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Honda wants $400 to service my Civic

S

SickBeast

Lifer
So, I made a thread about a week ago talking about how wonderful my Civic is for getting me through 100,000km (62,000 miles) while only spending $100 or so to fix a minor issue.

Now, I have to perform the 100,000km service and the dealership is raping me.

They want $420 to do a Type "E" service which includes:

- an oil change
- a new filter
- a new cabin air filter
- service brakes
- check everything over

I don't think it even includes a tune up!

I'm thinking I should not perform this service. My warranty is up anyway.

Also, they want $88 to change my tranny fluid. Should I do this myself and save the money? Should I change the oil and filters myself as well? I have a feeling they're all really easy jobs to do.
 
In my experience, you are better off reviewing the scheduled maintenance chart and asking for the specific services recommended. There are a number of things that even a non-car person can handle easily (replacing the cabin air filter or the engine air filter, for instance). Dealerships typically offer service bundles for the major maintenance milestones, but these tend to be pretty pricey.
 
What kinds of tools and materials will I need?

I know for the tranny fluid you can use:

- a hose attached to a funnel
- couple of ratchets
- 2 quarts of honda manual tranny fluid
- a drainage pan

Is the oil change the same thing? How many quarts of oil will I need for a 1.8L engine? What type of filter should I get and where? Oh, and is it fine to just drive the car onto the curb instead of jacking it? I have a friend who does this.
 
Well, there really aren't any "tune ups" anymore or 3K oil changes so the dealer has improvise to get more of your hard earned dough. 😀
 
Check your manual, it will tell you how much oil. You will need the oil and a filter. A wrench for the drain plug, and an oil drain pan. Depending on how hard it is to get to the oil fill neck with the oil bottle, a funnel may make things easier. Maybe an oil filter wrench if it is really stuck on there but I doubt you'll need one. A screwdriver jammed through the side of the old filter for leverage will work if necessary 😛

Open the cap, place drain pan under the drain plug, remove drain plug, drain oil into pan until it slows to a drip, put plug back in. Remove old filter (make sure the rubber gasket comes with it and doesn't stick to the engine), rub some of the old oil onto the new filter's gasket, tighten down the filter. Add oil. My car for example says 4.5 quarts, so I add 4 quarts and check the level, then add until it is at the full mark. The number in the manual is a round number, the actual may be more or less. Once it reads it is full, put the cap on, start the engine, check the filter and drain plug for leaks. Let it run for a bit, then shut it off. Wait a minute, then check the oil level again. Top off if necessary.

Easy to do. Just gets a little messy sometimes if you spill oil or drop the drain plug into the drain pan and have to fish it back out 😛
 
i never go to the dealer for those types of maintenance, they charge you that much cuz they dont want you to go. you're wasting their time from servicing other cars lol.

do oil and cabin change yourself, cabin change in my accord took less than 5 mins iirc
 
Drop $20 on the haynes manual. With the horrible transmissions in honda's I'd be very hesitant to change the trany fluid yourself. If you've never done brakes before ... well they are what stop your car, do you trust your life and those around you to your work? If so, its not exceedingly hard, if you follow the directions in the manual.
 
If you let this happen you have just agreed to be raped in the wallet.
i never go to the dealer for those types of maintenance, they charge you that much cuz they dont want you to go. you're wasting their time from servicing other cars lol.
Click to expand...
They are charging that much because they can make $400 for an hour of labor and some fluids and make off like bandits.
 
wait,,,for "service brakes", do they mean they will change brakes? If so, they are actually giving you a decent price.
 
Originally posted by: SickBeast
So, I made a thread about a week ago talking about how wonderful my Civic is for getting me through 100,000km (62,000 miles) while only spending $100 or so to fix a minor issue.

Now, I have to perform the 100,000km service and the dealership is raping me.

They want $420 to do a Type "E" service which includes:

- an oil change
- a new filter
- a new cabin air filter
- service brakes
- check everything over

I don't think it even includes a tune up!

I'm thinking I should not perform this service. My warranty is up anyway.

