Not Much Of A Break-in Procedure - 2016 Honda Civic Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Not Much Of A Break-in Procedure - 2016 Honda Civic Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com's new long-term 2016 Honda Civic doesn't have much of a break-in procedure.

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dm7279

Honda's maintenance minder is ideal. It illuminates when 15% calculated oil life remains, giving the owner time to either schedule service or perform that maintenance themselves. In my previous Hondas, that interval was usually 6-9K miles, depending on how the car was driven.

schen72

dm7279 said:

Honda's maintenance minder is ideal. It illuminates when 15% calculated oil life remains, giving the owner time to either schedule service or perform that maintenance themselves. In my previous Hondas, that interval was usually 6-9K miles, depending on how the car was driven.

I agree that the Honda/Acura maintenance minder seems very practical and realistic. The systems from other manufacturers that don't call for oil changes until 10k+ miles just seems... wrong.

stever

Yep, no reason not to go 20,000 miles intervals.

Whatever happened to Honda "break-in" oil?

kirkhilles1

stever said:

Yep, no reason not to go 20,000 miles intervals.

Whatever happened to Honda "break-in" oil?

Wasn't aware of break-in oil, but typically the differential/4WD fluid needs to be replaced at an earlier interval. I DO love how much Honda has simplified things. 100k for coolant, spark plugs, etc? Pretty insane.

kirkhilles1

"Avoid hard braking for the first 200 miles (300 km). You should also follow this when the brake pads are replaced."

I don't understand this. One of the most critical things you can do after replacing brake pads is to "bed" them in. That involves some... serious braking pretty much to the point to where they are "melting" and to where you have limited braking power.

stever

Meh, my '99 Quest had a 105,000 spark plug interval (which I ignored until ~120k, at which point my mpg fell off a mile or so after I replaced them).

thecardoc3

The correct way for burnishing brake pads and rotors varies depending on the materials used. Normal passenger car equipment should not be abused to the point of near brake fade unless the vendor specifically directs such a routine. Even the most severe burnishing requirements don't rely on brake fade as a decision point, they use temperature specific guidelines requiring the use of infra-red thermometer measurements to confirm the results.

allthingshonda

Most cars, not just Honda, require very little maintenance. Maintenance minder is better than others since it tells you when the oil needs to be changed and all other maintenance requirements. All fluids, spark plugs, filters and belts are all part of the maintenance minder system and the bingo codes that it gives you. Oil changes are calculated by an algorithm based on driving style, distance, temperature and other factors and the rest are simply mileage based.

I remember when my Dad used to crawl under the car with a grease gun to lube the chassis and changing spark plugs 30,000 miles.

wheelmccoy

If Honda's maintenance minder is anything like Acura's, look forward to playing maintenance bingo (see Edmunds entries for the Acura TLX). Also, the MM ought to know if it's been a year since your last oil change and should also alert you as the time approaches. As for the break-in period, the simplicity is fantastic, and that it similarly applies to most modern cars is impressive.

emajor

I think I've spotted a mistake in that break in period. Given Honda's decades long reputation for brake fade and rotor warping, it should read "Avoid hard braking for the first 200,000 miles."

agent0090

dm7279 said:

Honda's maintenance minder is ideal. It illuminates when 15% calculated oil life remains, giving the owner time to either schedule service or perform that maintenance themselves. In my previous Hondas, that interval was usually 6-9K miles, depending on how the car was driven.

I agree. I love the oil monitor on my '07 Civic. I also get between 6k and 9k between oil changes, and it's just dead simple to understand: change the oil when the car tells you to. I can't understand why this isn't standard on all cars.