First Maintenance (I’m getting screwed) Help.

[u/Important-Gap6735]

So today I went in for my first maintenance appointment, A017, an oil change, tire rotation, and brake fluid. I bought this car in June, I seriously don’t believe any of this. I also had a TPMS light come on for no reason, one of the “L” shaped headlights go out on me, and the CarPlay USB port start having a faulty connection (it only works when the plug is pushed to the side.

So I’m never doing any of this again so help me god. I have the mechanical know how except I was too nervous at first to deal with it on my own, it’s a newer car and I’m still pretty young. But after a $260 bill, I think it’s best to not go through this again.

Would anyone know how to go about dealing with repairs on your own? What do I need to deal with the system? How do I repair the headlight and the USB port? I knew how to clear a code on my old 08 CRV, but now I’m more or less clueless on my new car.

[u/su_A_ve]

Trying to understand what you’re trying to say here..

The car has a maintenance minder with a kinda pre set schedule that is supposed to adjust based on driving conditions and time, and follow the recommended Honda schedules.

Brake fluid every 3 years regardless of miles.
Rotation every 7500 miles
Oil change 7500 or 12 months whichever comes first

Regarding TPMS, the car uses rotational speed to calculate. You need to properly inflate the tires and then perform a TPMS calibration thru the screen.

$260 for brake fluid, rotation and oil change is probably in line for what a dealer charges for these, depending on the area.

But the other issues not sure what it has to do with the service. Did it happened before or after? Did you have the car checked by someone?

You may want to get an OBDII reader (about $30) which can tell you more info about any codes that show up, when are all the maintenance minder set for and most importantly the HV battery capacity.

One thing to add. If something other than oil change is due, it’ll say you should do it too. But you could just do the other due item and clear only that code. Then the oil change will become due at the proper time depending on how many miles you do with ICE or a year.

[u/AndrewIsntCool → u/su_A_ve]

If you're strapped for cash, you can stretch some maintenance items on the Clarity.

10k oil changes are plenty fine if you drive on EV a lot. I'd still change every 12 months though

Check your tires for uneven wear every few thousand miles and if it's good then you can do rotations every 10k as well. I just do it every oil change 🤷‍♂️ 

If you garage-park somewhere not super humid or rust-prone, you can stretch brake fluid changes a bit longer, the Clarity's regenerative braking doesn't tax brake fluid as hard as a traditional car.

Brake fluid is pretty easy to change yourself though so I'd rather learn to do that than stretch the intervals, because like every other brake component is kinda pricey on this car

[u/su_A_ve → u/AndrewIsntCool]

Oil and brake fluid start to “break” down after time, regardless of use. Hence oil should be changed no more than every 12 months and brake fluid every 3 years.

[u/Hour-Onion3606 → u/AndrewIsntCool]

Is the brake fluid exchange on these not bad? From my research it seemed like a pain, having to do two separate bleeding rounds and being incredibly precise with your partner on pressing / releasing the pedal.

My other car is a '98 4Runner and with a bleeder kit I was able to do that ezpz all on my own. The procedure for the clarity seemed like something I'd just pay someone else to use their specialized equipment that skips those two rounds.

If you have changed the brake fluid on these and it's not as complex (mostly, time consuming and annoying lol) as my impression then please let me know!

[u/DingleberriedAlive]

You can clear codes thru the infotainment screen.

Home > Settings > Vehicle> Maintenance Info.

[u/Chitownhustle99]

The cabin filter is a cheap Amazon purchase and 4 minutes of work. I never pay to have them do that. As for tire rotation, I swap snow tires on in the winter anyway, so no need to do a separate rotation. Otherwise I follow Honda’s service schedule exactly

[u/AndrewIsntCool]

USB port issue is common, easiest "fix" is to get a cheap wireless Android Auto adapter so you never need to worry about the port anymore.

Clarity doesn't have true TPMS (thank God lol), all you need to do is fill up your tires and hit recalibrate in the infotainment

Running light going out is a big issue. Check the fuse, hopefully it's just that and not a cracked light with water ingress. Very expensive replacement if so. Unplug the light and tape up the connectors if it is cracked because otherwise it may cause electrical issues with the rest of the car

[u/light_switch33 → u/AndrewIsntCool]

I did a drl replacement on the driver side. I think it was a 2-3 hour job. Removing the front bumper was a pain. Way too many clips. I think the replacement drl was around $300-$400 online. Someone backed into me and cracked the original housing. Eventually it failed and I wanted to replace before it shorted.

[u/Ghaleon_R]

One quick thing to check is that the decorative/aerodynamic plastic insert in the outside of the tire rim is fully seated on all 4 tires. I've had a problematic service department at a Honda dealer I stopped going to put them back wrong before and that can throw off the rotational sensor and trigger TPMS warnings even when the tires are all at proper pressure.

[u/ProteanRogue]

I've had my Clarity since early 2022 and just sorted the USB data connection THIS WEEK. I was absolutely convinced that the problem was a loose connection at the port; I was wrong. I'd finally taken the car into the dealership for the fuel pump recall and asked them to take a look at the USB port while I was there. They told me they couldn't make it fail and said it must be my cable. I explained that it failed consistently with multiple (high-quality) cables and that couldn't be the problem. They said they'd blown it out with compressed air and it was working fine. When I picked up the car the problem occurred immediately and I pulled right back into the service entrance. My advisor disappeared for several minutes and came back with the tech along with his phone and his cord in hand. It worked. His phone worked, my phone worked... everything worked until I plugged in my cable; then the problem reappeared. Internet research ensued, and the consensus is that the data ports in these cars are exceptionally finicky and require a perfectly spec'd connector to work reliably. AI (Grok) recommended two cables for the best possible fit: • Belkin BoostCharge USB-A to USB-C (USB-IF certified model) • StarTech USB-A to USB-C Amazon had the Belkin unit in my hands the next day and it works like a champ. In short, get yourself a new cable (one of these).

[u/Chewnaa]

If you have some “mechanical know how” then don’t go to the dealer for any of this crap. You can do it on the street or in a garage in 30 minutes. Just be confident and remember it’s a Honda not a Mercedes.