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In this time of economic hardship I have been forced to do more of my own automotive maintenance. I'm an old hand at oil changes, but where I live you don't really save more then about $10, although I imagine the oil and filter are better grades then what you would get from an oil and lube business. I replaced the brake pads on my car which is much easier then I thought it would be. It's an older car (99 acura cl 3.0) so i imagine the next thing may be the alternator (I have not noticed any symptoms of a bad alternator, but it is good to be prepared).
So this got me to thinking. If you bought a new car, would you do some of the easier maintenance yourself or trust dealership mechanics?
Some warranty items can be voided if tinkered with, so be careful what you choose to do yourself. I have seen where some dealers will extend the factory warranty, IF, you take your car back to them for all service work. IMO, that is not really worth it.
I was a dealer mechanic and I'll tell you that there are some really great mechanics at some really great dealers and then there are guys that you need to avoid. I've worked at both types of dealers and walked away from 3 different jobs because of scamming.
If your dealer is trustworthy and does a good job then by all means that your car back to them. If not I would recommend finding a local shop to do your repairs or doing them yourself. Contrary to popular belief today's cars are not that much harder to work on than the older stuff.
What Drover said; we've used an independent dealer for EVERYTHING automotive since we moved here. We bought a new '08 Ford F150. The dealer we bought it from closed and we're less than impressed with the other nearby dealer. So other than free warranty work, we see our independednt garage for everything else.
I think for most people with the tools, time and knowledge, it pays to do your own basic maintenance work. Just make sure that you keep good records of what you do, especially the receipts for things you purchased, in case there are any warranty issues. Outside of that my default would be to only go to the dealer if it's for a warranty issue. Anything else, or routine maintenance if you don't do it yourself, is better left to a good local independent mechanic.
It all depends. If you are not going to keep the car nor are going to buy another car from the brand maybe skip the dealer and DIY the car.
I never understood people not wanting to have a good relationship with a car dealer, especially since its people's 2nd largest purchase outside of a home in most cases. A dealer can help in so many ways, discounts, freebies, loaners, heads up, etc etc making your car life easier. I guess it depends on the brand/dealer too. I have an incredible relationship with a larger dealer here with multiple brands and it has saved me tons of time and money. I still do small things myself when possible, Oil Changes, Filters, FLuids, brakes etc but larger jobs I take to the dealer to give them business. THe other thing is newer cars are more complex where you sometimes HAVE to take it to a dealer.
The Acura 3.0 CL was the first Acura designed and made in America for America, in Ohio. Its Accord based so parts are easy and cheap to find making it a good DIY car.
Depends on the work, the warranty, the vehicle and the dealership, so that one is a little hard to answer.
Back in Norway I used either a mechanic who's a friend of mine (for the timing belt he charged 25% of the dealership price, incl. parts better than OEM) or an independent garage I trusted
It all depends. If you are not going to keep the car nor are going to buy another car from the brand maybe skip the dealer and DIY the car.
I never understood people not wanting to have a good relationship with a car dealer, especially since its people's 2nd largest purchase outside of a home in most cases. A dealer can help in so many ways, discounts, freebies, loaners, heads up, etc etc making your car life easier. I guess it depends on the brand/dealer too. I have an incredible relationship with a larger dealer here with multiple brands and it has saved me tons of time and money. I still do small things myself when possible, Oil Changes, Filters, FLuids, brakes etc but larger jobs I take to the dealer to give them business. THe other thing is newer cars are more complex where you sometimes HAVE to take it to a dealer.
The Acura 3.0 CL was the first Acura designed and made in America for America, in Ohio. Its Accord based so parts are easy and cheap to find making it a good DIY car.
Then you must know a few of the good ones. I myself and many people I have talked to about this don't trust dealerships very much.
FYI, The Acura I own had the transmission fail at 88,000 miles. Another issue I had was the driver side door freezing so that it could not be opened, closed or the window lowered or raised.
Not a very good car in my opinion and I am now completely turned off Acura's and will never go there again.
I would vote for option three: a good indie shop. I don't want a "relationship" with a dealer, I just want them to deal with me honestly (well, as honestly as a car salesperson can) when selling me a car.
Last brand new vehicle I bought was in 1995...I did take it to the dealer for oil changes (because they were offered free for the first year, LOL.) But when they bugged me about the 30,000 mile service, then gave me a giant list of things they would do for about $700, I declined. It seemed like too much of a scam....check this, check that, check this, check that....they wanted to charge me $699 for "checking" just about everything but not doing anything other than a (very expensive) minor tune up and oil change. And I figured they would then make all sorts of suggestions for things I might "need."
An ex-boyfriend of mine was a service advisor at a high end dealership (Porsche/Audi/Jaguar) and the stories he told me about incentives and bonuses they got for up-selling services or doing unecessary services pretty much turned me off dealer service forever.
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