Well, it's time for that 90k mile service.. is there any cheaper way to do it than through the dealer? They charge $300 for some simple maintenance crap. Is it necessary to have it done through the dealership to make it a LEGIT service and have the maintenance light turned off? Suggestions, positive feedbacks?

 

I let the dealer do it for me since it was in the MIDDLE OF WINTER and i had no place to work on my car

This is what 90K is

adjust parking brake
Change engine oil and filter
change air filter
change cabin filters
adjust belts
inspect car for wear and tear (suspension)
inspect brakes (your rear ones may be due for a change)
lube any cassis parts that need it

 

yeah.. all that and for $300? Just wanna know if there's an alternative.

 

do it yourself. I would this time of year..

 

If it's a '98 or '99 4 cylinder, add replacing the spark plugs. Also, replace the transmission fluid.

What is the year and engine size of your Accord?

And what do you mean by "legit service"? None of the stuff listed has to be done by the dealer. You can do much of it yourself and can piece out the rest, cutting costs even further (for example, take it to whereever you buy tires to have them do a tire rotation and check the brakes at the same time). Take it to a certified mechanic to do the transmission flush (unless you want to do it yourself), have them go through the inspection checklist at the same time. Things that you can easily do yourself: Change spark plugs, air and cabin filter, and the oil and filter change.

And as for the service light, you can easily turn that off yourself. Do you have the owners manual? What about a Helms (or Haynes) manual?

Edit: It's an '81? Scratch what I said above, I have no idea what needs to be done or how hard it is to do yourself.

 

This is a very important service to have done on your 1981 accord, the owners manual has a list of the things to be done during this service.

 

If you don't have the time, tools, and know-how, pay the experts to do it for you. You don't have to have the maintenance done at the dealership, but it needs to be done by someone, and documented (written down).

 

it's a 2000 accord lx v6 coupe

 

300 dollars is way too much money,,
here is what alldata says to do on a 90k and this is severe service.....

air filter $ 20-25
cabin filter $ 25-30
oil and filter $ 25
tranny fluid change using ATF-Z1 $ 20-25
brake fluid , including ABS $ 2-4
tire rotate...
the rest is in labor ,, of course they chk this and chk that ,, they are also suppposed to lube the door hinges
it will take a tech probably 45 to 60 minutes ,

if you don't mind getting your hands dirty you can save a bunch..

try something... take the list of things to be replaced and ask them how much to replace them individualistically ..it will be a lot cheaper
And by the way you DO NOT have to have the dealership do your service to make it legit ,, anyone can do it ,, just make sure it is a reputable shop ..As for the maintanance lite it takes 20 seconds to clear ... Hold the reset button on the lower rt, in the instrumant cluster, put turn the key on, keep holding in the button for 15-20 seconds and lite will clear

 

Isn't the timing belt due at 90k? If so, that would make $300 a really good deal (too good to be true).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JimBlake &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Isn't the timing belt due at 90k? If so, that would make $300 a really good deal (too good to be true).
</TD></TR></TABLE>

cute... t-belt and spark plugs they advice to do at 105k,,
but i am sure they will charge over 600 dollars for the t-belt alone

 

I think the timing belt is at 105,000 miles. He better start saving for that one. That's one thing you don't skimp on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by accord-pro &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...try something... take the list of things to be replaced and ask them how much to replace them individualistically ..it will be a lot cheaper ...</TD></TR></TABLE>
Funny how that works, but it's true. If you call the dealer and ask for the (whatever) mile service the cost will be higher than if you price out each component at the same dealership. You'd think that they'd give a price discount, but they don't. Then again, they may be adding things to 90,000 maintenance schedule that's not on the list. My local dealer likes to add valve adjustment to most, if not all, scheduled maintenance lists.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by accord-pro &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...air filter $ 20-25
cabin filter $ 25-30
oil and filter $ 25
tranny fluid change using ATF-Z1 $ 20-25
brake fluid , including ABS $ 2-4
tire rotate...
...</TD></TR></TABLE>
Out of this, the cabin filter, oil and filter, and air filter would be easy to do yourself. The cabin filter is a little tedious to get to, but it's not hard (with a Helms or Haynes manual), just disassembling the right part of the dash / glove box.

And the tire rotate can be done wherever you bought your last set of tires, probably for free. Ask them to check the brakes while they are rotating the tires.

