[ppnewaskar]

Hello

I have a 2013 Accord and I had a 2 year free maintenance from my dealer. Since its over 2 years that I bought the car, I wanted to find out the appropriate maintenance cost for the car.

I talked to 2 dealers that are close to my place and here is what I got.

From Dealer 1
The “A12” service includes:
Replace Engine Oil
Rotate Tires
Replace Air Cleaner Filter
Replace Cabin Air Filter
Inspect Drive Belt(s)
The total cost for this service is $194.02 before tax and takes approximately 4-5 hours to complete.

From Dealer 2
The “A12” service includes:
Replace Engine Oil
Rotate Tires
Replace Air Cleaner Filter
Replace Cabin Air Filter
The total cost for this service is $110 before tax.


Does this look right ? I have heard several stories of service guys ripping off unknowing customers and I don't want to be one of those.

 

[shotgunsi]

$200 seems like way over kill. The oil change and tire rotation should cost $50 on the high end. The air filter and cabin filter you can change yourself very easily. You can get OEM filters on ebay or amazon pretty cheaply.

Service costs do seem to vary by region though. I have about 7 dealers within 30 miles of me so they are more competitive on pricing and some will match other's coupons.

This is something I pulled off the Honda Fit forums when I used to own one re: the maintenance codes. I believe it should apply to the Accords too.

An "A" means an oil change. Not a filter, just oil. Most dealers, mine included, do an oil and filter change. An "A" is almost universally accompanied by a "1" (tire rotation). On most vehicles this averages 7-8k miles but we have seen them as low as 3400 miles on hard-driven Civics with MTs to has high as 11500 miles on AT Fits.

A "B" is an oil and filter change with basic inspections of your brakes, fuel system, undercarriage and other minor adjustments to parking brake or drums. A "B" service occurs every service and has the same interval as an "A"

The numbered services are as follows:

1: Tire rotation (nearly every service except very low mileage oil changes)
2: Replace engine air filter and cabin filter(s) (about every 22-28k miles)
3: Trans fluid replacement (AT or MT) (about every 35-45k miles)
4: Spark plug replacement, valve adjustment and I think something else (105k or so). A "4" service gets a timing belt change if so equipped. Also, a 4 only says to "inspect" the water pump, but I have yet to see one done without actually replacing it.
5: Coolant replacement (around 55k).
6: 4WD or AWD Hondas get a rear diff service.

The manual states to replace brake fluid completely (not just the reservoir) every three years regardless of mileage.

 

[Addi]

damn. that's nuts. $200? lol

The $110 quote is ok. You're still paying an extra $20(assuming the cost of air filter$25 and cabin air filter $15) but if you rather have someone else do it for you, it's fair enough.

 

[mtts60]

Hello

I have a 2013 Accord and I had a 2 year free maintenance from my dealer. Since its over 2 years that I bought the car, I wanted to find out the appropriate maintenance cost for the car.

I talked to 2 dealers that are close to my place and here is what I got.

From Dealer 1
The total cost for this service is $194.02 before tax and takes approximately 4-5 hours to complete.

From Dealer 2
The total cost for this service is $110 before tax.


Does this look right ? I have heard several stories of service guys ripping off unknowing customers and I don't want to be one of those.

Forget Dealer 1! Dealer 2 is much more reasonable, and I'd agree with Addi if this is something you don't want to do.

Was either one the dealer you bought it from?

Look in your manual, it will explain what needs to be done on an A12 service.

 

[Kamdog]

The filters are incredibly easy to change, and there are youtubes all over about how to do it. But the $110 price, from a dealer, is OK. A real mechanic (not an oil change place) who works with Hondas, as practically all owner-mechanics do, will do a good oil change for under $50. I never do my own oil changes because it is too messy for me to deal with the whole thing, but I change my own filters, bot to make sure I get quality filters, and to get under the hood and look around.

 

[teezythakidd]

i totally agree with these guys, dealer #2 is way more reasonable. granted, there is still a premium over what it "should" cost if you do purchase and install new air filters yourself, but not bad at all if getting your hands dirty isn't really your niche!

 

[acutee]

Dealers are not what you think that will take care of your car. Surely, one thing, they will take care of your wallet.

I recommend walmart services. Oil change, tire rotations, 2 filters change.

 

[muzikman80]

Got my oil change and rotated my tires. I'm sure was less than 50.00

 

[easymike]

A is replace engine oil only
1 is rotate tires
2 is replace cabin and engine air filters + inspect drive belt for cracks or wear.

If you go to Advance Auto, and buy their most expensive air filters, both will come to a total of $40. Buy from rock auto and they'll come to $25 combined for good parts.
Tire rotation is up to you, if you have a flat place, a good jack (the emergency one works but it's a little slower), and about an hour to kill, you can do it yourself.
I would be inclined to do the oil change at the dealer, but you can buy 5qts of full synthetic Mobil1 for 37.99 if you really want to do it yourself. I don't know the price of Honda 0w-20 synthetic blend.

