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I have a 2008 Civic with 26K. It still smells new and drives great. Well I took it in to the local Honda dealer (not the same Honda dealer I bought the car from) for an oil change. Well as usual they find other things that need 'attention.' Like the Cabin Filter and the Air Filter. Now, I have mostly owned older cars until I got this car so I'm kinda new to this. The filters looked like they had some wear, but not bad at all. I could have used an air hose to clean them. Then he said my tires are wearing un-even and I need a 4 wheel alignment. The bill?...... $782.
I told him no, just do the oil change. I took the car to a friends dad who is a diesel truck mechanic and he said none of that stuff needed "attention." He checked it thoroughly and could not see why they were going to charge me this much. The car is practically new still.
So my question is should I stop going to dealers for service all together or what? I don't know who I can trust.
I've never had that happen with my Honda dealer, and we bought our car used, too. We've now owned it three years, and I get my oil changes exclusively at the dealer. When I bring it in for semi-annual oil changes, they "grade" some of the rest of the car, like tires/brakes. They are either given a green for good, there is also something in-between, and red for needs replacing. The only thing that ever needed replacing was two of the tires, and they were obviously bald. I wouldn't rule out a Honda dealership altogether for servicing, but I wouldn't go back to the one you went to. In fact, I might even report them.
I have a 2008 Civic with 26K. It still smells new and drives great. Well I took it in to the local Honda dealer (not the same Honda dealer I bought the car from) for an oil change. Well as usual they find other things that need 'attention.' Like the Cabin Filter and the Air Filter. Now, I have mostly owned older cars until I got this car so I'm kinda new to this. The filters looked like they had some wear, but not bad at all. I could have used an air hose to clean them. Then he said my tires are wearing un-even and I need a 4 wheel alignment. The bill?...... $782.
I told him no, just do the oil change. I took the car to a friends dad who is a diesel truck mechanic and he said none of that stuff needed "attention." He checked it thoroughly and could not see why they were going to charge me this much. The car is practically new still.
So my question is should I stop going to dealers for service all together or what? I don't know who I can trust.
Ok, a four wheel alignment should cost no more than $100. The two filters would go for $50 max, and they are both easy to get to. An oil change for no more than $40. Trying to charge you $782 for all this is highway robbery, plain and simple. I would avoid that dealership from now on.
I have a 2008 Civic with 26K. It still smells new and drives great. Well I took it in to the local Honda dealer (not the same Honda dealer I bought the car from) for an oil change. Well as usual they find other things that need 'attention.' Like the Cabin Filter and the Air Filter. Now, I have mostly owned older cars until I got this car so I'm kinda new to this. The filters looked like they had some wear, but not bad at all. I could have used an air hose to clean them. Then he said my tires are wearing un-even and I need a 4 wheel alignment. The bill?...... $782.
I told him no, just do the oil change. I took the car to a friends dad who is a diesel truck mechanic and he said none of that stuff needed "attention." He checked it thoroughly and could not see why they were going to charge me this much. The car is practically new still.
So my question is should I stop going to dealers for service all together or what? I don't know who I can trust.
As others have said, I would NEVER go back to THIS dealer. I would also report them to Honda.... Generally speaking, most Honda dealers are actually pretty good, a little pricey as you'd expect from a dealership but not straight up thieves like the one you went to... They obviously tried to rob you!
Sounds like the typical dealer tactic to get into your wallet. They may tell you something needs replaced when it doesn't, or they may tell you it's going to cost more than it really should, or both.
Do what I did, find a good non-dealership aka independent garage to work on my Hondas. We have several good ones in the Boston area. The one I used to use only used Honda oem parts for their customers' cars. Now my boyfriend works on my cars.
Thanks for all you inputs and advice. Not going back to this dealer. I only went them because I got a coupon in the mail good for $20. on any service. So I got a $38.99 oil change for 18.99. Maybe they thought I was a cheapskate, I just wanted to save a few bucks and use this coupon, that's what it's there for after all.
I don't have a copy of the suggested items but I can list here what I remember, from memory, he said I needed.
-Air cabin filter, $99.+69. labor
-Air Filter $59.99+49. labor
-4 wheel computer alignment w/ rotation around $400.
Cant remember what else he said it needed, but it all ended up at 782.
What gets me is the labor part, I can get to the air filter in literally 5 seconds. Super easy. Not sure how to get to this cabin filter but he had it out before I even had a chance to pour my coffee, so it can't be too hard of a job.
You should have asked him how much extra would it cost you to have an adjustment done on the dwell for the breaker points and also how much to richen up the carburetor....
See if they actually came back with a quote just on those two items....then you'd really know if they were trying to take you to the cleaners.
Thanks for all you inputs and advice. Not going back to this dealer. I only went them because I got a coupon in the mail good for $20. on any service. So I got a $38.99 oil change for 18.99. Maybe they thought I was a cheapskate, I just wanted to save a few bucks and use this coupon, that's what it's there for after all.
I don't have a copy of the suggested items but I can list here what I remember, from memory, he said I needed.
-Air cabin filter, $99.+69. labor
-Air Filter $59.99+49. labor
-4 wheel computer alignment w/ rotation around $400.
Cant remember what else he said it needed, but it all ended up at 782.
What gets me is the labor part, I can get to the air filter in literally 5 seconds. Super easy. Not sure how to get to this cabin filter but he had it out before I even had a chance to pour my coffee, so it can't be too hard of a job.
Call that SOB and ask him how much extra he'd charge for some fresh air in your tires and a fresh can of beep for your horn!!!!! Seriously, I'd F with them a little!
UNBELIEVABLE!! Defintely file a complaint with Honda!
Last edited by X-Greensboro Resident; 02-28-2010 at 03:56 PM..
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I would avoid that dealership from now on.
