newbie with a blown fuse and question about milage
 

Hi guys,
I am new on this forum and I recently (in march) purchased my first brand new car: A 2005 Civic hybrid. Needless to say, I love my car.
Recently my cigarette lighter (or according to the manual it is now called an "accessory power socket" stopped working. I called the dealer and they gave me an appointment to bring it in to have it checked out, but they also told me to check the fusebox to make sure that the fuse was not blown out.
has anyone had this problem or a similar one?
Anyway, I didn't realize untill today that the civic hybrid had so many fuses! it took me about fifteen minutes but i finnally replaced the fuse and voila! I can now charge my cellphone or listen to my ipod via an FM modulator again while i drive! I know it's silly, but I feel like I really accomplished something by changing this and making it work again. especially after having to go an entire week with just listening to the radio and a few cds laying around in my car.
Anyway, I have a complaint about the interior fuse box. if you have tried to change one of these fuses, have you realized how nearly impossible it is to change?? they put that sucker way under the steeringwhell! anyway.

on another note, I was wondering if anyone else who reads this also lives in the los angeles area. whenever I read about some of you HCH people getting better that 46 mpg it makes me upset that I live in a city that is always congested. I can never get anything better than 45.6mpg because I know that at least once or twice a week I will be stuck in traffic and won't be able to keep up my MPGs!


Lastly, what is up with dealerships charging $50 for an oilchange for a HCH?! I learned this after my first "complimentry oil change." They give you the first one free where I bought mine because they plan on sucking the life out of your bank account after every other maintenance trip. jerks. If I had to pay 50$ for an oilchange, I wouldn't be able to shop! anyway, needless to say I plan on asking my brother how to change oil and learning to do it myself from here on in.

wow, this is a really long post. but I would like to end by telling all of you how happy I am that this forum exsists. It's kinda nerdy, but I am glad I can go to a place like this with questions instead of asking my dealer. Those guys, as I've said before, are jerks.

anyway. Drive safely!
Ferny:car:

Re: newbie with a blown fuse and question about milage
 

Those fuses are fun :) At leaast honda gives you a fuse remover/inserter tool.

Re: newbie with a blown fuse and question about milage
 

The oil change at my Honda dealer is $35. When I went in for my 30k service, they told me it would cost $395 I had a fit right there. The only "parts" were the oil, air filter (which I had just changed), oil filter, and cabin filter. Everything else was to "inspect".
Yeah, right.

I asked how much the air filter was. They said $65, installed. Huh? For a $12 part? Oh, but that includes LABOR. Four clips, remove filter, install filter close clips. It took me longer to type it. The pollen filter was $110, installed. Huh? For an $18 part? Oh, but that includes LABOR. Remove glove box, open filter door, remove filters from car, remove filters from frame, and reverse the process. Again, it took me longer to type it.

I won't go back.

I bought my own oil (Mobil 1 0w20). Oil filter. I have ramps so I can remove the undercarriage panel.

They even put the wrong milage in the receipt! They are hounding me for a 30K service again. Sheesh.

I won't even write about the scheduling nightmare.