passdabuddah

I'm due for a 60,000 maintenance service soon on my 2000 accord lx and my question is, do you think its worth paying $357 for them to do these things.....

replace oil n filter
replace drain plug gasket
replace automatic transmission oil
replace air filter element
replace spark plugs
set ignition timing and inspect wires
check/fill all fluid levels as needed
clean battery terminals if needed, inspect battery fluid level
rotate n inspect tires
inflate tires to proper p.s.i.
adjust rear brake n parking brake
adjust clutch release arm free play
adjust valve clearance n replace vavle cover gasket
lube door, hatch lock n hinges
adjust all drive belts, if needed
check tie rod ends, axle boots, n steering
check suspension mounting
inspect brake hoses n lines
inspect front n rear brakes
inspect cooling system
inspect exhaust system
inspect all external lights

damn, a lot stuff they gotta do. this honda is the first i've got from a dealership ever. do you think they trying to rip me off or do you think this is worth it? i'm no so sure, there has to be something fishy cuz the price is high but then again, it is at 60,000. holla at a newbie yo!! thanks!!

C_H_A_D

no most of that stuff is easy diy whatever you cant do or dont want to have the dealer do that only or go to a local mechanic, 357 dollars for a chek up is too much money

JDM.Accord

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mood513doom &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">no most of that stuff is easy diy whatever you cant do or dont want to have the dealer do that only or go to a local mechanic, 357 dollars for a chek up is too much money</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, that's ridiculous and I've refused to pay it numerous times. There is actually a Honda dealer near me that will do that and only charge you for what they replace/work on. I took my car to them and they did the '60k' tune-up for $87 and some change. It's the best dealer I've ever run into

hometheaterman

I could do most of it myself but no way would I pay that. I think that is what it cost for our 60,000 mile maintnance and it was huge mistake paying it. The dealer around here also always finds something wrong like the muffler has a hole in it or something stupid like that. It may not have been at 60,000 miles but they said the muffler had a hole in it and it had already been replaced a year before and they made the mistake of giving us the old muffler and it looked fine to me and it may have been a little crack at the weld but no one that looked at it thought anything was wrong but that and only 1 guy thought that and he said he didn't think it was but it might have possibly been. Dealers are a ripoff.

passdabuddah

thanks for the reply guys! i'ma read the manual and have some fun working the car myself this weekend or maybe call around for price estimates.

A340600

Yes, it is worth it. If you don't do major service, you can start kissing the major parts of your car goodbye way premature. A new transmission costs $1500. How would you feel if your tranny started giving out at 120k miles?

Yes, it is expensive. Shack Finley Honda in Vegas wants 330 for this service. My Honda specialist wants 250.

The dealer is always good. Beware the specialists. I had one guy put a strut on my friend's car and the strut fell off on the freeway.

Just take it to the dealer. You will have quality work and, most importantly, peace of mind.

phoenixitc

Those maintenance checkups are consider cash cows by the dealerships. If you are not comfortable with doing a lot of the eyeball service yourself pay the price. It can save you money in the future. If you do some of the work, try to negotiate the price down. I did this with the tire balance/rotate/inflate since I have that done free by NTB. You can eyeball your lights yourself.

JimBlake

Wanna change your own oil? If not, you're going to pay SOMEONE to do it.

This takes about 90 seconds in AutoZone's parking lot.

A little easier than changing oil.

Timing isn't adjustable on your car.

Easy.

Good practice so you know how to change a flat tire.

C'mon! You better be doing this a lot more often than 60k miles!

Self-adjusting? But it's probably good to have brakes inspected if you're not experienced.

Hydraulic clutch isn't adjustable.

This would be a good one to have done by a mechanic for now.

Can you work an oil can?

Good inspections to have done, but maybe find some independant mechanic.

C'mon... Walk around the car & make sure they all work...

There's plenty of good independant mechanics around. There's good & bad indies, there's good & bad dealers. It's all about who you trust.

If you want to learn to do some of those yourself, don't begin with the brakes. That can kill someone.

Heat

Here's what you should do:

1. Replace the oil yourself, or go to an oil change place (includes filter, drain plug gasket). Replace the air filter and spark plugs yourself, it's really an easy job (on this car the plugs are all right there). Check the fluid levels and battery terminal (clean the terminal with a wire brush and a water / baking soda mixture, though your battery is probably clean). Check external lights (have a person sit in the driver's seat and turn on the signals, hit the brakes, etc).

Costs: $20 for the oil change (~ $11 if you do it yourself), $6 or so for four sparkplugs, $1 for a gapper for the sparkplugs if you don't already have one, $5 or so for the air filter.

2. Take your car to a transmission specialist and have them change the transmission oil. I believe that this will run $80 or so (will cost a little more if the belts need to be replaced, of course).

3. Take your car to a tire shop with mechanics. Give them a list of things to inspect:

adjust all drive belts, if needed
check tie rod ends, axle boots, n steering
check suspension mounting
inspect brake hoses n lines
inspect front n rear brakes
inspect cooling system
inspect exhaust system

At the same time that they do the tire rotation. Shouldn't cost more than ~ $30 or so for the tire rotation and inspection.

Total cost: $35 + $80 + $30 = $145 or so.



Modified by Heat at 7:02 PM 8/25/2004