Service schedule for limited mileage
Discussion
For around the last 3 years I have only been doing around 1500 miles a year in my S2000. Up until this year I have had it serviced every year however I'm wondering whether this is a bit excessive?
I think Honda recommend that it's serviced every 9k or 12 months however the 12 months seems to only be recommended to keep the Honda warranty intact; something I'm not concerned about because the car is 12 years old.
Under the above circumstances, would I be taking any kind of risk by only having it serviced it every 18 months?
I think Honda recommend that it's serviced every 9k or 12 months however the 12 months seems to only be recommended to keep the Honda warranty intact; something I'm not concerned about because the car is 12 years old.
Under the above circumstances, would I be taking any kind of risk by only having it serviced it every 18 months?
Realistically it's very hard to tell. Once exposed to moisture, oils do degrade slowly over time and coolant additives do start to lose some of their anti-corrosive properties but it's hard to say in either case whether it's significant.
For what it's worth, as an experiment I once left the OH's Punto about five years and about 25k miles without servicing... fuel economy dropped off maybe 5-10% (which was probably related to the lack of servicing) and eventually the water pump started to fail (which probably wasn't) but it did no obvious long-term harm. I gave the thing a full service just before we got rid of it and it's now still running absolutely fine another two years down the line.
Personally, I would be quite happy with an 18 month interval in your situation, but potential future buyers if you ever come to sell it might not be.
For what it's worth, as an experiment I once left the OH's Punto about five years and about 25k miles without servicing... fuel economy dropped off maybe 5-10% (which was probably related to the lack of servicing) and eventually the water pump started to fail (which probably wasn't) but it did no obvious long-term harm. I gave the thing a full service just before we got rid of it and it's now still running absolutely fine another two years down the line.
Personally, I would be quite happy with an 18 month interval in your situation, but potential future buyers if you ever come to sell it might not be.
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