Honda Car Forum

Hi All,

I have tried looking for answers but didn't see any...

I have a 2003 Honda Civic EX with about 45,600 miles on it (yeah I
know it is really quite low).
I got it from someone in Georgia who rarely drove it than drove it out
to UT and have had it about a year out here. I had the oil changed
once around 44k since it was 6 months after I bought the car.
However, my question now is this:

I have read the service manual with both normal and severe conditions
but the amount I drive my car is almost nothing, less than 7k a
year....therefore should I be following the manual in terms of when to
service it or should I just get new oil changes, tire rotations, etc
every 6 months or every 12 months?
I drive it pretty much daily but the distance is less than 5 miles in
any one trip and less than 15 miles per day most days so it is being
used but just for shorter trips with occasional longer trips.

I want this car to last me another 10 years at least so I want to take
care of it but I can't find anywhere what kind of maintenance to do on
it when I drive it such short distances in a year.

Thanks!

Buy an owner's manual or service manual if you don't have already. All of
the maintenance specified in these books says XXXXX miles OR XX months.
Follow which ever applies.

For instance, oil changes on your 2003 civic would be every 5000 Miles or 4
months, whatever comes first.

t

maanstoos@gmail.com wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>I have tried looking for answers but didn't see any...
>
>I have a 2003 Honda Civic EX with about 45,600 miles on it (yeah I
>know it is really quite low).
>I got it from someone in Georgia who rarely drove it than drove it out
>to UT and have had it about a year out here. I had the oil changed
>once around 44k since it was 6 months after I bought the car.
>However, my question now is this:
>
>I have read the service manual with both normal and severe conditions
>but the amount I drive my car is almost nothing, less than 7k a
>year....therefore should I be following the manual in terms of when to
>service it or should I just get new oil changes, tire rotations, etc
>every 6 months or every 12 months?
>I drive it pretty much daily but the distance is less than 5 miles in
>any one trip and less than 15 miles per day most days so it is being
>used but just for shorter trips with occasional longer trips.
>
>I want this car to last me another 10 years at least so I want to take
>care of it but I can't find anywhere what kind of maintenance to do on
>it when I drive it such short distances in a year.
>
>Thanks!

--
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loewent via CarKB.com wrote:

> Buy an owner's manual or service manual if you don't have already. All of
> the maintenance specified in these books says XXXXX miles OR XX months.
> Follow which ever applies.
>
> For instance, oil changes on your 2003 civic would be every 5000 Miles or
> 4 months, whatever comes first.

Also, keep in mind that short trips are harder on a car than long ones.
Your engine will last much longer with a long commute on the freeway than
it will with frequent short trips.

But if you are not aggressive on the accelerator, and you keep up with
maintenance, you'll be fine for a long time. Just get the oil changed at
the interval for normal driving.