So if you wanted to do everything yourself, it would come to about $60-80. For the extra $30-50, the $110 service may or may not be worthwhile for you.

 

[BenzAccord]

From Dealer 1
The “A12” service includes:
Replace Engine Oil
Rotate Tires
Replace Air Cleaner Filter
Replace Cabin Air Filter
Inspect Drive Belt(s)
The total cost for this service is $194.02 before tax and takes approximately 4-5 hours to complete.

From Dealer 2
The “A12” service includes:
Replace Engine Oil
Rotate Tires
Replace Air Cleaner Filter
Replace Cabin Air Filter
The total cost for this service is $110 before tax.

Don't just look at the price. There are other questions to ask besides price.

I have a Dealer 1 and Dealer 2 near me too. I'm not saying that I'd use either, in my case. Dealer 2 is a very large dealership that is owned by a huge company with 10's of dealerships and advertises low prices, but always manages to sell you on something that really doesn't need to be done. Dealer 1's pricing cannot compete with Dealer 2's but is a family owned single dealership that is honest and upfront about everything. I have not heard any complaints about Dealer 1 from anyone who uses them. Can't say the same for Dealer 2.

I asked Dealer 1 to put me on their mailing list and they send me coupons at least a few times a year that bring their prices (about 1/2 the difference) closer to Dealer 2's.

 

[Kamdog]

When they tell you that you need to put snake oil in the fuel injection system on your 25K miles car, and the service is on special today for $129, you tell them "no", just the oil change.

 

[Pete240z]

Oil change, 2 air filters, rotate tires, look at belt? 4-5 hours? Is there a crack smoking break included?

A mechanic can do this in 1 hour if he has a lift. Give me a break.

 

[bf4noob73]

Since I bring my car in for service, does changing the cabin air filter and engine air filter yourself and changing it before the maintenance minder code appears void the factory warranty? When I bring it in with the MM code, do I just tell them I'll change both air filters?

 

[versedispersed]

Since I bring my car in for service, does changing the cabin air filter and engine air filter yourself and changing it before the maintenance minder code appears void the factory warranty? When I bring it in with the MM code, do I just tell them I'll change both air filters?

You'll be fine changing your own filters.
An example of a warranty voiding application would be adding a turbo charger.

 

[mtts60]

Since I bring my car in for service, does changing the cabin air filter and engine air filter yourself and changing it before the maintenance minder code appears void the factory warranty? When I bring it in with the MM code, do I just tell them I'll change both air filters?

It doesn't void the warranty. Tell them to leave the filters alone, you'll do it at some point.

 

[Flyboy]

My car is also due the B12. The B service includes checking a list of items that they probably check with every oil change. My dealer charges $59 for a full synthetic oil change and oil filter. They charge $20 to rotate the tires. I always find a coupon from other area dealers for oil an change with the same oil for between $20 and $40. My dealer honers the service coupon of their competitors and I will change the air filters myself.

 

[slimm1469]

4-5 hours for that???!!!!! That can be done in 45 minutes once the car is in the air. Dealer A is is a rascal, scoundrel, thief in the night.

 

[219553]

4-5 hours for that???!!!!! That can be done in 45 minutes once the car is in the air.

Sure. But you're not the only car getting worked on that day. It's not like he's charging for 4-5 hours of labor, he's just saying if you drop it off when they start writing orders at 7:30, he'll guarantee you can pick it up at lunch. I'll bet if you say you're going to wait for it, that 4-5 hours will become something more like 60-90 minutes total...at least that's how it works at every dealer service department I've ever dealt with.

 

[KW2004Accord]

When my friends 05 was do for the 60,000 mile service the dealer quoted him $250. I went to the dealer & got a list of what they do, most everything was inspections except for the filters, tire rotation and a bottle of fuel cleaner they put in the gas tank. My indie, a master tech., does all those inspections with every oil change. Had him go to my indie, less than $100. Maybe this would be a good time to look for an indie. Every time I would go in for the $20 oil change special, would always get the up sell. "Your cabin filter needs changing - $300 because we need to take the whole dash out", or "$500 to change the in line trans. filter because we have to take apart the whole top of the engine (my indie does it for free when I get a trans.fluid change, I provide the filter) or "your engine is getting ready to blow up because the coolant is not a Honda blue" I use Zerex Asian, red in color, same formula as Honda. These at 3 different dealerships. Watch for the upsell.

 

[noclue02]

Those prices are ridiculous! The only thing I go to the dealer is for oil change (semi syn), 35 buck +tax and the tranny fluid change for 110 buck +tax include car wash and vacuum. Those can be done at home too if you dont mind getting little grease on ya. Tires rotation, I go to American Tires. I paid 40 buck, I think, and they'll re balance and rotate every 5k until the tires are worn out. Cabin and engine air filter can be diy, 5mins or less. Order from ebay or amazon.