Maintenance on a 2002 Accord

Hello everyone.

At the beginning of the year I bought a brabd new Accord LX. When it comes time to buy another car I will certainly buy another Accord, but this time with leather and all the extras.

The question I have is about maintenance. I have been taking it in for oil changes and service at every 3500 miles as the maintenance manual suggests. The dealer has suggested that I do it at every 7500 miles. Is 7500 miles intervals normal for these cars?

neopipil

I'm not sure why the dealer would recommend you service it less often than the manufacturer says....that seems backwards.

It generally depends on your climate. If you live in a warm climate, you should follow the standard interval for oil changes as listed in your manual. If you live in the Northern US or Canada, you should follow the severe schedule.

Mine are listed in KM's, but the severe schedule is every 6000km, or roughly 3500 miles. I would say that the normal weather schedule probably suggests every 5000 miles. Be sure to check out the back of your manual, that's the best way to go.

Where do you live and how do you drive? Your owner's manual explains which schedule you should follow depending on the conditions and the type of driving you do.

The "normal" schedule is 7500 miles. The "severe" schedule is 3500 miles. I recommend you read both the normal and severe schedules in the owner's manual and then follow whichever you feel is more appropriate.

One thing's for certain, you won't do any damage to the car by changing the oil frequently. The only thing hurt is your pocketbook. Just make sure you don't exceed the mileage/time limits.

Another thing to consider, though, is time. I don't put many miles on my car, thus I change the oil every 3 months since I consider Texas heat and my short trips to be severe conditions. The normal schedule assumes that you put 15k on a year and change it every 6 months. If you want to follow the normal schedule, then either change it every 6 months or 7500 miles, whichever comes first. If you want to follow severe, change it every 3 months or 3500 miles, whichever comes first.

Hope this helps.

b

SilverCoupe2k1 and Spoogenet,

Thank you very much for your comments and suggestions. I guess there is no substitute for reading the user's manual.

I live in the New York, New Jersey area. The weather has been extremely hot lately here. The weather conditions and my driving habits put me in the severe schedule. I drive a combination of short trips and frequent long highway trips.

Thanks once again.

neopipil

[ebpda9]

i guess they did not change the "luser" manual in a long time . mine says about the same