Servicing your Honda car (1 Viewer)

[Jim517]

While your Honda is or was under warranty, did you have it serviced at a Honda dealer or an independent garage, and why?

We have a 2014 CRV that we bought as a certified used car. It currently has 34,000 miles on it.

Thanks.

 

[Jim517]

Nobody ?

 

[Mike Frezon]

I bought a 2013 CR-V EX-L last year, Jim (a former lease vehicle). It's my first Honda.

I decided to take it to the dealer for service. For one, the dealer really promotes its service department in terms of both dependability and speed. Another reason: when my kids were little we had Dodge Caravans (some purchased new). I liked to bring them to the dealer (same reasons: trusted service department) and getting to know the managers of the service department, building a level of trust and a relationship and having them track all the service done to the vehicle. I had gotten away from that with my vehicles in-between then and now. I had been looking for a competent mechanic to develop that relationship of trust...but it never happened. So back to the dealer I go. And so far, I am quite happy with them.

If you've got a specific question, ask away.

I also purchased an extended warranty on the vehicle. Because I want to have coverage as the vehicle starts to get up in age.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Plus, of course, the dealer's service department is on top of any recall information for your model.

 

[Carabimero]

Funny you should ask. On December 7, 1987, I received as a college graduation present a brand new Honda Accord. My mother said, "Take good care of it and it will last you ten years."

Tomorrow, my car will be thirty years old. It's not just the only new car I've ever owned--it's flat-out the only car I've ever owned.

To answer your question, I have only taken it to the dealer a couple of times. One of the first things I always did before I was married and settled down was to locate someone who repaired Hondas in whatever new city I moved to. I found taking it to the dealer was unnecessary--and too expensive--unless I had to. The key was finding shops I could trust.

Of course my Accord is carbureted, so it's getting hard to find parts for it. I doubt if I can drive it another ten years, but I'm going to shoot for another five, at least.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Alan:

You better give that car a really nice party tomorrow!

 

[Malcolm R]

I've owned Hondas for 20 years and always had my service done at the dealership. No particular reason, but they've never given me any reason to be unhappy and since they're located between my home and my office, it's convenient to drop it off.

 

[Jim517]

Thanks guys. The dealer recommended changing the trans fluid, brake fluid, and rear differential every 30,000 miles. That seems crazy to me. Can that be accurate? The owner's manual does not list specific mileage intervals for these services.

Thanks.

 

[Mike Frezon]

That sounds crazy to me, too. But I'm the farthest thing from a mechanic there is.

But as someone who's had a driver's license for 40 years or so...and bought his first car in the early '80s...that seems WAY too often.

Next time I'm at my dealership, I'll ask them how often they recommend changing those fluids. But it'll be a while. I just had my oil changed a couple weeks ago.

 

[Malcolm R]

Poking around the Honda website, they seem to indicate you only need to change the transmission fluid every 30K miles (or 2 yrs) if you tow it behind a motor home. I don't see any non-towing recommendation. Trans fluid change is related to Maintenance Minder sub item #3 (see below).

I don't see anything about rear diff fluids, but it's related to Maintenance Minder sub item #6 if that means anything to you (it doesn't to me, though I have an older 2011 CRV). I guess when #6 comes up on the maintenance display, it should be changed?

Recommendation for brake fluid is every 3 years.

http://owners.honda.com/servicemaintenance/minder?year=2014&model=CR-V

 

[Jim517]

Thanks guys. This high tech stuff is too complicated for me. It used to be so easy. You hit a certain mileage, and you did your maintenance items !

 

[Malcolm R]

Thanks guys. This high tech stuff is too complicated for me. It used to be so easy. You hit a certain mileage, and you did your maintenance items !

That's another reason I usually just take it to the dealer for service. I figure they know the items that need to be addressed at each interval for the cars they sell. I don't feel like they've ever tried to upsell me on service, or get me to do something that was unnecessary. It gives me a certain piece of mind. Plus, as I said, I've been dealing with them for 20 years now for both sales and service, so I figure they want to try and keep me happy.

I wouldn't necessarily know what to tell a different service garage to do if I took the car to them for maintenance.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Thanks guys. The dealer recommended changing the trans fluid, brake fluid, and rear differential every 30,000 miles. That seems crazy to me. Can that be accurate? The owner's manual does not list specific mileage intervals for these services.

Thanks.

I don't own a Honda, but that seems excessive. I own a GMC Terrain, and the manufacturer recommends a trans fluid change every 50,000 miles, the transfer case every 100,000 miles, and the coolant system every 150,000 miles or 5 years. They do not even list anything for the brake fluid.

