40,000km service....not happy, but now even.

**Slugoid** · 10-05-2007 06:48 PM

Well just took my parent's Euro and ended up with a $790 bill

Most of the things I'm ok with except:
- $266 labour for what just seems to be an oil change and lots of checks, and topping up my washer fluid (wow thanks!). Usually a normal service cost around $180-220 for the same treatment (oil, filter, washer).
- $160 (labour!) for a....fuel injection clean? Car only has 36,000km and purchased in Dec 2003. Been using 98RON 99% of the time. They claim that my car has carbon build-up in the rail. On the phone I asked if the fuel filter was going to be changed too and they said yes, but when I looked at the list it wasn't even listed....so I gather that they didn't change that.
- Changed my air filter when half of it's life it was using a K&N panel filter, which I later sold. I ask why they changed my fairly new filter and they said all this random BS that I can't be bothered arguing about. So they pretty much changed my filter without inspecting it cos "it was a 40,000km service".
- Supposedly "fixed" my headlight cos it had moisture build-up. It was no cost but when I got it back the moisture was still there

. Gonna wait a few days and see what happens.

Other than that $220 for my rear brake pad (inc labour) I can accept, cos pads cost $146.

Not sure if every other Honda dealer is like this, but I've always had bad experiences with dealers. Since warranty for the Euro is already up, does anyone know good places around SE Melbourne what I can take it for a service? Else I'll be doing my own servicing rather than being robbed in broad daylight and shafted up the ass at the same time...

**vtek** · 10-05-2007 06:55 PM

The campaign on the light are only clips. You have to wait for the mosture to evopourate. Give it some time and it should be fine.

adjusting the tappets takes time so thats where most the labour is. They need to take the valve cover off, spark plug wires etc. They also should rotate/balance tyres, and do overall checks which all takes time.

**Drew** · 10-05-2007 06:56 PM

Yikes that a fair bit...

Wish I could charge that much and get away with it lol ^_^

Take it back and get them to redo the headlight if it still has water in it, if it doesnt clear up by next week

But 40k is fairly major from memory

**Rice_4_life** · 10-05-2007 06:58 PM

wow that's pretty expensive but hey that's life. But you should have bitched to the SA like no tomorrow when you paid the bill.

**Slugoid** · 10-05-2007 07:07 PM

vtek: they did do a valve adjustment, so I guess that explains the extra. But I still don't get how they can charge $160 for a fuel injection clean. Does it involve that much labour or all they do is add fuel cleaner to your fuel and flush it out as your go?

Drew: If I can charge $200 for an oil change I swear I'm on my way to an NSX quite soon

Check PM too

Rice_4_life: yeah I bitched about the air filter and bitched about the fuel cleaning on the phone as well. But it's no use bitching cos they can say all they want to justify their cost. I'm not a real mechanic and I only know so much about cars and servicing. I guess just a lesson learnt there. If it's not under warranty, stay away from the dealers! The only reason why we've been going to the dealers is for warranty reasons. This is pretty much our first service out of warranty and this is what we get

.

**m3ntAL_l2** · 10-05-2007 07:07 PM

holy crap....was this at a dealer??
im about to take mine for 80,000km service still trying to make my mind up if i should take it to the dealer or a good mechanic.....
p.s isnt valve adjusment standard at 40,000?

**Drew** · 10-05-2007 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by Slugoid

vtek: they did do a valve adjustment, so I guess that explains the extra. But I still don't get how they can charge $160 for a fuel injection clean. Does it involve that much labour or all they do is add fuel cleaner to your fuel and flush it out as your go?

Drew: If I can charge $200 for an oil change I swear I'm on my way to an NSX quite too

Check PM too

Using adatives is a cheap way of doing it and doesn't really do anything

They would have either done them on the car or probably removed them and cleaned one by one. I'd say to get a dealer to do it $160 is probably about right if they took them off the car and had them cleaned and tested the spray pattern n so forth

**yfin** · 10-05-2007 07:21 PM

Check out this thread re prices for 40k service. It varies a lot. Air filter element is a standard replacement at 40k - if you didn't want that changed you should have said in advance. As for this fuel injection clean - never heard of that. I have heard of dealers asking $70 for adding additives to the fuel tank but not $160 labour for cleaning fuel injection. I would expect a phone call if something outside the log book 40k service was required.

