Honda / Toyota Maintenance

[MadMike4]

Guys - I have 2 vehicles in my family. My wifes 2006 Toyota Highlander (6 cyl / 2wd) and my 2008 Honda Civic EX sedan. I drive my Civic a lot of miles for my sales work (50,000 mostly highway miles annually). My wife drives 12 or 14 k annually around town.

Both vehicles now have about 35,000 miles on them. All I have done is change the oil and filter, and rotated the tires regularly. I always hear stories about good vehicles lasting FOREVER, and the owner bragging that he did nothing other than change the oil/tires/brakes on a regular basis. DEALERS want us to do all sorts of regular maintenance every 15,000 miles.

My question to you guys is ..... what type of maintenance really is necessary on these generally reliable modern engines?? I don't want to spend a fortune on unnecessary things, but also don't want to shorten the life of the vehicle by ignoring important services. What do you think??
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[Chris Meutsch]

I run my 2001 Civic LX's engine 10k on Pennzoil Platinum 5w20. I do it because there's a person here (lindermant, I think) who did it repeatedly on dino Havoline with used oil analysis that showed it was OK for that length of time. I drive 90% highway and like you, do sales of about 35k a year. So, I have to assume it's fine on syn. Please begin your "You didn't do a used oil analysis yourself, your engine will explode in 3-2-1" posts.
Total vehicle mileage: 157k and counting. No issues.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Wash & Wax, Tire Rotation/Balancing, Oil changes, Power steering fluid changes, Transmission fluid changes, Coolant changes, Brake fluid changes, valve adjustments, spark plugs & wires and I'm sure there are others that I'm forgetting.

 

[rjundi]

My wife drove her 96 Civic manual transmission 20k+/year. She basically just did oil/filter at quicky lubes or small garages and otherwise air filter herself.

At 100k her dad did a timing belt change, belts wires/plugs, and coolant change. She sold it running fine at 8years later/170k for a good amount.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Wash & Wax, Tire Rotation/Balancing, Oil changes, Power steering fluid changes, Transmission fluid changes, Coolant changes, Brake fluid changes, valve adjustments, spark plugs & wires and I'm sure there are others that I'm forgetting.


Right, I've done all these things at least once or more as well, except waxing. Man I hate waxing a car these days. I may go NuFinish soon but only once in the car's life. Just don't care on appearance vs. mechanical.

 

[The Critic]

Oil Changes should be done every 5k on the Toyota, on the Civic they should be done whenever the Maintenance Minder shows 15% oil life remaining.

Engine and Cabin Air filters every 30k for the Toyota. For the Civic, whenever the "2" subcode appears, which should be every 24-30k.

Transmission flush every 60-100k on the Toyota, for the Honda, whenever code "3" appears. On the Honda, make sure you clean the magnetic drain plug.

Brake fluid flush every three years for the Honda. Even though Toyota doesn't require it, you should do it anyway.

No timing belt on either cars. Plugs are due at around 100k. You should do the coolant at the same time with the premixed OE fluid.

 

[mstrjon32]

I question the need for power steering fluid changes, brake fluid changes, and spark plug & wire replacement more often than 100K intervals, if ever.

I'd be shocked if any modern engine required valve adjustments, but about as equally shocked as the fact that manufacturers still use timing belts instead of chains.

If you care about your cars appearance (and resale value) washing and waxing are a must. Transmission fluid changes are also important and under-emphasized (for both automatic and manual transmissions).

 

[raaizin]

My question to you guys is ..... what type of maintenance really is necessary on these generally reliable modern engines?? I don't want to spend a fortune on unnecessary things, but also don't want to shorten the life of the vehicle by ignoring important services. What do you think??
_________________________
[/quote]

I would change oil, trans every 30k, antifreeze as per honda/Toyota and brake fluid every 2 yrs. If it has a timing belt, change it when its due. Keep it clean inside and out and you will be tired of it long before it wears out.

IMO those 15k 30k 60k etc services dont due anything but add to the dealers bottom line. If you look what they due is check everything and maybe rotate tires

Ihave over 200k on my 1996 explorer and its never been to the dealer.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Originally Posted By: mstrjon32
I question the need for power steering fluid changes, brake fluid changes, and spark plug & wire replacement more often than 100K intervals, if ever.

I'd be shocked if any modern engine required valve adjustments, but about as equally shocked as the fact that manufacturers still use timing belts instead of chains.

If you care about your cars appearance (and resale value) washing and waxing are a must. Transmission fluid changes are also important and under-emphasized (for both automatic and manual transmissions).


I'm pretty sure the new Civic engine uses a timing chain.

 

[crinkles]

I follow the owner's manual and,

do oil change at half the normal service conditions intervals
ATF drain and fill every 30 k
If plain spark plugs, change at half the owner's manual interval
air filter at half the owner's manual interval


once i get a complete set of new tyres I will start rotating but for the time being the tyres are where they are.

With the above I can't fathom a problem for a modern car before 200k ( I hope!!)

I don't trust automatic transmissions no matter what you do. I will never buy one again. Plain old manual for me thanks.

 

[lovcom]

The Honda/Toyota dealers scam the public with their minor, intermediate, and major maint packages....way, way too much money they charge, and for what?!?

On their list of "things they do", it's 75% check this belt, check that, check, check, check, so it looks like you get a lot for the $$ they charge, but it's all [censored]...Toyota wanted $90 to change the cabin air filter in my 2007 Yaris...I did it myself, paid the $21 for the filter on the internet, and the labor took me literally 2 minutes!

 

[ARB1977]

Originally Posted By: MadMike4
Guys - I have 2 vehicles in my family. My wifes 2006 Toyota Highlander (6 cyl / 2wd) and my 2008 Honda Civic EX sedan. I drive my Civic a lot of miles for my sales work (50,000 mostly highway miles annually). My wife drives 12 or 14 k annually around town.

Both vehicles now have about 35,000 miles on them. All I have done is change the oil and filter, and rotated the tires regularly. I always hear stories about good vehicles lasting FOREVER, and the owner bragging that he did nothing other than change the oil/tires/brakes on a regular basis. DEALERS want us to do all sorts of regular maintenance every 15,000 miles.

My question to you guys is ..... what type of maintenance really is necessary on these generally reliable modern engines?? I don't want to spend a fortune on unnecessary things, but also don't want to shorten the life of the vehicle by ignoring important services. What do you think??
_________________________

If you can do some or most of the maintence yourself, go for it. Changing things when its time is key...at least for me. I like reuseable airfilters, they can save alot of money and with the amount of miles you drive i would go for it. AFE dryflow filters are great.