Honda says the same thing about the fuel filters on their cars too (the newer cars that is being a non-maintenance item) and even goes so far as to place it in a really tight spot so you can't even reach it, so that basically after all the cursing, swearing, and mother of_____ (fill in the blank), you give up and go to the dealership to replace. But in any case, it made a huge difference and my mileage went up after replacing the filter. Dealer charged me 2 hours labor for mine in my Honda, lousy Honda engineer placement judgement :