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Honda Civic Care and Maintenance
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Comments
As far as extended warranty, I agree that there is a chance that you may incur a very expencive repair after the manufacturer's warranty has expired. I don't have the numbers, but since warranty/insurance companies are in business that means they are making money on these plans. That would mean that statistically you have a slim chance of somehting major breaking. Second scenraio, you went out and bought extended warranty on your brand new car, then it gets stolen. That is $800 gone. Worse off, your car is involved in an accident, most warranties give you hard time paying if your vehicle has been in an accident.
I think by putting that $800 into a high yeld accound you will earn some money after 36 months and then if something breaks, chances are it will not cost you $800 to fix.
With that said, I don't think I'd ever buy an extended warranty again. I've owned a lot of Hondas over the years, and only once have I had a problem that an extended warranty would have covered -- a starter that failed on my '95 Accord.
All these Honda's have been in my family, and the miles they had on them when we sold:
89 Accord (92k miles, no problems)
90 Civic (130k miles, no problems)
92 Accord (23k miles, no problems)
92 Accord (72k miles, no problems)
92 Civic (70k miles, no problems)
95 Accord (132k miles, starter failed-$100 for rebuilt)
98 CR-V (45k miles, no problems)
00 Odyssey (33k miles, a few problems covered under warranty)
01 Accord (61k miles, no problems)
So, If I had bought extended warranties on all these vehicles, I would have spent $7,200 to cover my one failure ($100 starter).
The problem with extended warranties is that they don't cover the things you are going to spend money on, like tires, brakes, timing belts, tune ups, exhaust pipes, etc. The things they do cover don't typically fail until after the 100k mile mark -- well past the mileage a warranty will cover.
Honda ran out? If so that ups the cost of the warranty when you actually do have
to replace something which the warranty partly covers.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
have the S supercharged model this doesn't apply to you.
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Also, there is a TSB out advising not to use 93 in the P because of carbon buildup. Check post
#2536 of 2584 by misty8
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(Bulletin No: 01-027/02
APPLICABLE MODEL(S)/VINS
All 1995 - 2002 Millenia models with 2.5L V6 (KL)
Description
After a cold start, MIL comes on with DTC P0300 to P0306 stored in the memory. In most cases, this concern may be caused by misfire occurring in one cylinder during idle. The use of premium fuel (high-octane fuel) may be allowing carbon deposits to accumulate on the exhaust valve seat, causing momentary insufficient compression.
To correct this concern, remove carbon deposits using a suitable top engine cleaner.
Note: After removing the carbon deposits, be sure to advise the customer to use lower-octane fuel
(87 or 89 octane) to help prevent future recurrences.)
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And this is from AllData:
5- 0102702 APR 03 Engine - MIL ON/ DTC's P0300 - P0306 Set
http://alldata.com/TSB/33/02333664.html
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Premium wastes money and may cause more problems. Does the warranty cover use of premium fuel if it causes a carbon problem? Does the extended warranty???
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2) Premium fuel can be used albiet a waste of money in a Honda since octane requirement in Accord/Civic is 86+.
3) It has no effect on warranties.
I would bet that any engine with proper maintenance per manual will not "blow up". Even if it did have catasprophic repair most likely at that period so close out of warranty if you are persistent but nice you can typically have it repaired by the manufacturer. How many Honda's has any known that the engine was complete junk and non-repairable that was maintained and had low miles? The warranty company is betting nothing happens which is quite typical and more like the majority of cases out there. Life would be miserable replacing an engine.
And if it required spending $4000 I would spring for it. I have saved enough money avoiding car payments/warranty payments for the last 5 years of my cars life.
My car 95 Civic EX requires valve clearance inspection every 30k miles. It typically costs $70 by my local Honda dealer. Do the new Honda's require this extra maintenance? My older cars never required this extra maintenance item, just curious.
Thanks for any insight
thanks again
There is nothing that says you have to take your car to the dealer for service. If that were the case, it would have to be to the selling dealer; but many people use other dealers because of distance or problems with the selling dealer for service on a new car.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
change your oil at 5000 miles or at 6 months from purchase (whichever first). Your Honda has special break in oil that is needed intially.
Just keep your receipts for the oil changes and perform the regular maintenace your car will be fine.
Other people prefer to keep their vehicles longer. One of my friends has a '91 CRX that has over 230,000 miles on it. It still runs great and is fun to drive, too. My '99 CR-V is approaching 60,000 miles and I still think of it as my "new" car. I'll probably keep it until at least 150,000 miles, and maybe longer.
To each his own.
Thanks!
While you can't tell about frequency of oil changes without pulling the heads and doing a compression check, it runs strong so I should be OK...no blue "puffing" coming from the tailpipe.
Of a little concern is how the auto tranny shifts...a little harder than I'm used to....but I chalk that up to driving much more expensive cars that have bigger engines and smoother shift algorhythms
I'll give it a new home tonight.
$7K for a smooth running Civic VP with 61K miles, good rubber and A/C blowing cold.
We have a '03 Civic EX with a nice auto starter installed. We can leave the recircuation and A/C on in the morning and they come back on. But, the rear defroster, shuts off once you shut down the vehicle, even if you do not turn off the button. There has got to be an easy way to override this???? Do anyone out there have the tech knowledge on this???
To the posts regarding mileage, I sold my 1990 Civic EX with 236,000 miles on it to another solier on base a couple of years ago. I needed a bigger car for very long trips to upstate NY. I cared for the car from day #1 and had a very good dealership (Town and Country, Montpelier, VT) take care of the difficult stuff. I changed the oil at 5K intervals, and never did anything special in the way as additives. Other maintenance was done via myself or the dealership, as regular intervals, by the shop manual. Nothing fancy, nothing high tech. I used regular Exxon Mobil superflo oil, again nothing special. The car, besides the battered exterior from New England winters, burned about 1/2 quart per 5K, almost not enough to add at the next oil change. I used the car extensively in 7 New England winters and two X country trips.
For those of you discussing REAL world circumstances, this is for you to extrapilate. Those of you that have not owned a car over 200,000 miles or longer, really cannot judge their extras fairly.
I hope this info is helpful. If anyone knows how to override the defroster so the switch stays on when the car is shut off, please let me know. Again not the rear defroster itself, but the switch.
Thanks.
A.Fisch
Thanks.
I would wait until 5k miles just because it doesn't need to be done until then. I have a 2003 civic ex coupe and have 11000 on it...changed the oil twice so far at 5000 and 10000. I took a little pen light and shined it inside the valve cover and see no build up at all same with my 95 civic I used to own. I was a little hesitant at first about a 5000 mile oil change but I think since the manufactures are producing cleaner, more efficient engines, 5000 miles is plenty for an oil change.....although am kind of comfortable with the maintinence schedule, I still have the mindset that if I'm going to change the oil in my car every 5000 instead of 3000, the only oil going in it is Mobil 1 full synthetic....:)
driving larger cars or SUVs, despite whether you traded from big to small or if you still have the larger vehicle. He's especially looking for drivers of the Mini Cooper, Honda Civic, Ford Focus, Dodge Neon, Hyundai Tiburon and Mazda Protege. Please respond to jfallon@edmunds.com by Tuesday, October 28, 2003 with your daytime contact info and the type of vehicles you had and have.
Thanks!
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