Take it to another mechanic. I paid $150 for mine.

 

Its not the money that am tripping about, its just that to me it sounded like it didn't justify the cost for that service.

 

getting the 60k service done for $90.00 because you work at a dealership i can understand. but the parts for my 60k service alone were $170.00.. for $150, 91Accord, your 60k service probably was more like $150 oil change and tire rotation.

 

remember this, if you take it to a dealership you will get factory parts installed, the technicians are factory trained, they have all the latest information availibile for your car. For example the independant shop down the road might do it for less but will the price be less labor or less parts? Where I live they have tons of honest engine places that work on just hondas but the labor they charge is only about 20 dollars less an hour, they make it cost less by putting on parts they get at napa or kragen's. Do they guaratee the parts or labor???? Honda dealers will for 12,000/12 months. The techs at those places do not have the latest infomation nor do they have factory support. For example when the accord service bulletin came out for the balance shaft seal retainer we ran each accord that came in by vin on the computer and any car found to need the update was givin the update while in for a service for free. If I seen an accord that didn't have the retainer installed it was put on.(during that useless inspection that we at the dealer give) does your independant guy down the street even know about the update? probably not.


What your paying for is more than you realize when you take your Honda to the dealership. We don't rip anyone off at my dealership. Matter of fact there are times when I tell my service writer to lower the labor charge because I didn't feel the time was fair to my customer. My customers know this and that's why they come back.

 

i can't argue that dealers will have more up to date information about every honda model, and that they are better suited to find problems such as balancer shaft seal. thats a very good point. i can't, however, agree completely that dealers are always fair and honest. you yourself may try to be fair and honest as much as possible, but not every honda dealer and every tech at every honda dealer is the same way - no way in hell.

santa barbara honda, for example. when i brought my car in for a free inspection (honda customer appreciation month), they told me my brakes were a bit low. when i brought it in to use the free oil change coupon they gave me, they called me and told me that my brakes were almost gone and that i should change them immediately. funny, i thought, the brakes were changed within the last year or so. so i declined their suggestion. i later took my car to exact - the verdict? 60% left on rear, 50% left on the front. so much for honest honda dealers. its now almost a year later, and my brakes are still fine.

many independent shops probably will use cheaper parts than honda dealers. this is something you should be careful of. one of the reasons i like exact motorsports so much is that they always use honda factory or better parts - even for the fluids. my spark plugs and wires were NGK, and the oil was synthetic. otherwise, all honda parts.

does being honda factory certified automatically make you a good mechanic? i'm not saying that there are underqualified or incompetent honda techs working for dealers. i mean there might be, but what i'm saying is that not every dealer and every tech is going to hold the same standards as you do. at the same time it is hard to find a good, honest independent mechanic - i'm lucky enough to have found one. but i also think that there are just as many dishonest honda dealers and techs that want to rip you off as much as they can

 

I agree, there are good and bad techs and dealers. I would like to start my own shop within the next year or so and I'm finding it hard to do it knowing Honda will not support it. I will end up being left out of the loop on the latest info and training. Believe me there are tons of new models coming out 8 just in the last 18 months. Alot of new systems are out too. They just came out with a new diag. scan tool that is windows based and is a tablet. I just completed the beginning training on it. It is light years ahead of anything I have seen before.

 

get your transmission fluid flushed instead of changed

If I were you I won't do much more though; cuase your 90K is going to be a big pricy job w/ timing belt change

these honda cars, throgh my own experience, although they don't drive too good, they seem to be reliable... The path I chose for my car is to drive it while it still runs for as little $ as possible. Mobil 1 is waste of $, changing spark wires is a waste of $, using anything more than 87 is a waste of $; having dealer service your car while all decent mechanics out there knows how to service a Honda is also a waste of $.

Part of the reason why you chose Honda is prob because it is cheap to operate; why buy the car then make it expensive to own? If that case why not drive the car cheap for now then save the money for something better later on? Do only the required and use good sense.

 

First off, a Light Year is a the distance that light travels in one year - the quote above is like saying "this diagnostic tool is trillions of miles ahead of anything I've seen before"

Ok, now back to the topic - If you ever look at the list of checks for the services, notice how many things say "inspect" and how many say "replace". I'm pretty knowledgable with cars and can perform most of the inspections myself - like checking the brakes, checking fluid levels, etc. It's damned near impossible to find a reliable and trustworthy dealer (in my experience) and I'd rather save the money and do as much as I can by myself. It just seems there are too many "inspections" and not enough replacements to justify that cost. As many people have already said, if the $500 inspection reveals the need for a new A-arm, balljoint, or CV Boot, you'll have to pay for that replacement in addition to the inspection fee.

As for the brakes, in my experience Hondas are pretty easy on brakes. My aunt's 2000 civic had 85,000 miles on it before the brakes needed to be replaced. My old 89 Civic would go for quite a while between brakes too. I don't know how my 03 Accord is, thoguh the brakes feel funny. I really have to press hard on the pedal to keep my car stopped on a hill. I rear ended someone the other day because I wasn't pressing on the brake hard enough. I was rolling about 1 inch per second and didn't realize it until I tapped the car in front of me. (I know, mostly my stupidity not the brakes)

Back to performing maintenance items by yourself:

Does the timing chain in the new 2.4 I4 need to be changed? If so, when? I don't believe the owners manual mentions this. I plan on keeping my car for over 300K miles (and at the rate I'm going, that's not too far away!). I think that's one job I'd rather let someone with experience do (until I get a garage with a lift)

 

There are decent dealers and crooked dealers, just like private mechanics.

I think our main point in this thread is it's worth it to take the time and do the things you feel confortable doing yourself, cause that's going to save the largest amount in the long run. And just because you do it yourself or even have a mechanic friend do it, doesn't mean you can't use OEM parts if you want. I've used nothing but OEM parts (except for oil and coolant) on my service and maintence and I've done everything myself. Youg gotta admit the dealer service dept charges some rediculous amounts for certain simple labor items that could easily be done by a DIY.

That's good to hear you guys run an honest service dept. More dealer service depts should be that way.

 

wow, already i don't like this guy... you want him to flush the transmission fluid and not replace it? that makes sense, doesn't it... hondas don't drive too good, eh? but of course, hondas are notorious for not driving too good that is why so many people buy them, isn't it, because everybody loves cars that don't drive too good

i've heard "light year" used in terms other than distance hundreds of times. and according to webster's dictionary, definition 2 of "light year" is: an extremely large measure of comparison (as of distance, time, or quality) <seems like light-years ago> <has light-years more talent> <two minutes and yet light-years away from the crowded village -- Suzanne Patterson> :fawk:

also, if they find something else wrong with your car while doing the inspection, aren't they supposed to confirm with you that you want it to be fixed or not? i mean otherwise they can just say "hey, your engine block needed to be replaced... so here's a bill for $2000..." or however much it would cost to replace an engine block.

so, looking at this updated list, for around $470, would you consider it more worth it?

replace engine oil/filter
replace engine oil and coolant
replace air cleaner element
inspect valve clearence
replace spark plugs
replace distributor cap, rotor, ignition wires
replace/adjust drive belts
inspect idle speed
inspect pcv valve
replace transmission fluid
inspect brakes
replace brake fluid (including abs)
check parking brake
rotate tires

replace valve cover gasket
replace valve cover washer seals
replace spark plug seals
replace fuel filter
adjust valves/timing
use all synthetic engine oil

visually inspect:
all fluid levels
tie-rod ends, steering gear box, boots
suspension components
driveshaft boots
cooling system hoses, connections
exhaust system
fuel pipes, hoses, connections