Very true indeed. Someone buying a reliable, competitively priced, "Jap" car expects relatively low maintenance costs. Unlike when one buys a MB, Audi, BMW, etc. Hard to gain long term loyalty when the stealership and SOA recommends a $150+ trans fluid change every 30K.
as far as oil changes, lots of debate, on oils, intervals, filters, etc. Pick one that's tried and true with a good filter. If it's synthetic run it longer if you would like. Best thing to do is send it to Blackstone.
They told me my synthetic 5W-30 (Mobil 1 in a 2.5i and I drive HARD) that had ~6200 miles on it only looked like 4900. They recommended running it 8K miles. That scares me but I might run this one 7K and send it to them. Maybe longer if I get lazy...