil at
every 5000 mi, but the 2008 civic you basically have to rely on the
reminder whether your oil is 15% or 10% etc. It doesn't say in the
manual the recommended time to replace the oil (i.e. every 6 months or
every 5000 mi). What happens if the dealer forgets to reset the
reminder or, worse, malfunctions?

 

"Avalon1178" wrote

reminder whether your oil is 15% or 10% etc. It doesn't say in the
manual the recommended time to replace the oil (i.e. every 6 months or
every 5000 mi). What happens if the dealer forgets to reset the
reminder or, worse, malfunctions?

That's where your brain comes in. If that doesn't work, visit the dealer, to
whom you gave many thousands of dollars, and ask how this new "system"
works.

 

how hard is this concept? do you fill the gas tank every 300 miles or
when the gauge shows you should? same principle applies with the the
maint sched reminder!

and if they "forget" reset it, not only will you not be paying them,
you'll see the percentage stay the same and you'll be calling the dealer
to have them sort it out. if it malfunctions, since it's integrated
with your engine management computer, the car will be dead and you'll be
calling the dealer for warranty repair.

 

WTF? What's your problem? Are you the sorry son of a Honda dealer/
salesman that one little critique of the maintenance schedule got your
little feathers all ruffled? I know how this thing works, and that
wasn't my original question from this post. Maybe YOU should check
your brain (or what's left of it) and start reading the thread from
the beginning.

 

Dude would you f***ing relax? I just asked if there is a schedule in
the new civics such as those in the older models. I in no way did I
say the new features are bad. It was a new thing that caught me by
surprise, in a good way. If there's no schedule in the manual, then
fine! Can anyone get a simple "yes" or "no" answer here anymore?

 

Check your owner's manual under the section that says maintenance
minder. It will tell you what each letter and number corresponds to
what service you need to perform on the car at that time.

 

The "minder" is the result of the engine computer, which is keeping very
close track of EXACTLY how you drive the car and what wear you put on it.

The schedule is inside the computer, and the computer tells you when
your driving habits warrant a given service.

How is that so difficult to understand or accept? It's much more
precise than "well, it's been about 6 months since I've seen ol' Goober
down at the fillin' station, so it must be time."

And years ago we used buy and play vinyl records. Do you go to the
Apple Store, pick up an iPod, and ask the guy, "Where's the stylus?
Where do I put the record on?"?

The same manual you're reading. Follow it.

Why the resistance to following it?

Pages 228-229.

Why the resistance to following the schedule that Honda's engineers have
spelled out? The fact that they've spelled it out only in the computer,
which is able to take into account every little aspect of how you drive
the car and therefore know exactly how much wear their components and
lubricants have received?


The old "do it every X months or Y thousand miles" was there as a best
guesstimate, because the technology wasn't built into the car to record
every cold start, every RPM load, and so on. But now that it is there,
we don't go by simple time or miles--we go by much more precise
measurements.

And those measurements are understood by the engineers who built the
car, and the results of the measurements are well understood by the
engineers who built the car.

Why the resistance to following it?

 

how hard is this concept? do you fill the gas tank every 300 miles or
when the gauge shows you should? same principle applies with the the
maint sched reminder![/QUOTE]

Good one. Let's see him respond to THAT.

 

His question is valid: how hard is this concept?

You're resisting it very, very much. You want a crude time/mileage
table. I suppose you also avoid modern vaccines, and you drink
unpasteurized milk.

Well, how's this: fill your gas tank every 200 miles or 5 days,
whichever comes first. Don't use that gas gauge that gives you ACTUAL
information about the fill status of the gas tank. That's just stupid.

 

No.

 

You manufactured a circumstance that (a) wouldn't happen, or (b) is
easily rectified if it did happen by mistake--and used that as "this is
why I need a time/miles maintenance schedule!"

Quit manufacturing things to be worried about. Sheesh. You're like an
old woman.

 

Wow little Elmo, that REALLY "spells" it out in the manual!

Who said I'm not accepting this or having difficulty to understand? I
essentially just asked if the new models have a "strict" recommended
schedule to adhere to, like in older models. If not, then fine.
Actually, its good that it doesn't. I just wanted to know if this
"minder" is sufficient enough to keep the maintenance on check.

I guess you're THAT old to remember vinyl records? And you call
yourself "Elmo"?

Who said I'm not gonna follow it? Can't you read my original
question? A simple "yes" or "no" is all I'm looking for. Geez, did I
just offend your Honda religion or something?

Yeah, you spelled it out quite "clearly" alright ("oh oh, the schedule
is in the computer...")

That's good! I like that they did that! And I never said I was
resisting. All I asked if it matters to adhere to a schedule
anymore. If the "minder" is all that requires, then great!

Seriously dude, someone should grab you by the tummy so you can start
giggling like those tickle-me dolls from years back. Or is that too
recent for you that all you remember in your hay days are vinyl
records?

 

Follow the maintenance minder, or service once a year, which ever occurs
first. Include tire rotation too.

This is right out of the service manual:
If the message ''SERVICE'' does not appear more than 12 months after the
display is reset, change the engine oil every year.
NOTE:
Replace the brake fluid every 3 years (Independent of the maintenance
messages in the information display).
Inspect the idle speed every 160,000 miles (256,000 km).

 

Great! That's all I'm looking for. No need to get offended just
because someone made a comment to your Honday gods

 

The manual couldn't be clearer--follow the maintenance minder.

You're manufacturing things out of thin air here. You don't WANT to
follow the minder, for some reason unknown to anyone.

So you read the owner's manual, which spells everything out. You chose
not to believe the manufacturer, choosing instead to come to the Usenet
and ask random strangers--most of whom would be highly entertained by
sending you on a snipe hunt.

Yeah, THAT'S a good choice.

Instead of sending you on a snipe hunt, we give you actual
information--and we're watching you refuse the actual information (which
correlates with what the manufacturer says, interestingly enough) and
instead defend your original choice of refusing to believe the
manufacturer. Equally entertaining, in the end.

You can still buy vinyl records, but you have to search them out. Not
sure why my choice of monicker is involved in that particular discussion.

You did.

So you read the owner's manual, which spells everything out. You chose
not to believe the manufacturer, choosing instead to come to the Usenet
and ask random strangers--most of whom would be highly entertained by
sending you on a snipe hunt.

Nice try at trying to avoid the question. Why didn't you answer it?

As for "hay days," that would be feeding time at the horse stable.
Maybe you were trying to talk about a heyday?

English. It's a great language. Use it.

 

Ding ding ding! NIce. You're not that stupid after all.....

 

"Avalon1178" wrote

question? A simple "yes" or "no" is all I'm looking for. Geez, did I
just offend your Honda religion or something?

Your original post included wondering a) what happens if the "minder"
malfunctions, and b) what happens if the dealer forgets to reset it. (It was
to those that I responded.) Those are not "yes or no" questions. So in the
future, be clear with your communication, and we'll respond accordingly.
There are a lot of bright, knowledgeable people here who really do go out of
their way to help... and respond accordingly. Seriously, I hope you enjoy
your new car.

This has been a very entertaining thread; thank you all!

 

have you noticed how people here don't like answering dumb questions?
you want to pay me, i'll give you any answer you want. if you don't
want to pay me, you got to interest me - and bleating about what you're
getting for free just doesn't do that.