HAcEx01

My car is 2001 Honda Accord Coupe EX,

I got my 60,000 maintenance done about month ago and about couple days later my car started to shake during complete stop and idle. I didn't think much of it but it started to get worse so today I went to another dealership to have them check my car and come to find out I needed my valve adjusted. I called back dealership where they did my 60,000 maintenance and they told me the 60,000 package does not include valve adjustment. So I paid roughly 300 for 60,000 maintenance and now I just paid 250 for valve adjustments. Car has 70,000 miles now within 3.5 years. I am glad now my car is well maintenanced and fixed but I feel like I paid too much for everything. I was about to write a formal letter to see if there is possible way to receive some sort of compensation from 60,000 maintenance job they did. I understad valve adjustment may not be included but for 300 I paid I feel like they should've at least checked. I don't know very much about cars so I hope you guys can give me some input in this case. Thank you.

UPDATE: Previous dealership who did 60,000 maintenance job called me back and apologized for giving me wrong information and gave me $200 voucher for next service, free rental car for a day, and free oil change. I called back the dealership which did my valve adjustment and they clarified that they also adjusted base idle level and performed fule system service. That is why the total cost came out to 236 including tax and parts. I thanked both of them for clarifying and understanding my concerns and are in good terms. After all this, I think I feel at ease going to dealerships for service. I would still like to learn to work on my own car one day.



Modified by HAcEx01 at 6:24 PM 10/22/2004

madd

with a helms manual, or even a Haynes (and basic hand tools and feeler gauges) i believe that you could have done it yourself.

go buy a helms manual (ebay has good deals on used ones....they're used though, meh) and study it. take some time and you should be able to do most tune-ups (depending on how comfortable you are with working on your own car). the helms manual will give you a million steps to follow....so theres not much to miss.

free yourself from the Tierney of the dealerships!!!!!

and yes, i think thats a bit much, but thats just my opinion....i dont know how valve adjustments are usually priced....never had the job quoted, but that just seems like a lot for shoving a feeler gauge into a hole and seeing if you need to tighten the nut thingy.

HAcEx01

Yeah... I think I should study and do it myself but I just don't feel comfortable working on my own car. I am not very crafted or handy person. Thanks for your opinion. I did send email to the dealership which did 60,000 maintenance and requested some sort of compensation in formal respectful words. Not counting on it but we'll see... doesn't hurt to ask.

HAcEx01

UPDATE: Service Advisor from Shop where I got 60,000 maintenance job called me back and told me they do check valve adjustments on 60,000 maintenance package. The lady who I spoke to before over the phone gave me wrong information. Service Advisor told me he will talk to the manager and get back to me. I am going to request for them to reemburse the amount I paid to get my valve adjustments done recently at the other shop. BTW, my car is 2001 Accord EX 4cyl Coupe. Incase you guys decide to get your 60,000 maintenance job done they do valve adjustments on 4cyl models, not v6 model.

BoostedH23Accord

I hate to make you feel like you paid too much but it's really quite easy to do. simple hand tools and a feeler guage will be your freind and save you $$$

HAcEx01

It's ok. I do feel like I paid too much, too. I hope to learn to do it myself in the future. I just want to get it fixed right and thought going to the dealership was the best choice. They also give warranties on the job they fix. (e.g. 12 month or 12,000mil). I have not yet heard back from the shop, waiting patiently.

Turbowa

I hate to chime in here, but when I worked for hond we adjusted valves on ALL 4cyl accord every 30k. If it was done seperatly it only cost $99+tax. Even people I know that still work at honda charge any were from $75-99+tax. $250 is rapping you. What the hell is there labor rate an hour? Ad how many hours did they charge you for? When at honda (1.5yrs ago) labor rate was $70hr and at $99 it worked out to 1.5 hours. Witch if the tech know what he's doing, once the engine has cooled off it should only take about 30-45min top's.

HAcEx01

UPDATE: Previous dealership who did 60,000 maintenance job called me back and apologized for giving me wrong information and gave me $200 voucher for next service, free rental car for a day, and free oil change. I called back the dealership which did my valve adjustment and they clarified that they also adjusted base idle level and performed fule system service. That is why the total cost came out to 236 including tax and parts. I thanked both of them for clarifying and understanding my concerns and are in good terms. After all this, I think I feel at ease going to dealerships for service. I would still like to learn to work on my own car one day.

JimBlake

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HAcEx01 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... I would still like to learn to work on my own car one day. </TD></TR></TABLE>Buy a repair manual. Even if you never actually work on your own car, it's so good to be able to actually understand what the shop is doing.

HAcEx01

I agree. Can you guys suggest where I can buy repair manual with good price? Ebay or amazon.com will do?


Modified by HAcEx01 at 10:54 PM 10/21/2004

JimBlake

The best one is from http://www.helminc.com but its about $70... (Or ebay for a used one?)

You can find Haynes or Chilton at most auto parts stores. They're ok for general stuff, but they're not nearly as detailed as Helm. Public library? I know someone who found a Acura Legend HELM manual at the library.

m0t0rhead

Buy the book, a valve adjustment for a 4 cylinder 2001 Accord Ex is 1.3 hours.

Our labor rate is $79 an hour. Which would equate to $102.70. You got ripped.

HAcEx01

JimBlake, thanks for the link.

Escobar, thanks for the information. Does $102.70 include adjusting base idle level and performing fule system service? I think on the paper, valve adjustment total cost was around 90.20 including the parts but the total of whole service was 225.

m0t0rhead

No that's just for the valve adjustment. There are no parts needed to adjust valves.