Maintenance between oil changes

tsfarling · 05-20-2012, 06:52 PM

I just have a couple questions about what I should pay attention to in between the 10k mile oil changes. Is there anything else besides tire pressure, balancing, and rotating tires that needs to be maintained? Wiper blades I guess is a gimme but if you wait that long I just want to make sure that I am keeping an eye on the cars health. Also, anybody know what the oil changes and CVT fluid change cost? I'm sure it varies by dealer so I'm just looking for ballpark figures. Our 2010 Insight has 48k on it and the dealer had all previous maintenance records from the original leasee and it had all been done at a reputable Honda dealer. I feel like we got a good one.

dieselnine · 05-20-2012, 07:16 PM

Welcome aboard... you will love the car the more you drive it. It will take approx. 5,000 miles before you have a good feel for it's idiosyncrasies. I have a 2011 EX which now has about 19,500 miles on it. Everyone has a different opinion on much to do about this car... I am going to change the oil every 5,000 miles, as I'm on a program with Castrol to warranty the engine beyond the Honda warranty. Also, I plan on changing the transmission fluid and the in-line filter at every other oil change. The dealer here didn't even know there was a transmission fluid filter, thus they wound up changing the fluid twice... the second time they installed the filter I brought with me. The guy still swore it didn't have an easily changeable transmission fluid filter, but once I handed the filter to him he did a little more research.

Cobb is the expert on the car... he's been busy with a lot of stuff lately, but there are other really smart owners who will be happy to give you tips and such. don't forget to use the search function, as a lot of stuff has been hashed out already...

Enjoy!!

tsfarling · 05-20-2012, 09:48 PM

I think that the autostop feature will take the most getting used to. It really makes you think about how often you actually dont' fully stop at stop signs in a regular car. I see people roll through them all the time now that I have to come to a complete stop in order to not have that awkward moment when the engine is trying to shut off while i want to accelerate. Thanks for the tips. I will keep browsing the site for more tips and tricks. Looks like the Eco mode might do better in the off position while driving through hills. I hope to find more tidbits of info like that.

egads · 05-21-2012, 02:33 AM

There just isn't much maintenance on any modern vehicle. The oil change interval is not fixed. The oil life is determined by many things, including but not limited to: number of starts, cold starts, amount of miles traveled after a start, engine temp during a run. Basically a computer can make better decisions than a human can about a machine. Relax and drive it. Just save up for the special spark plugs (it does not have a timing belt) There are 8 of them, 4 each of two different kinds. Full retail (what a dealer will want) is $18-20 each!
My wife drives and pays for it's service, here what she paid before taxes & discounts:

Oil change: $47.53

Trans fluid: $79.20

And by the way, who has ever heard of a Honda engine failure?

godown1 · 12-25-2012, 11:19 PM

79 dollars to change transmission fluid.... u sure on that number my dealer wanted to charge me 249..... id rather do it myself

Cobb · 12-26-2012, 07:06 AM

It varies from dealer to dealer. I paid 50 bucks for 3 qts of cvt fluid alone.

godown1 · 12-26-2012, 10:45 AM

Oh I c..... how often should it be done I read somewhere that every 30k miles I have 49k and this is the first time my dealer mentioned this so im pretty sure it wasnt done when I serviced it at 33k ???

Cobb · 12-26-2012, 11:16 AM

The temple of vtec interviewed a designer or engineer and he suggested every 10k miles because of the start clutch. Those of us who change it tried that and it seems to work best in regards to performance. Some even go as far as to change the inline filter to the cooler.

I swear it looks like from the parts book we also have a tradational filter inside the oil sump like most automatics.

godown1 · 12-26-2012, 11:48 AM

Thx for the info decided to start doing my own maintainance on the car

Cobb · 12-26-2012, 01:13 PM

Sure, there is a video I made on another thread. I am at work and cant do youtube.

Also its a good idea to bleed/change brake fluid every 2 years or so. It takes 1.5 bottles of Honda regular dot 3 fluid. You also start at the wheel cloest to the brake reserve vs farthest away and pump til its clear.