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Car owners: Where do you get your car maintained at?

J

jinduy

Diamond Member
i've been taking my car to the honda dealership and they charge me tons... i dont take it to a local mechanic because i'm not sure they know what they're supposed to do with my car at like 30000 miles or whatever.

i dont like how honda takes my car into their garage where i cant see if they're doing anything to my car...

 
For oil changes just walmart, it's cheap and they vacuum the car

For maintenence, my dad has taken it to the dealership in the past, we're doing it all ourselves now
 
my main concern is like the big maintenance schedules... like 20k, 30k,45k, 60k ... do you guys take it to the mechanic or dealership for these things?

i have my oil change done at a mechanic as well to save me a couple bucks. but everything else goes to the dealership since i dont know what else is supposed to be done.
 
I do some stuff myself, and for other stuff I go to a very well respected mechanic in the area. The dealership doesn't have a clue on what to do with the older cars that you can't plug the computer into. 🙂
 
Never, ever, ever take your car to a dealer exceptt for warranty work. Their mechanics don't know any more, and usually less, than your local repair shop. I can't believe people take their cars to the dealer for everyday problems, or even obscure problems, these days. Dealers rip you off and don't guarantee the work they have done.
 
Originally posted by: jinduy
i've been taking my car to the honda dealership and they charge me tons... i dont take it to a local mechanic because i'm not sure they know what they're supposed to do with my car at like 30000 miles or whatever.

i dont like how honda takes my car into their garage where i cant see if they're doing anything to my car...
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Most shops won't let you into the garage area. Just FYI.
 
I do all the damn work myself with my own greasy hands. 😕

Originally posted by: NutBucket
Most shops won't let you into the garage area. Just FYI.
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yeah they bitch about how their insurance won't let them and such.
 
just follow the manufacturer's recommended maintenance in your owner's manual and find an independent mechanic or learn how to do it yourself. if something unexpected were to break, you'd already have an established relationship with that independent mechanic and you've dealt with him before to know how he is.
 
Don't you have to have the major work done at a certified <insert honda, ford, whatever> service dept. for the warranty to remain intact? Are there any of those that aren't in bed with dealerships?
 
Do-it-myself person 🙂

Except for things such as alignment/mounting/balancing ... stuff I need tools I lack, it is all done with my huge service manual and in my own garage.
 
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Originally posted by: Actaeon
Most of it is done by my brother (or father) and myself.
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That looks nice!

Pics? Info?
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Thanks 🙂

Sorry, it was my only decent picture that came out (alot more were blurry) from what I had taken. Alot of it is just the same thing, except no flash, or a different angle.

Hehe, its my 1994 Miata. I had just gotten the car, and I wasn't sure what maintenance has been done by the previous owner, so we went ahead and decided to do the typical replacement stuff.

Typical maintenance involves changing the timing belt every 60,000 miles. We did that, replaced the waterpump, the accessory belts, some radiator hoses.

In that picture, i think we just replaced the timing belt, and the water pump, and were getting ready to install the accessory belts with the radiator hoses up next. The cam cover required removal in order to change the timing belt stuff.

I just thought it would be neat to take a picture of the car when it was taken half apart.

The whole thing took us about a weekend (including me working a regular job). I hated every moment of it, but it saved me ALOT of money.
 
Do most of the work myself and then my dad has a friend who is a dealer mechanic that works cheap on the side for things we don't want to mess with.
 
local mechanic. any honda specialist will perform the same factory-scheduled work at X number of miles and do a good job of keeping everything else in good shape, too. there's a specific list of "work" that gets done at these intervals (most of which is just checking the status of brake pads, topping off fluids, etc), and it's not a like what they do is some big secret that only the honda dealerships know. all you need to say is "my car had it's intermediate service 7000 miles ago and it's ready for a minor service now." or major service, or whatever it's due for.

for early 90's hondas (probably newer ones, too), the pattern goes: oil change, minor service, oil change, intermediate service, oil change, minor service, oil change, major service (this puppy runs about $400). that gets you through one 30,000 mile cycle.

 
it really depends for me. I took it to pepboys for the termostat change last week. I had earlier had my coolant flushed by them. My oilchange is either done by jiffylube or the 76 station down from my parents place (which has gotten way too busy). I will do things as long as its within my limits. My 60K was done by a local mechanic, however stuff like DPFE (some emmision related thing) was done by the dealer.

I cant wait to hit 100K and give it to a local mechanic to do a lot of things. My 100K service is going to be expensive for sure. So many things to replace at that level. I am at 83K.
 
new car = dealer

older car = local shop

The dealer knows a lot more than all of the local shop guys in my area except for 1 guy who specializes in european cars. I drive an older volvo so your results may vary if you drive a domestic and maybe Japanese cars.
 
I usually shop around local shops unless I've got no other choices other than the dealer. If it's something small like oil change or a regular check-up, my friend does it in his own garage. He's a certified Honda mechanic. Just last week I had him oil change my car... tho he only asked for $5 bucks - I treated him to sushi buffet. 🙂
 
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