I take it to the dealer still, and let them rip me off, since I have the feeling that most general mechanics are kind of scared of taking care of hybrids. I even called a Honda specialist since I am getting tired of the dealer, and asked if they serviced hybrids-- they said "not yet." Maybe if I could ever find a Honda/Toyota specialist with good recommendations from fellow hybrid drivers then I'll start going to mechanics again.

Until then, I'll bite the bullet on the higher bill and take it to the dealer where, as mentioned, they should know how to handle it, they should know what needs to be done every maintenance interval, and where they are keeping a record for me, in case there's any warranty issues later.

 

i did that when i took mine to the local place where i have mine done.

as for service or repairs, i have had so few things go wrong with my hondas over the years, i guess i can't remember where i took them. hubby does a lot of the fixing on our old civic, and i imagine he can do most things on the hybrid that don't relate to the battery stuff.

 

Hi;

Short and Sweet.

{Dealer Always} ; I Don'T want to Discuss a Warranty Claim Later.

But as has been mentioned here on numerious Post, It's a Individual Choice.

Terry

 

Our dealer has a 30 minute guarantee. And they don't charge any more than Crappy Lube.

 

I got a service price list when I bought my hybrid in January. They want 29.95 for an oil change. But if it's a hybrid, you have to add 19.99 to that price. I guess it's the labor to take off that cover on the bottom.

 

Actually the premium is due to the synthetic oil that Hybrids use.

 

I didn't read anywhere in the manual that it requires synthetic oil. It doesn't even say it on the oil cap.

 

Hybrids use a special grade of oil, I might be mistaken but I thought it was synthetic....

 

It is a 0W-20 oil but I don't think it is just a synthetic grade. In fact, my local repair place that specializes in Honda's just ordered this type of oil and he didn't indicate that it was synthetic.

 

I may be wrong but I read in a previous post, which said that the HCH oil used by the dealer is a special 0W20 50-50 mix of dino and synthetic oil.