New 2019 Hatchback owner - some questions

[bumbobee]

Hi all,

I'm a new 2019 Hatchback owner LX model with Honda sensing. Canadian model, picked it up yesterday, nice red color

I have a few questions that the dealer wasn't able to answer.

1. The dealer said I should go to 15 % oil life before changing the oil as the Honda break in oil has special additives in it. He said to wait to 15 % even if it goes beyond a year? Is that accurate?

2. What is the CVT transmission fluid change interval? Like how much km or miles between changes?

3. I would like to get a set of yellow LED fog lights, is it hard to install?

Anything else I should know about my car? I read something about the 1.5 engine and CVT mixing in the CRV but not sure if the civic hatch is also affected by this?

Thanks,

Sponsored

 

[bluehatch17]

Follow the minder. Mine was at 15% before I did my first change.

I normally follow 15-25k miles for CVT. I ran my last Honda until 85k before trading it in and ended up changing it 3 times during that 85k miles. I drive a lot and averaged like 450+ miles per week. The car ran smooth as new at 85k...

There are a few clips and screws under the car. You remove those and you can change out the bulb. You do NOT need to remove the bumper. If you google the Honda instructions for fog light install, on the last few pages of the pdf, they have pictures of how to change out bulbs.

 

[bumbobee]

Thanks for the reply.

Is there any official info from Honda on CVT change intervals or is that the approx mileage the maintenance minder for CVT fluid comes on?

I don't have any fog lights installed and was wondering how hard it would be to put on aftermarket LED ones.

 

[bluehatch17]

Honestly, I would go with the Oem led if you don’t have fog lights from factory.

Factory recommended is usually 25-30k miles. But I drive a lot so I tend to do it a little more often. Your maintenance minder actually has codes to tell you what service to get done...I like to do it early preventively. It’s not crazy expensive.

 

[U.S.C]

I got my 2019 hatch and did my first oil change at 5.5k miles.

Yellow fog lights are easy to do. Just buy the yellow sticker that makes your normal light come out yellow it’s like $6 and looks good.

 

[herox]

...
Anything else I should know about my car?
...

There is, as a matter fact. We have a tradition that serves as a rite of passage for new Civic owners. Go to your center console and remove the rubber mat at the bottom and flip it over. Enjoy.

 

[Gruber]

1. The dealer said I should go to 15 % oil life before changing the oil as the Honda break in oil has special additives in it. He said to wait to 15 % even if it goes beyond a year? Is that accurate?

That's a great color choice.

Your dealer (salesman?) is about the only person recommending keeping oil for longer than 1 year under any circumstances. Honda always recommends keeping oil no longer than one year, even if the MM doesn't come up. Even Amsoil who make super-duper oil lasting for 25,000 miles still says: dump it after one year max. Mobil 1 Ultimate oil is advertised as guaranteed protection for 20,000 miles, but not a day longer than one year. It's actually called Annual Protection oil. (I'm currently using this oil, but I don't keep it for a full year and certainly not for 20,000 miles).

The long oil change intervals are due to better made engines (cooling, precision) and better oils (synthetic base and super additives), but it doesn't imply that the special factory oil also _needs_ to be kept for so many miles. If anything, the break-in periods are shorter. Even being extremely conservative, the engine is fully cooked and well done after 3-4 kmiles, and basting it in the factory oil after this is harmless, but unnecessary. Some overzealous people would change the first oil after a couple hundred miles, and this is certainly counterproductive and silly in the case of any Honda car engine built during this century.

So there is no harm in keeping the factory oil to MM 15%. I would say if the car is kept in a garage and driven in a warm and not too humid climate (Like UT or CA), a bit over one year is fine too, although this would be heresy.

Myself, I don't keep oil as long as the MM indicates, because it's easy to change it for me and because the 1.5T engine has some oil dilution with fuel, and finally because the oil gets sooty quite quickly in this engine. But I'm sure I would be fine if did follow Honda strictly and kept the oil longer.

 

[Scott_ATL]

Just an FYI for you.... page 565 of our Owner's Manual ('18 Hatchback), in the footnotes states "If a Maintenance Minder indicator does not appear more than 12 months after the display is reset, change the engine oil every year." So, I'd ignore your sales guy/dealer and follow the manual. My HB was built 6/18 and right now I'm still at 30% oil life based on the Maintenance Minder. I'll be changing it next month (1 year) regardless of the MM's percentage amount.

 

[bumbobee]

I hate how the manual says 25 k miles for CVT fluid change in severe service. I just wish they had official intervals listed for all maintenance.

I live in Toronto so we have the worst climate. Hot humid summers, cold winters.

Sponsored