I've been taking my vehicles to a local oil change place for the past 22 years for simple maintenance items. They always try to push fluid changes quicker than the manufacturer's recommendations -- it's how they make money. I just keep a log with everything I have done, and that log also has the recommended mileage for each type of service. For things like tires, brakes, and struts I use a local tire and repair shop that has always treated us fairly. Even their prices for replacement batteries are about the same as it would be if I bought a new battery and installed it myself.

For more significant work, I have been using the dealership as a first stop. It came in handy earlier this year with my wife's 2009 Saturn Vue which was having transmission issues at under 60,000 miles. Knowing the vehicle was out of warranty, I was dreading the verdict. When the guy from the dealership called, he said "I have some good news, and some bad news. The bad news is you need a new transmission. The good news is that it's being covered under a manufacturer's extended warranty". It seems that GM had some issues with transmissions on that model, so they silently extended the warranty to 10 years and 120,000 miles.

I do know a very trustworthy mechanic near my parents home in northern Michigan, and I've had him work on my vehicles if I happen to be up there visiting when I need some work done. My father's been taking his vehicles there for 29 years, and he's always been honest and fairly priced. The guy has a great setup, too. His repair shop is behind his house, so he has an incredibly short commute to work!

 

[DaveF]

Thanks guys. The dealer recommended changing the trans fluid, brake fluid, and rear differential every 30,000 miles. That seems crazy to me. Can that be accurate? The owner's manual does not list specific mileage intervals for these services.

Thanks.

Those should be specified in the manual. I drove an Accord about ten years and I recall the transmission fluid was specified in the manual.

My dealer always wanted to service according to the Extreme Conditions Driving schedule, which is about twice as much service as the normal schedule. I would ask specifically for them to show you the service schedules and explain which one they're using.

 

[Jim517]

It's not in the manual. The only thing I can find in the manual is to change brake fluid every 3 years. Nothing about trans fluid or differential fluid.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Man, HERE'S a thread on the very subject of rear diff fluid changes for CR-Vs and the info is kinda all over the place depending on the model year. It's confusing.

 

[Jim517]

Thanks Mike. It is ridiculous. We may go broke just servicing this thing !

 

[Fanuminski]

My wife drives a 2014 CRV - and my wife takes it to the dealership for oil changes etc.. has around 46K miles. Last time in (several weeks ago) for an oil change, she had also scheduled a tranny flush and I told her to tell them about a slow leak in one tire that I noticed was dropping about 4-5lbs air/day. well, they did the oil and told her the tire was fine. she called me and I said "talk to the service mgr" -he went back and found a screw in the tread and fixed the tire. they forgot to do the tranny flush. I always thought the dealership was the best (albeit most expensive) option to have your vehicle serviced optimally , but now I'm not so sure. I do think the service schedules for fluid changes are excessive - except for oil just imho. I would have brake fluid changed when you have to replace brake pads (front or rear). Tranny around 50k seems about right along with rear differential. antifreeze/radiator I'd wait on to at least 60k or more. again, just imho. I'll continue having my wife bring the vehicle to the dealership (checking on recalls/service bulletins they should be doing) - M

 

[Angelo Colombus]

In my owners manual for my 2014 Honda Civic with auto transmission it only talks about changing it under sever conditions. I guess wait for the light or message to appear on my dashboard to change the fluid?

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

So, here is the deal...there is no need to take it to a dealership for service if you know of a good local mechanic. Basically, dealerships do not mean you will get better service and in some cases it may be worse service and the truth is they are the most expensive in most cases and the service writers are also sales people looking to sell the maximum amount of service possible.

There are however a couple of aspects of going to a Honda dealership that are positive. If you have done all of your service at Honda dealerships and there is some sort of major issue with the car it is much more likely that Honda, not actually the dealership themselves, but Honda may pay for part of or all of a major repair. If they see it as a failure that should not have occurred at the age of or mileage on the vehicle. If you have taken the car elsewhere for service it becomes less likely they will do this...not totally out of the question but less likely. If you take it to a Honda dealership all of your service records are kept and Honda has access to them. So, they can look at exactly what has transpired with your vehicle. Honda dealerships will also, as noted by somebody above, do any recall work that needs to be done as well at no charge to you and they will actively look for recalls when you bring the car in.

Outside of these things though, there is no advantage to taking your car to a dealership for service. Honda is also one of the better car companies in terms of standing behind their vehicles.