Please help me learn about the care and feeding of cars! I'm tired of being the dumb blonde woman who gets walked all over by car mechanics.
I took my Fit in for an oil change, and this will change soon, but at the moment, I live practically around the corner from the Honda dealership, so I just took it there. Probably a mistake, as every minor thing like an oil change seems to be an opportunity for them to suggest other, more expensive things.
Now that I am on the road to Mustachian car ownership (I traded my BMW for a Fit last year!), I want to first learn about what maintenance actually needs to be done, and then eventually if I can learn how to do some of it on my own, so much the better. I know that things like air filter changes can be an easy way for a dealership to tack on fees. This time they gave me a list of stuff, and I'm not sure what truly needs to be done. I know it's impossible for someone to tell me this without personally inspecting my car, but does any of the stuff below strike anyone as a red flag for something that probably isn't actually necessary but is just a money-maker?
Replace cabin air filter (air seems fine to me)
Replace both rear struts, which are leaking (Sounds legit, but maybe not?)
Perform air filter Arctic Blast refresh service (My car is plenty cool enough, I'm moving north very soon, and a cheesy phrase like "Arctic Blast" definitely makes me think they're just after my money.)
Perform Major Service, 30,000 miles (They don't even explain what this includes, but it's $399. Seems fishy.)
Replace windshield wiper blades (Nope. They work fine.)
Perform four wheel alignment (Nope. The car goes perfectly straight when I take my hands off the wheel.)
Perform fuel injection and body service, based on manufacture standards for time and mileage (So they're saying it might not even need to be done, but they just do it after a certain time/mileage. Kinda like the Major Service recommendation.)
Thank you, people who know things about cars, for helping me finally learn about this stuff!