The $266 labour sounds right as there is the valve clearance check.

$146 for rear pads only - not worth spending that sort of money on OEM pads. But you should have been told of pad replacement being done in advance. If I am asking for a 40k service that is all I want. If more work is required the service manager should get me on the phone and approve additional work. That is what I expect anyway.

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthr...ighlight=perth

**Slugoid** · 10-05-2007 07:40 PM

I was told about the brake pads and fuel injection clean. Parents insisted on doing both, even when I offered to change pads for them. Maybe they don't trust me, haha. Oh well, when I fronts go, I know what to do....diy

Air filter, well I had no idea they would change it and I though they would have the brain to inspect it before changing it. I guess not.

**aaronng** · 10-05-2007 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by Slugoid

Well just took my parent's Euro and ended up with a $790 bill

Most of the things I'm ok with except:
- $266 labour for what just seems to be an oil change and lots of checks, and topping up my washer fluid (wow thanks!). Usually a normal service cost around $180-220 for the same treatment (oil, filter, washer).

They check a little bit extra, but that's about in the usual price.

Originally Posted by Slugoid

- $160 (labour!) for a....fuel injection clean? Car only has 36,000km and purchased in Dec 2003. Been using 98RON 99% of the time. They claim that my car has carbon build-up in the rail. On the phone I asked if the fuel filter was going to be changed too and they said yes, but when I looked at the list it wasn't even listed....so I gather that they didn't change that.

Did they change your fuel filter? They MUST ask you if you want this done as it is not part of the scheduled maintenance. And if it was just the fuel injector clean, you just got rorted for a $8 bottle of Wynns injector cleaner. Get a refund.

Originally Posted by Slugoid

- Changed my air filter when half of it's life it was using a K&N panel filter, which I later sold. I ask why they changed my fairly new filter and they said all this random BS that I can't be bothered arguing about. So they pretty much changed my filter without inspecting it cos "it was a 40,000km service".

This is normal. You should have told them that your filter only had 20,000km on it.

Originally Posted by Slugoid

- Supposedly "fixed" my headlight cos it had moisture build-up. It was no cost but when I got it back the moisture was still there

. Gonna wait a few days and see what happens.

This should be free. If they "fixed" it, then they should have given you new/refurb headlights. The clips that are part of the service repair only prevent condensation. It doesn't fix it.

Originally Posted by Slugoid

Other than that $220 for my rear brake pad (inc labour) I can accept, cos pads cost $146.

Not sure if every other Honda dealer is like this, but I've always had bad experiences with dealers. Since warranty for the Euro is already up, does anyone know good places around SE Melbourne what I can take it for a service? Else I'll be doing my own servicing rather than being robbed in broad daylight and shafted up the ass at the same time...

I use Travis Honda over at Frankston. Next time when you book in your service, tell them if you don't want your filter changed, or if you want to bring your own oil. Letting them know about things like these beforehand can make the difference on whether you are happy or displeased with their service. But yeah, any extra work should have your authorisation. That includes changing brake pads and fuel injector cleaner (which is bullshit at 40,000km).

**Slugoid** · 10-05-2007 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by aaronng

This should be free. If they "fixed" it, then they should have given you new/refurb headlights. The clips that are part of the service repair only prevent condensation. It doesn't fix it.

It was free, but just being paranoid about the moisture still there.

Originally Posted by aaronng

I use Travis Honda over at Frankston. Next time when you book in your service, tell them if you don't want your filter changed, or if you want to bring your own oil. Letting them know about things like these beforehand can make the difference on whether you are happy or displeased with their service. But yeah, any extra work should have your authorisation. That includes changing brake pads and fuel injector cleaner (which is bullshit at 40,000km).

I guess I wasn't too careful with some things. Oh well, what's done is done. Lesson learnt and hope others can learn from it too.