How does a car owner stay current?

[William McClurg]

I have a 1993 Honda accord EX with 232k (miles) that I have maintained pretty darn well. I’ve put the last 80k of 232k on it behind my sister, the first 60k, and my father the middle 90k. I’m pretty comfortable with my engine. If someone tells me to take the VC off and adjust the valves, I can do that, there’s not a gasket on it that I can’t replace. I’m timid that I don’t know how to do a lot of things to it simply because I haven’t done them before, but I learn more about it every time I open the hood. This weekend will be the first time I’ve done a clutch MC/SC, but with ETCG vids I’m pretty comfortable with it. All that said, we just got rid of a trouble making 2001 VW Jetta and replaced it with a 2012 Honda Accord. Granted this is a lease, and I won’t have to do a bunch of really long term(beyond 36k miles) maintenance to it. I’d like to use this car as a practice run for my next million mile car. My wife is new to the idea of a million mile car, and I’ve introduced her to a maintenance journal including every single time you fuel up: how much you put in it, and how many miles are on the car along with all maintenance major and minor. The way I figure is the first thing a Honda motor tells you that it has a problem is in the fuel economy. All that being said, I’m a little intimidated moving to a new Honda power plant. (Quite frankly I boycotted my wife’s Jetta. I changed the headlights once, and that was the last time I opened the hood on it.) How does the home oil changer become familiar with a new power plant? How does a private mechanic do the same thing? What is the best way to learn about a 2012 Accord 2.2? Eric, I doubt you’ve had many 2012s roll into your shop… What would you do?

Topic

[mckrishes]

Although newer cars have more advanced features than previous, the fundamentals are the same. I would obtain the factory service manual and read through it to familiarize yourself with your new vehicle.

[William McClurg]

I thought the new FSMs were all electronic and not available unless you worked for Honda.

[mckrishes]

You can get a paper manual online written by Honda by going to http://www.helminc.com. Or by calling them at 1-800-782-4356. I got that from the owners manual online here:

http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/OM/E01212/E01212OM.pdf

[William McClurg]

Wowser at the price!! I’ll not spend the money on it for this car since we just leased this one. Like I said, this will be practice for our next million mile car. This is actually the first new car I’ve ever owned, so it’s nice it’s a lease, and I can learn the how to’s of a proper break in procedure. Coincidentally, I can get the FSM for my 93 for less than $20!!! Less than a Chilton on Haynes manual!

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