My 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid has 36K and dealer is asking me to bring in for $30,000 mile service.

They will charge me $260 and do below mentioned things

1. Change Oil and Filter
2. Check Fluid Level and adjust as needed
3. Set tire pressure
4. Rotate tire
5. Inspect front and rear brakes
6. Inspect tie rod ends, steering gearbox/boot
7. Inspect suspension components
8. Inspect drive-shaft boots
9. Lube locks, latches, and hinges
10. Inspect and adjust drive belts
11. Replace dust and pollen filters
12. Change air cleaner elements
13. Service battery and install anti-corrosive pads
14. Install fuel system cleaner

I know most of can be done myself but not sure about #6 7, 8, 10 and 14. Any suggestions?

 

Sounds like the dealership is getting into the old tricks of padding the required maintenance. About 60% of the above sounds like Maintenance Minders:

B12 (check your Owners Manual for explanation)

But items 3, 10, 13 and 14 are bogus, not in the required maintenance schedule.

What is your Maintenance Minder indicating?

 

There are no signs on my dashboard but when I went for an oil change a month ago, I was told to get 30K mile service done.

And one thing, I read here is CVT fluid change is needed at 30K but it is not listed in dealer's list.

All in all, I guess I just want to find out what do I need to get done. I should look at the manual and go from there.

Thanks for your response.

 

That's kind of strange that they gave you this big list of things to do, but left out the transmission fluid change.
And if you had an oil change a month ago, it seems that you shouldn't have to get that done again so soon.

 

Well, that was the list of things that they do for 30K mile service. Since I had an oil change done, won't be doing that will be paying that much less but reading on this forum, it seems like I can do most by myself ...only questions I have are for # 14 and CVT fluid. How do I do them?

 

My dealership charged me $79 for the CVT fluid change (and a tire rotation). That's a lot when you compare it to doing it yourself, but I didn't think it was bad. I'm happy to change my own oil (which I understand) but I'm a little more intimidated about changing the CVT fluid. That beind said, there are some great step by step instructions that have been posted on this site. Search for DIY CVT oil change instructions and they should come up.

In the future, your car will tell you what it wants regarding maintenance on the maintenance minder. The intervals tend to be around 7,000 miles which is pretty conservative, but it shows you if you need to replace a filter, or just the oil, and it will show you when to change the CVT fluid. What percent is showing currently? Did your dealership reset it when they changed the oil last? If so, it would show 100% (or close to it). If they didn't reset it, follow the instructions and reset it yourself for future use.

 

There are no signs showing up in my car at this moment and Oil change shows, I have 85% left so I am good for a while there.

So if there are no signs, what I am getting is, I don't need to worry about anything, correct?

 

Yes, the car will tell you when to replace the oil (A1), the oil + oil and air filter (B1), the oil + oil filter + CVT fluid (B123), oil + oil filter + CVT fluid + the spark plugs (B1234). Those are from memory, so check your owner's manual to make sure I'm right.

It does not tell you when to replace your brake fluid or pads. Arguably, the brake fluid should be replaced every 3 years, but I've never done that in other cars and probably won't in the HCH until my ~60k CVT fluid change (unless they feel spongy at some point). Your brake pads will probably last over 100k miles.

The maintenance minder is conservative though since it goes through 100% in about 7,000 miles. If you are using a quality synthetic oil like Mobil 1 0-20w, you should be able to drive 10k miles without any noticable degredation in quality based on oil analysis posted here.

 

If they're only charging $260 for the $30k service, it sounds like the deal of the century!

Seriously though, sounds like you need a new dealership. There are no more services for your car based strictly on mileage. Listen to Honda (your car) and not the dealership (bloodsuckers).

I just had my A1 oil change this weekend. I also changed my air filter as it was visibly dirty and I know it'll help FE. At 36k miles I haven't done more than oil changes and air filters. Part of the benefit of driving this great car are fairly low maintenance costs. Don't negate that based on your dealerships marketing dept.

Cheers, nf

 

Do what the MM tells you, Kristian spelled it out well. Read your manual and it pretty well explains it all. There are things like the brakes, belts and so on should be checked, but not at 30 thousand miles. The brakes let you know when they need attention . Hal