Honda Maintenance Minder

[JunkdrawerDog]

Here's a snapshot of the maintenance minder screen in my 2025 HRV. This car is massively short tripped, spends lots of time idling in 110°+ temperatures and is driven almost exclusively in sport mode. Counts down pretty quickly doesn't it? Contrast that to my 2010 Accord coupe which saw regular trips of 300-400 miles in more temperate conditions. It once ran out to 11.4k miles before asking for an oil change. I think this is interesting in that it shows the sensitivity of the maintenance minder system when inputs are varied from one extreme to another. This is our 5th Honda and the third one with the maintenance minder system. To me, it seems to work as advertised.

 

[UncleDave]

Here's a snapshot of the maintenance minder screen in my 2025 HRV. This car is massively short tripped, spends lots of time idling in 110°+ temperatures and is driven almost exclusively in sport mode. Counts down pretty quickly doesn't it? Contrast that to my 2010 Accord coupe which saw regular trips of 300-400 miles in more temperate conditions. It once ran out to 11.4k miles before asking for an oil change. I think this is interesting in that it shows the sensitivity of the maintenance minder system when inputs are varied from one extreme to another. This is our 5th Honda and the third one with the maintenance minder system. To me, it seems to work as advertised. View attachment 316867

The algorithm is quite sophisticated.

 

[OilStainedNapkin]

Honda knows what they're doing. I'd follow the MM with no second guessing it.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

Honda knows what they're doing. I'd follow the MM with no second guessing it.

Yep. I've got some Autozone clearance oil on deck. Will probably change it right after New Year's Day.

 

[GMFan]

I follow the MM on our Odyssey. It’s called for oil changes as low as 3,500 miles when short tripped and as high as 8,000 miles when we’ve gone on long family trips with lots of highway driving. It will also reduce oil life automatically based on time (will only let you go 12 months max).

 

[ecotourist]

I trust the Honda Maintenance minder for reasonable time frames and distances.

We took our '07 Accord on a long trip and started off without much apparent oil life left. The maintenance minder moved very slowly on that long trip and we arrived home with oil life to spare.

We currently drive our Accord very little and it would probably go 5 or more years before asking for an oil change. That might be appropriate but we change the oil every couple of years just to be safe.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Yeah the minder is awesome

Wow an OCI of 2168 miles

It's rare for one of those things to suggest an OCI less than 3k
Just over 2000 miles is not common for an OLM

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

Yeah the minder is awesome

Wow an OCI of 2168 miles

It's rare for one of those things to suggest an OCI less than 3k
Just over 2000 miles is not common for an OLM

For reference, time in use is 10 months.

 

[Nessism1]

My Civic triggers oil changes at 10k miles, despite almost all my driving in the city and short trips. My commute was 6 miles each way, and I don't drive tons other than back and forth to work (before I retired.) After seeing this, I ignore the MM now.

 

[Danh]

For reference, time in use is 10 months.

There’s your answer. The MM will knock off 8.3% of oil life each month even if not driven. So if the car had been undriven for 10 months or taken a single long 2,000 mile trip you’d see the same answer. So it’s not clear if it’s responding simply to time or actual driving conditions.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

Why I trust and follow it versus people telling people others they should be changing their oil early.

I see a lot of variability penalty wise depending how drive ( speed, idling, length of trip, temperature ).

Just make sure to regularly check the oil level when it allows long oil drain intervals.

 

[CleanSump]

SD does food delivery in an Accord 3 days a week and the minder has been good for her. She even used quick lube shops when she lived half way across the country. The engine was still clean inside at 12 years old and over 125k miles of urban stop and go, lots of start/stop/starts.

 

[tolian21]

I always change my oil when my Honda mid is at 50% and 100% due to fuel dilution in my 2.0t engine

 

[slacktide_bitog]

There’s your answer. The MM will knock off 8.3% of oil life each month even if not driven. So if the car had been undriven for 10 months or taken a single long 2,000 mile trip you’d see the same answer. So it’s not clear if it’s responding simply to time or actual driving conditions.

Maybe it does both. Honda must have started programming hard limits into the MM. They have always said not to go more than a year even if the light never came on.