[Philmeistr]

Hi,

I've been lurking for the past two weeks and have really learned a lot from everyone. My 2001 CVT (19K miles) came from Carmax, and I'm wondering if Carmax necessarily followed the specs in the manual when changing or replenishing the oil or other fluids when they first got the car.

Not that I've had any problems -- I have no reason to think that they didn't follow specs, other than the fact that the Insight has some slightly different maintenance requirements than other cars (tire pressure, oil viscosity, etc.) I don't doubt the competency of Carmax mechanics, but on the other hand I can see how a non-Honda mechanic might overlook something that wouldn't matter in a more mainstream car.

Is this a cause for concern? Are the Insight's other fluids -- brake, transmission, coolant, etc -- pretty standard or also untraditional? This is my first car so I don't have a good sense yet of issues related to fluids. A Honda dealer inspected the car a few days after I bought it and found everything in great shape. Any thoughts you all have would be much appreciated.

Phil Jones

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

As you have gathered from the Forum, the right oil viscousity and tyre pressure are the main differences to check. If your Honda dealer has checked your Insight over and not managed to find work for themselves, then it sounds as if you are safe enough. I would check your tyre pressures every two weeks if you have them 44psi plus.

 

[james]

Check the oil, and see if it is over-filled. It takes about 2.6 quarts, versus 4 or 5 for most cars. If they were careless and just dumped in three bottles, then maybe they didn't use the correct 0w20 oil either.

 

[rjmoravs]

I had my 7,500 oil change. The dealer tries to sell a $95 check this, check that deal but I insisted on the recommended Honda maintenance. They still changed the filter anyway and dumped 4 quarts into the car. Lucky I caught it right away but service had closed already. I had to slowly drive it to my regular shop the next day, to have 1.4 quarts removed.

I wrote a real detailed letter to the owner of the Honda dealer. I got a phone call from the shop manager with an apology but they still insisted they know more then Honda. They refunded the total job !!!!!

 

[james]

Four quarts? That's major league dumbness there! Three I can almost understand, just out of lazinesss, but four they'd have to work at. Especially with the Mobil 0W20 at about $4.75 per quart.

Another good argument for doing oil changes yourself.