The owner's manual says brake fluid needs to be changed annually. Why is this the case ? Acura only requires a change every 3 years, BMW every 2 years.

Cabin filter needs to be changed every year too ? I believe other companies require every 2 years. The cost is seems expensive when done at the dealer.

Oil change interval at 3,750 miles ? Why isn't there a maintenance algorithm to calculate service interval based on driving style ?

 

Every year is too frequent for the brake fluid. 2 years is the generally accepted interval. You can probably wait 3 years, but 2 years is recommended by most.

The cabin air filter is a cash cow for everyone in the service industry. If one thing can be neglected on the service schedule with minimum long term negative side affects, it's that filter (cars never even had these till the 90s). Note that every oil change shop/dealer will tell stories of Cabin Filters they replaced that had mice living in them, but I think that's an extreme. I change mine at 15K because I'm OCD about maint. and look for things to fix, but you could honestly probably wait till 50K if you wanted.

Outside of oil (change religiously at 3500 miles, old habit) and brakes, where I tend to focus more is on things like the trannie/diff fluid as the transmission/diff are workhouses and subject to extreme heat under normal operating conditions.

 

I change my cabin filter once a year. It does get pretty filthy. I put on close to 15k miles a year



My oil gets changed 3750 to 4k miles.

Brake fluid when the pads have worn. On my 06 G35 that was at 85k miles

I can't imagine what cabin filters would have looked like had they existed when so many smoked in their cars.

Telcoman

 

I changed my cabin and engine filters, for the first time, at 30,000 miles.
The filters still were not that bad. It must depend on what part of the country you live in.
Getting to the cabin filter is a bit of a PITA compared to a lot of other cars.
Since I went to the trouble of removing the original cabin filter to check it I figured I might as well replace it.
I have seen pictures of filters removed with less then 10,000 miles, on this forum, that needed to be replaced.
Tom

 

When we had the fires here in San Diego, the Cabin Filter was filthy at 15K. With the AC in the car, I worry more about the mildew that builds up on the coil from using the recirc function exclusively more than the cabin filter. 15K seems to be the right interval for both Cabin and Air filters.

 

Aside from the frequency of oil changes needed, the brake fluid and filter costs are minimal even at 1 year. Regardless of make / model I have also done synthetic oil at 5-6k.
I do the cabin filter because at about 10 months - year there is that strange smell that develops from using the a/c.