Question about car repairs

[alliecat79]

DisneySteve, I know you have an answer on this one My car has hit 130,000 miles. I need to take it in for Honda's recommended services. I was quoted about $530 for shocks, something that I can't remember right now and told the timing belt may possibly need to be replaced. Should I go with the manufacturer's recommended replacement time frame (technically I'm already over it) or should I take it somewhere local and have them give me an estimate?

[disneysteve]

I'm not sure why you singled me out here as I'm not really the car guy. That said, where have you been getting your maintenance done up until now? If you've been using the dealer and are comfortable and satisfied there, you can stick with them. If not, you can certainly use a local mechanic.

Personally, I switched to a local mechanic years ago and found that the prices weren't really that much lower and it was far less convenient. Plus I had the added cost of a rental car which the dealer provides for no additional charge. So I went back to using the dealer.

As for the specific repairs, at 130K, I'm sure it does need a timing belt. The recommendation is usually 90K I think but it varies somewhat by make and model.

As for the shocks, that's probably more of a judgement call. If the car is riding fine and the tires are wearing evenly and there are no loud noises emanating from the suspension, that may not be as time-sensitive. Anytime my mechanic recommends service, I always ask if it's safety sensitive or if delaying it could cause any additional damage to occur. If not, I will often put it off until it becomes a more serious issue.

Hopefully some of the more car savvy folks will chime in here and make sure I'm not totally off base.

[Benderz]

What model and year?

I'm not a mechanic, but I've had three honda CRVs in my life and driven them well past 250k. Once you break 100-150k miles mechanics will always find something wrong with the car. I would get a few recommendations (and don't believe any of them). Then I would check out Honda forums and youtube. The only thing i did per the service manual is timing belt, do it exactly on the mile they recommend and if your late, do it now. Do some research because some honda's have a chain and it may not need inspection. The other thing is oil changes. Do them every 3000-5000 miles. I always go to a local mechanic. Get local recommendations because most will recommend work that isn't needed. The workers at most franchise shops are on a bonus system that rewards them for finding stuff that isn't needed to fix. Try an app like nextdoor or look on yelp and get recommendations.

Be really careful with the dealer. Every time I go I ask them specifically what part needs to be fixed and then i look the hours and material costs. I've caught them several times doubling the service fee and parts. For example, my vehicle speed sensor was bad. It connects the gas petal to the throttle. They changed it for 3 hours labor. It is right on top with two screws. I looked it up and the typical labor hours is 0.5 hours. The dealer dropped his hours down to 1.0 hours and saved me $300. In another case they charged me 120 for a oil pressure sensor for my Pilot and i could buy it from their service department for $60. I have 2 more examples and could go on and on.

[bjl584]

Shocks shouldn't cost that much. Go get a quote from somewhere other than a dealership. Midas, Monroe, or some place similar. Shocks are not hard to change. There is no advantage to going to a dealership to have them changed. You'll be paying dealership premium for nothing.

Yes. Change your timing belt. A timing belt will last about 100K miles on any car. After that, you are on borrowed time. It is a labor intensive job, and will be expensive, but you need to have it done. You'll probably have to have it done at the dealership. A lot of independent shops won't touch a timing belt on a Honda. Google search what happens to an engine when a timing belt breaks. It looks like someone threw a grenade under the hood. It is a catastrophic failure. The engine literally explodes.

[msomnipotent]

People normally have the water pump replaced when they have the timing belt replaced. It really shouldn't be a lot more since they are usually next to or very close to each other. You need to tell them to check/replace the tensioner and any other belts you have, plus maybe the spark plugs. Auto shops would normally do this, but sometimes you get a newb that doesn't know. Personally, I would go to an independent shop instead of the dealer unless they are running a special or offer a better warranty on their work. I'm biased because I used to date a few useless chuckleheads that would just float from one dealership to another every few months because they really should not have been touching cars. I don't know how they could even drive a car, let alone fix one. I used to work for a gas station/repair shop, and they could tell by the end of the first day if you were stupid or not, and you would get fired right away.

In addition to the shop's hourly rate, there can also be a flat fee they charge per repair. It is basically their "make it worth my time" charge. This is how we wound up paying $80 for them to take 2 mins of their time to change our cabin filter. That is what I get for asking my husband to take the car to the dealer because there was an almost overwhelming smell of window washer fluid and some stench that I thought was maybe a dead mouse somewhere in the instrument cluster. Yeah, all they did was replace the filter, which did nothing, and I can buy a 2 pack of cabin filters for $8 and do it myself.

If you or a friend are not mechanically inclined, pay to have the shocks replaced. There are youtube videos that are pretty straight forward, but you can really cause a lot of damage if you just don't have the aptitude. My ex BIL puttered around with my nephew's car and didn't put the lug nuts back on correctly. The lug nuts on one tire sheared off right in front of his school and the tire went flying. It could have easily killed a student or two if they were in its path. Not to mention that it cost $600 to repair the damage.

[alliecat79]

Thanks, all! DisneySteve, I just look to you as a frugal, experienced guy. That said, I called a local shop today. Was told the estimate (including work) was low for the shocks and possibly struts. He also said that my year of CR-V doesn't have a belt but has a chain and he wasn't sure why the dealership would recommend that. Without further ado, and because the car is running just fine, I'll get some quotes and shop around. I just put on a set of four new tires and it was running nice and smooth today.