My Mom got a complete vehicle inspection on her 2001 Honda Civic with 154k miles at Firestone in Danbury CT and was given the reports below.

The first page is recommended service (hilited in yellow) and was told it's dangerous to drive her car like this. The second page is a year or more down the road.

1. Is this type of work necessary (especially the hilited), and if she doesn't get it done, will it cause any kind of risk driving the car?
2. Any recommendations of other places she could bring it for a complete vehicle inspection?

Thanks!

 

The biggest one I see on there is the outer tie rod ends. If it truly has "extreme play", then it is bound to break soon. If that happens, you are not going to have a good day. Very dangerous. As for the lower control arms being loose, there are rubber bushings that do all the work. They wear out and crack eventually. A lot of shops don't want to take the time to press in new bushings and just replace the whole control arm. You would have to inspect it to see what condition they are in, but I've never seen one break completely. The ride quality is usually horrible and it put abnormal wear on your tires as well until they get replaced though. It never hurts to have another shop look at it as well. Don't tell them that you've taken it to another shop, just get the inspection and see what they have to say. Compare your two sheets.

Honestly though, it seems like the car has not been maintained very well if all of those things need to be changed at once. Take good care of these cars and they will last a long time.

 

Thank you for the reply. I really appreciate it. I contacted the local Honda Dealer and they have a complimentary inspection that includes all the things below. I think the hilited things in the recommended repairs (except for the gaskets) are part of the suspension. Is that correct?

If so I'll take your advice and make an appointment there and not tell them anything about the other shop.


· • Fill windshield wiper fluid • Inspect wiper/front and rear • Inspect exterior lamps/lights/horn operation • Warning lights (if any) • Inspect dash lights/interior lights • Exterior • Inspect air cleaner element • Inspect cabin air filter • Inspect drive belts and hoses • Inspect battery terminals and cables • Check brake fluid level and condition • Check coolant level and condition • Check transmission fluid level and condition • Inspect front/rear differential and transfer case • Inspect exhaust system (leaks/damage/loose parts) • Inspect steering system (leaks/wear/damage) • Inspect cooling system (leaks/wear/damage) • Inspect heating system (leaks/wear/damage) • Inspect heating and air conditioning operation • Inspect front suspension • Inspect rear suspension • Inspect axles/driveshaft/u-joints/cv joints/boots • Inspect transmission for leaks • Inspect engine (leaks/wear/damage) • Inspect fuel tank/lines/connections

 

You may want to think about something newer rather than putting 1,000's of dollars into a 20 year old car .

 

It is a tough call. We just got an estimate from Meineke and the owner said most of the other work that Firestone said was needed is not.

He said the work would be around $900-$1000 to repair the items below. Not sure if it makes sense to repair or look at buying a new car.

 

It is probably due for a timing belt anyway. Might as well do the timing belt and water pump while fixing whatever is leaking in the timing area. The labor rate doesn't change. Timing belts are 100k miles OR 7 years. At 155k miles I doubt it has had that 14 year timing belt, darn near ready for the 21 year timing belt.

Adjust the valves while they have it apart, valve cover is going to be off anyway.

But your call. Anything on the used market is going to be way over priced right now and also going to need similar maintenance.