Which pretty much leaves the transmission fluid change and the brake fluid change, and some labor for going through the inspection checklist. Will be much lower than $300... I would seriously consider at least going to the dealer for the automatic transmission work, the automatics in that era were problem-prone (at least on the 4 cylinders, I'm assuming the 6 cylinders also).

By the way, do you know if the engine coolant was replaced at 75,000 miles? If not, it was due, have that done now.

 

some dealers here (bloomington honda) charge $700 for the tbelt without changing the water pump and an extra 230+ for the pump.


My dealer charges $700 for everything (brooklyn park honda) including the water pump and changing all of the wearable parts they take off...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by YeuEmMaiMai &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">some dealers here (bloomington honda) charge $700 for the tbelt without changing the water pump and an extra 230+ for the pump.


My dealer charges $700 for everything (brooklyn park honda) including the water pump and changing all of the wearable parts they take off...</TD></TR></TABLE>

it is a major major rip off to charge that much extra to replace the water pump while doing a t-belt,, customer should pay for the pump ,,70-120 dollars, depends on year and model and 15 to 30 minutes extra in labor if any...
we do not charge extra labor to replace the water pump. just for the cost of the pump,,it is a good customer relation ,,heck it only really takes 10 minutes if that ,,

to do the complete job we charge $ 610,, using all honda parts, seals, outer belts, pump, all included,,
but different states and or cities have different labor rate ,,( cost of living etc etc ) .

 

i believe that labor rate is 105/hr

but all of these guys are on strike around here I f'ing hate UAW man (no offence to you but you KNOW us customers are going to get ripped on this) They are on strike because they do not like the fact that the dealers want to reclassify some jobs for the newly created light duty tech and reduce hours worked by the higher paid mechanics....so we have not had any service here for about 2 weeks now.....


so no free inspection for us...........

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by YeuEmMaiMai &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i believe that labor rate is 105/hr

but all of these guys are on strike around here I f'ing hate UAW man (no offence to you but you KNOW us customers are going to get ripped on this) They are on strike because they do not like the fact that the dealers want to reclassify some jobs for the newly created light duty tech and reduce hours worked by the higher paid mechanics....so we have not had any service here for about 2 weeks now.....


so no free inspection for us...........</TD></TR></TABLE>

$ 105 is quite a bit more than we charge,,,,,, we are at $ 70 hr

ehy , that is the reason i quit the dealer and opened up my place 10 years ago,,
because i was getting all the **** work,, here i was, 16 years experience , TOP TECH ,, over $ 75k in tools and box, and someone with a 200 dollars tool set was making more than me , because of the way the work was being distributed,,
since i had the most experience i used to get all the troubleshooting cars, runnubility problems, electrical problem, carb overhuals, and diagnostic work,, harldy any services, timing belts etc etc the so called money making jobs,,
do not get me wrong it is not the less experienced techs fault ,, it is the way the dealership wanted to screw us, with the most experience ,,because we got paid more , they did not want us to make any good hrs by week end ..
in the long run it was they who got screwed cause i opened up my place and a lot of their business went my way ,, and 10 years later they are still losing customers to me ...

 

If there was a good independent Honda only shop here I would use them but there is not so I don't really want to take a chance with someone I do not know that well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by YeuEmMaiMai &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If there was a good independent Honda only shop here I would use them but there is not so I don't really want to take a chance with someone I do not know that well. </TD></TR></TABLE>

if you are satisfied with what you have and they treat you good , stay with what you go to,,and it sounds like the dealership you go to is pretty honest ,,and fair in price

 

So if I do most of the maintenance included in the 90k service.. how can I justify that when I sell the car and they look to see if the 90k service was done? I am planning on selling this car in the future but don't wanna spend more on it. I just think that most of the service isn't hard to do. I have done all the maintenance to my 00 civic (which I don't care if it has any records of any service cause of all the things I've done to it, swap and other upgrades) but in this case, the 00 Accord needs a good record for when I sell it.

 

cars that have impecible service records usually get closes to their asking price....do not let the person keep them, just let them look at them..........

 

get a sheet of paper, write down the date and mileage, put down all that you did to the car, staple all the parts receipts to it and save it ,,
it is a great idea to save all your records ,, it will show toa future buyer that you have maintained the car well ,, even if you did the work ,,

 

there is also a place in your owners manual for this type of stuff. You can do what I do and use owner's link to record information as well....