Well, I've been of the mind that I'd always have the car serviced at the dealer, at least until it was out of warranty. That way, should something happen, there's no question whatsoever about how the car was maintained. However, I'd bring my own oil for the changes, so I could be reasonably sure of what went in; good shops will deduct the 'cost of their oil' from the bill, and you're generally paying < $28-30 for labor, oil filter, a tire rotation (assuming 6-7K OCI), and (perhaps the biggest factor) peace of mind, from a potential warranty claim perspective.

However, dealer service departments aren't always scrupulous - for the 1st ('free') oil change on the Accord Hybrid, the service advisor told me "save your oil for next time - we use the same thing". When I sent that oil out for analysis after it had been changed out, I found out the profile was more similar to Mobil Drive Clean 5000 than it was to Mobil 1. Suffice to say, I was a bit mistrustful of that dealership's service dept after that.

I've also heard stories about the service techs (not Honda, necessarily) keeping the good synoil, and just putting the shop's regular oil in cars. So - given that - the only *sure* way you'll know what was done - is to do it yourself, or use a really trusted shop, as you mention.

Honda does state that you don't *have* to have the dealer maintain the car - as long as you have documentation (parts or parts / labor receipts), you can have another garage do it, or you can self-maintain it. Outside of the CVT fluid, which I plan on changing every 15K mi (I wouldn't let it go longer than 30K in any case), you're really not going to have to do much more than oil changes and tire rotations for the first 100K miles. There'll be one brake fluid change to do at 3 years, and a valve lash adjustment near 100K - but other than that, the biggest pain to maintaining the car will be dealing with removing that undercover, with its 8 speed nuts and 2 bolts. I don't see any way to do a fluid change without removing it.

Mark

Sometimes we could all use a little less

My hybrid automobiles:

Current:
2006 Honda Civic Hybrid (CVT, w/o Nav)
Magnetic Pearl / Blue - 008661, born 12/28/05
Mods: Neck pillows, Garmin C330 Nav, Draw-tite 1.25" hitch (for bikes, not towing!), Pioneer Inno XM receiver via Aux jack, OEM mud flaps, more to come!

Hypermiler status on 3/12/06 @ 3077mi.

Previous:
2005 Honda Accord Hybrid (5AT/Navi)
Desert Mist / Ivory - 001254
Retired 1/21/06 - LMPG 34.1

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