Hi everyone, please don't burn me if someone has already asked this question because through my scans of previous pages I couldn't really find this topic. Anyhow here goes.
I realise Acura says there will be a maintenance light and all that stuff for when you need service because each car is dirven differently and whatnot but I was wondering is there an approximate maintenance schedule in the owner's manual? I mean stuff like the typical oil and filter changes as well as the real "big" fixes required for the car. I live in Canada so maybe the Canadian schedule (if there is one) is different than the ones in the US since we are considered "Harsh conditions".

See, my dad owns an 02 TL and so far, I really find the maintenance schedule to be annoying and quite expensive because we need to take the car in every 3 months so that's 4 times a year. To me, the maintenance schedule is really important because after all, maintaining the car is the hard part, not the initial cost of the car. Japanese cars are supposed to be cheaper to maintain than Europeans cars but very often, I find that Japanese cars need service every 3 or 4 months whereas Euro cars need maintenance every 6 months or so (very generally, not all). So in essence, while the cost of a single trip to the dealer for maintenance is cheaper in Japanses cars, the fact that they go twice as often as Euro cars might even the cost out over the course of the vehicle's life.
Any thoughts? Anyone know the exact costs of say a BMW or Audi or any car like that to compare?

 

It is supposed to vary, based on conditions.

I think for this engine, rule of thumb is easy driving every 7,500 miles and not so easy 3,750.

 

In Canada we follow the severe service maintenance intervals. The interval is greater than 3 months I think. 6000 KMs or 4 months I think. I don't have the book. Oil and filter changes are the most frequent thing you have to do. Other than that, it is relatively infrequent. The dealer picks up the cost for the first and second maintenance items on the list.

 

Standard maintenance is oil/tire rot every 7.500 and oil filter replacement every 15k. At 30, 60, 90 etc are the air filter changes in addition. The "major" maintenance is not until 105K. You can find the full owners manual on-line under the 'ownerslink' portion of the website (once registered which did not require a VIN).

 

I'd suggest sticking with the schedule in your owner's manual unless you're driving in a pattern that requires more frequent maintenance as mentioned there. A lot of dealers suggest you to get more frequent oil change, for example, to protect your investment. Absoultely B.S.