01-17-2006, 11:19 PM
So my Dad's 2003 Civic LX was up for its 30k mi maintenance. He had scheduled Sheehy Honda in Alexandria to do the work, and I was supposed to drop it off and pick it up while he was in Panama visiting my grandmother.
Suspicious as I am of dealerships in general, I called to ask how much it would cost. '$450.' Are you effing kidding me?! Keep in mind that all of the new Hondas are not scheduled to get a major tuneup until over 100k mi.
Alright, so I asked him what is included with that. Transmission fluid flush, brake inspection, air filter, oil and oil filter, and some miscellaneous stuff that was unnecessary. Fine, I bought the stuff and did everything myself. Turns out I happened to look at the owner's manual and the transmission fluid change isn't even due either...
The Problem
The other thing my dad needed checked on his car was the rear brakes. They had been making a grinding noise for awhile, ever since he left the parking brake on one day. They're drum brakes so at first I figured it'd just be easier to just have the dealership do it, it couldn't be that expensive right?
The Overcharge
Well I took the car to Hendrick Honda (Woodbridge) this time to get an estimate.
Service writer: 'Well the brakes have hotspots on 'em so we're gonna need to replace them. The total with labor is going to be $642.'
Me: Ok, can you break that down by parts and price for me?
Well they wanted to replace the drums, shoes, and wheel cylinders for both rear brakes. 'F that' I said, I'll get on thepartsbin.com, order the OEM parts myself, and do everything myself.
I was able to purchase all but the brake drums for $180 total. With the new parts in hand I went over to RJ's to take on the unpleasant task of fooling with drum brakes.
The Solution
After some hammering and finagling we were looking at the surface of the brake shoes and both sets had at least 60-70% of the pad materila left (compared to the new ones we had). The surface of the used shoes did look shiny and glazed and RJ suggested that maybe we should just sand down the surface of the shoes and the drums and see if that stops the noise. Sure enough, that was the solution, and it costed...$0 in parts.
I mean damn, if the dealership techs are too stupid or underhanded to diagnose that problem the rip off problem is much worse than I had imagined :?
How about your stealership stories? (I'm sure this thread is gonna get long...)
Suspicious as I am of dealerships in general, I called to ask how much it would cost. '$450.' Are you effing kidding me?! Keep in mind that all of the new Hondas are not scheduled to get a major tuneup until over 100k mi.
Alright, so I asked him what is included with that. Transmission fluid flush, brake inspection, air filter, oil and oil filter, and some miscellaneous stuff that was unnecessary. Fine, I bought the stuff and did everything myself. Turns out I happened to look at the owner's manual and the transmission fluid change isn't even due either...
The Problem
The other thing my dad needed checked on his car was the rear brakes. They had been making a grinding noise for awhile, ever since he left the parking brake on one day. They're drum brakes so at first I figured it'd just be easier to just have the dealership do it, it couldn't be that expensive right?
The Overcharge
Well I took the car to Hendrick Honda (Woodbridge) this time to get an estimate.
Service writer: 'Well the brakes have hotspots on 'em so we're gonna need to replace them. The total with labor is going to be $642.'
Me: Ok, can you break that down by parts and price for me?
Well they wanted to replace the drums, shoes, and wheel cylinders for both rear brakes. 'F that' I said, I'll get on thepartsbin.com, order the OEM parts myself, and do everything myself.
I was able to purchase all but the brake drums for $180 total. With the new parts in hand I went over to RJ's to take on the unpleasant task of fooling with drum brakes.
The Solution
After some hammering and finagling we were looking at the surface of the brake shoes and both sets had at least 60-70% of the pad materila left (compared to the new ones we had). The surface of the used shoes did look shiny and glazed and RJ suggested that maybe we should just sand down the surface of the shoes and the drums and see if that stops the noise. Sure enough, that was the solution, and it costed...$0 in parts.
I mean damn, if the dealership techs are too stupid or underhanded to diagnose that problem the rip off problem is much worse than I had imagined :?
How about your stealership stories? (I'm sure this thread is gonna get long...)
2018 Ducati Panigale V4
Past: 2018 Honda Civic Type-R, 2015 Yamaha R1, 2009 BMW M3, 2013 Aprilia RSV4R, 2006 Honda Ridgeline, 2006 Porsche Cayman S, 2012 Ducati 1199, 2009 Subaru WRX, 2008 CBR1000RR, 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2000 Toyota Tundra, 2005 Honda CBR600RR, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1997 Honda Civic EX
http://www.aclr8.com
Past: 2018 Honda Civic Type-R, 2015 Yamaha R1, 2009 BMW M3, 2013 Aprilia RSV4R, 2006 Honda Ridgeline, 2006 Porsche Cayman S, 2012 Ducati 1199, 2009 Subaru WRX, 2008 CBR1000RR, 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2000 Toyota Tundra, 2005 Honda CBR600RR, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1997 Honda Civic EX
http://www.aclr8.com