Also, they want $88 to change my tranny fluid. Should I do this myself and save the money? Should I change the oil and filters myself as well? I have a feeling they're all really easy jobs to do.
Click to expand...

do it yourself, or take it to your trusty mechanic and do it for you. and you can reset the maintenance minder yourself.

dealers will rape you for replacing filter/ cabin air filter. your cabin air filter is probably behind your glove box, all you have to do is press the glove box in to have it drop down, then there are two tabs to remove the cabin air filter, just replace the element. air filter is relatively easy too, although depending on your car you may need to remove some stuffaround it. it's outrageous that dealers will charge people not in the know $100+ to replace these :Q this is so easy that a caveman can do it


tranny fluid is about the same level of difficulty as oil cahnge but may be a little bit tougher since you gotta pour it through the dipstick hole (at least for the accord you gotta do that) and make sure you do a drain and fill and not a tranny flush, and make sure you use hte honda fluid and never ever anything else. you also want to replace the crush washer and, of course drive it easy for a little bit. make sure to use right amount of oil and tranny fluid too (probably in the manual)
I ended up paying the dealer $88 to do this since i didnt have any time to work on my mom's car and she had to have a major repair done anyways.

if you are uncomfortable w/ brakes you may want someone to do that for you but please dont go to a dealer!!!! there are plenty of good mechanics out there who can do all this work for you at a much more reasonable price. at the least, you should do the cabin air and air filter yourself
 
Is there anything wrong with the brakes? Change the air filter yourself, it takes 2 minutes to do and is very simple. The air filter for the passenger compartment is also easy to replace, do it yourself.

Personally, I won't bother with replacing fluids myself. I don't want the hassle of bottling up the old fluids and taking them to a recycling center so I'll gladly pay a service department to replace those fluids for me.

BTW-$400 in 60,000 miles isn't much IMO.
 
Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
LOL, do it yourself.
Click to expand...

DEFINITELY. If it is anything like my wife's '04 civic...it is about as simple as it gets although maybe a bit cramped. My Tacoma is even simpler only because it has more space in the engine bay.
 
The cabin air filter costs about $15 from online retailers and took me 45 seconds to change in my 07' Civic. Search online for 'changing cabin air filter" for your year Civic and you should find some instructions (generally squeezing your glovebox to fully open it and pulling out the tray).

Oil change and filter is DIY or a $35-40 service. IMO a transmission flush for $88 actually isn't bad.

Not sure what "service brakes" are - but if they're going to change your pads and it includes the new pads, then the total cost isn't that bad. But most likely they're just going to verify they have enough pad material left. Just take a look and see how your pads look.
 
Uh dude, $400 for 100K miles and you're complaining? If you can't do all of it yourself, at least get the cabin filter and oil change done yourself. Judging from your posting, you're not savvy enough to mess with brakes, so I suggest you go find an indy shop and have them do that, it'll be a whole lot cheaper than $400.
 
I would save the brakes for the pros whether its Honda or another national brand. I had my regular mechanic do it and ended paying twice because I took it back to him a second time and still was vibrating on downhill stops. Finally took it to Toyota and works fine now. When doing it yourself, buy quality parts if not manufacture parts. When I had an Acura, the mechanic I used worked at Acura on weekdays and on the side on weekends. He would always get me Acura parts. When I bought my Tacoma, he would always get me to buy Toyota parts. Too bad he moved and no longer is close enough for him to be my mechanic.
 
Originally posted by: SSSnail
Uh dude, $400 for 100K miles and you're complaining? If you can't do all of it yourself, at least get the cabin filter and oil change done yourself. Judging from your posting, you're not savvy enough to mess with brakes, so I suggest you go find an indy shop and have them do that, it'll be a whole lot cheaper than $400.
Click to expand...

100,000 kilometers 62,000 miles.
 
Originally posted by: drum
Originally posted by: SSSnail
Uh dude, $400 for 100K miles and you're complaining? If you can't do all of it yourself, at least get the cabin filter and oil change done yourself. Judging from your posting, you're not savvy enough to mess with brakes, so I suggest you go find an indy shop and have them do that, it'll be a whole lot cheaper than $400.
Click to expand...

100,000 kilometers 62,000 miles.
Click to expand...

Meh, I didn't notice the kilometers, still, it's quite a bargain.
 
Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
LOL, do it yourself.
Click to expand...

That can still be costly.

I've been doing some overdue maintenance on my 95 Toyota with 160k. It's been sitting a while and leaking like a stuck pig.

-timing belt component kit (belt, idlers, tension spring)
-water pump with 2 gaskets and 2 o-rings
-oil pump formed o ring
-front crank, oil pump, and cam seals
-timing cover formed gasket
-valve cover gasket, spark tube seals, PCV valve, and PCV grommet
-distributor O ring

Still cost me a couple $100 for all that stuff and that was discounted at shop cost.

Throw in misc things like a tube of blue RTV, a can of engine degreaser or PB blaster, and any specialty tools you might need that nobody has that you can borrow like a pulley puller, spanner wrench, or 30mm socket, and DIY maintenance isn't always cheaper.

It can be for simple stuff, but it's not a general rule of thumb.

For example when I have my rear end rebuilt on the Cobra to take up the slack and backlash, I'm going to have specialty shop do it. Why spend $100+ in specialty 1 time use tools when I can have a shop do it for me for $50 in an hour?
 
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