Maintenance General Information

Why Maintain Your Vehicle?

Following the scheduled maintenance schedule closely helps protect against major repair costs caused by neglect or improper maintenance, and can help increase the value of your vehicle when sold or traded in. Keep all receipts for maintenance performed on your vehicle.

We have established regular maintenance intervals for your vehicle based on rigorous testing. It is important that your vehicle is serviced at the proper time. These intervals serve two purposes: first, to maintain the reliability of your vehicle, and second, to reduce the cost of vehicle ownership.

You are responsible for performing all scheduled maintenance and ensuring that the materials used meet the specifications listed in this Owner's Manual. See Capacities and Specifications.

Failure to perform scheduled maintenance may void warranty coverage for parts affected by the lack of maintenance.

Why Service Your Vehicle at Your Dealership?

Factory-Trained Technicians

Service technicians participate in extensive factory-sponsored training and certification to help them become experts in servicing your vehicle. Ask your dealer about the training and certification of their technicians.

Our Genuine Parts

Dealerships stock genuine or authorized remanufactured replacement parts. These parts meet or exceed our specifications. Parts installed at your dealership are covered by a 24-month or unlimited mileage (kilometers) nationwide parts and labor limited warranty.

If you do not use our authorized parts, they may not meet our specifications, and depending on the part, this may affect emissions compliance.

Convenience

Many dealerships have extended evening and Saturday hours to make your service visit more convenient, and they offer one-stop shopping. They can perform any service your vehicle requires, from routine maintenance to collision repair.

Protecting Your Investment

Maintenance is an investment that pays dividends in the form of increased reliability, durability and resale value. To maintain proper operation of your vehicle and its emissions control system, be sure to perform scheduled maintenance at the specified intervals.

Your vehicle is equipped with the Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor; a message appears in the information display when the oil change interval is reached. This interval may be up to one year or 10,000 miles (16,000 km). Hybrid vehicles may exceed 10,000 miles (16,000 km).

When the oil change message appears in the information display, it is time for an oil change. Be sure to change the oil within two weeks or 800 miles (1,300 km) of the message appearing, whichever comes first. Be sure to reset the Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor after every oil change. See Oil Life Monitor Reset.

If your information display resets prematurely or stops working, follow the oil change interval of six months or 5000 miles (8000 km) from the last oil change. Never exceed one year or 10,000 miles (16,000 km) between oil change intervals.

Your vehicle is very complex and is built with many sophisticated systems. Each manufacturer designs these systems using different specifications and performance characteristics. This is why it is important to rely on your dealer for proper diagnosis and repair of your vehicle.

We have recommended maintenance intervals for various components and systems based on engineering tests. We rely on this testing to determine the most appropriate mileage for changing oils and fluids to protect your vehicle at the lowest overall cost to you. Maintenance schedule recommendations may differ from the scheduled maintenance information.

We strongly recommend using only our genuine or authorized remanufactured replacement parts, designed specifically for your vehicle.

Additives and Chemicals

This owner's manual and our Service Manual list the recommended additives and chemicals for your vehicle. We do not recommend using chemicals or additives not approved by us as part of routine maintenance of your vehicle. Please refer to your Warranty Information.

Oils, Fluids and Flushing

In many cases, a change in fluid color is a normal operating characteristic and, by itself, does not necessarily indicate a problem or that the fluid needs to be changed. However, a qualified technician, such as factory-trained service personnel at your dealer, should inspect discolored fluids that also show signs of overheating or contamination by foreign materials immediately.

Be sure to change your vehicle's oils and fluids at the specified intervals or together with repairs. Flushing is an effective way to replace fluid in many vehicle subsystems during scheduled maintenance. It is essential that systems are flushed only with new fluid, the same as that required to fill and operate the system, or with a chemical flush approved by us.

Owner Checks and Services

Be sure to perform the following basic maintenance checks and inspections monthly or every six months.

Multi-Point Inspection

To ensure proper vehicle operation, it is important that the systems on your vehicle are checked regularly. This can help identify potential problems and prevent major problems. We recommend performing the following multi-point inspection at each scheduled maintenance interval to ensure your vehicle continues to operate properly.

1 Brake, engine coolant reservoir, automatic transaxle and windshield washer

2 If your vehicle is equipped with a temporary mobility kit, check the tire sealant expiration date. Use by the date printed on the canister. Replace as necessary.

Be sure to ask your dealer service advisor or technician about the multi-point vehicle inspection. This is a comprehensive way to thoroughly check your vehicle. Your checklist gives you immediate feedback on the overall condition of your vehicle.