After talking to my dealer and finding out just how much the price is for the 30K mile service on my 2000 Accord V6 Coupe, I have to question if I really need it or not.

$290.00 + tax for the service. According to the service person it includes: oil and filter change, coolant flush and refill, spark plug and distributor cap/rotor replacement, valve adjustment, idle adjustment, tire rotation, and full vehicle inspection.

My question is if I should really be spending this much $$$ to maintain one of "the worlds most reliable cars". Obviously the oil change is a must, but is the rest of the stuff worth it?

Also, anyone think Honda would give me grief on my current (and extended) warranties if I chose NOT to get this full service?

Thanks in advance!!!!
-Chris

 

nope, not worth it. all you need is oil, filter, and atf. tire rotation should be done every 7,500 or when you swap out winter/summer wheels.

the plugs are platinum and will last 100k. the antifreeze honda uses now is good for like 5 yrs/100k. the cap/rotor are good for 75k-100k easy. idle adjustment, if it idles around 800rpm when warm your ok. valve adjustment, not necessary unless you beat the bag out of the car every day. full inspection, just a way to find something wrong with the car.

 

I agree with sleeper. All the services done on the 30k mile service can be done with your first tune up at 100k mile mark. In the manual, it says that coolant, spark plugs, and all the other things except oil change can be done at the 100k mile. So done waste your money on it. Just buy the drain plug, oil and filter and do an Oil change and call it a day.

 

so on that note, when is a valve adjustment necessary? Ive got a 94 and Ive never done it....also, is it something i can do myself with fairly decent mechanical ability without #@$%$% up things?

 

when your timing belt gets changed it should get done or if you notice a loss in power or maybe some poor gas mileage and you ruled out simple things like ignition, fuel supply you may want to consider it, and your not burning oil.

 

I talked to Honda Customer Care and they said the owners manual is just using the "engineers suggestions", but not doing everything in the 30K service would NOT void my warranty per-se. Obviously I will get an oil change, but Im not flushing away 30K mile old coolant.

Funny though, I asked her exactly why they use "first tune up at 100K" as a selling point but they wont actually let you go that long. Her answer was that "its just a guideline". Some guideline.........Im not even at the halfway point of that 100K and already their telling me I *have* to get these things done.

And I was so happy with Honda until now.

-Chris

 

That's how dealers make money.

fyi, my parents have 99 V6 coupes one with around 55K and the other around 45K. All that has been done is, oil, filter, atf, rotate tires, air filter,and a/c filter change.

after listing this I forgot to mention to change the air filter if your stock.

 

Unless you are all a bunch of idiots...YES you should do the 30k. I don't give a **** what the plugs are made of...they will not last 100k miles. I've been in the profession of fixing cars for 7 years now. My own Accord was already showing signs of the need for another tuneup...not even 30k miles after I did the last one. You want to keep your car reliable??? Then keep it well maintained. If you wait 100k miles to change your spark plugs, and distributor cap and rotor....I don't care WHO makes the engine, you're just asking for trouble.

 

my parents have a 2001 Camry V6 w/ 70k miles. My mom has taken the car for all preventative maintenance. From 5k, 15k, 30k, and 60k. She's prolly spent about $1500 doing that at Toyota. But shes happy with the car, so she'll spend money on it. But its funny because the parts on the receipt add up to say $40, and the bill with labor is like $300. I dont see the point in waiting until something breaks down to fix something.... if you have new parts all the time, your car will never give you any problems.... just do it. Hence the name Preventative.

 

a biased opinion from a mechanic

seriosly man, when I had my F22 I did my first major tune-up at 89K when I did my timing belt. I changed my plugs a few times casue they copper, so they only good for 25K or so. I replaced the distributor rotor at like 70k, it was fine. I changed plug wires around 90K. Up until my swap the car ran perfectly with regular maintenace and not following every thing little the dealership reccomends to make money. Even after my timing belt was done which includes a valve adjustment, you may have expected better peformance, but I didn't see any. I ran a 16.49 before my timing belt was done and that was as good as I could do. I'm not a mechanic, but my dad was and my best friend is a Wyo Tech grad and they would say the same thing.