Recent CU prices?

[tony1234]

The crazy thing is my local dealer said if i don't use Honda FEO (a cheap mineral oil) I will void my warranty & they wont stamp my log book. Something to consider.

Your dealer is telling you crap.I know for a fact of 3 Honda service centres in Sydney that use Castrol Magnatec.

[buddah51au]

Your dealer is telling you crap.I know for a fact of 3 Honda service centres in Sydney that use Castrol Magnatec.

I know it's crap Tony. I guess the Dealer knows the only way they can make money out of me is through buying genuine parts

[tony1234]

I know it's crap Tony. I guess the Dealer knows the only way they can make money out of me is through buying genuine parts

I wouldn't be confident in getting a dealer like that to service my car and look after me.

[denot]

buddah, that similar to what day said after I complained when they make swirl marks all over my car from the "courtesy car wash" on the 1st service... I told them I will not come to service my car on this dealership anymore becoz they treat me badly, and they said "but it will void your warranty". Bleh... BS!!!!

[primetimex]

I told them I will not come to service my car on this dealership anymore becoz they treat me badly, and they said "but it will void your warranty". Bleh... BS!!!!

Hahhaah yeh just go to another dealer Denot to service your car! my Black CU2 is notorious for getting marks and it's driving me insane trying to keep it nice and shiny!

Got my Luxury Navi Black for $54.7k and sold my other car privately. In the $54.7k price I got nearly $2k worth of accessories (accord euro mats, front aero bumper, sports grille, blue accent lighting, ipod connector, luggage tray mat, and door handle films!)

Still have not done any tinting as I don't think I'll need it (coming to Autumn here) - and car's too new to let ppl open it up and stuff for tinting.

[Type R Positive]

You need to watch out for that. The standard factory warranty and factory extended warranty does not dictate the use of Honda FEO (i'm sure yfin will disagree with me), just the API grade and viscosity. You need to be careful with a dealer extended warranty though as they tend to have very stringent conditions; eg you can only service the car at the dealer you bought it from.

I suggest you (and everyone else reading this) read the conditions of your warranty and especially any extended dealer warranty conditions and come to your own conclusion. Don't just take the word of the dealer (or me or yfin) because obviously they want you to spend all your money with them.

If you don't have an extended warranty with that dealer, I suggest you take your business elsewhere.

I went one step further and called Honda Australia.
I used to live in Port Hedland, no Honda dealers up that way. You can get it serviced by who ever you want, as long as they are registered and you use genuine parts.

You need to have a licensed mechanic stamp for warranty.

[buddah51au]

I wouldn't be confident in getting a dealer like that to service my car and look after me.

Tony, after spending years in dealerships I know for a fact most servicing goes to apprentices. Personally I have no confidence in ANY DEALER when it comes to servicing. I doubt that policy has changed over the years.

Add to that most Dealerships in this town employ Filipino mechanics on short term contracts......what is their knowledge base.....if any?

[primetimex]

Tony, after spending years in dealerships I know for a fact most servicing goes to apprentices. Personally I have no confidence in ANY DEALER when it comes to servicing. I doubt that policy has changed over the years.

Add to that most Dealerships in this town employ Filipino mechanics on short term contracts......what is their knowledge base.....if any?

You're now making me worry about servicing my car at the dealership buddah, if this is the case then what are the senior mechanics doing? I'd rather not service my brand new 50k+ Euro at the hands of apprentices thanks and is it common practice?

[buddah51au]

You're now making me worry about servicing my car at the dealership buddah, if this is the case then what are the senior mechanics doing? I'd rather not service my brand new 50k+ Euro at the hands of apprentices thanks and is it common practice?

In my time in dealerships the senior mechanics did the more technical repairs, eg - engines, g/boxes, clutches, suspension & brake hydraulics & so on.

But i must admit i haven't worked since substaining a severe injury in 1991 & cars have become a lot more reliable since that time. In saying that though I have kept myself fairly well up to date with current technology.

As for Filipino mechanics working in dealerships, I don't know how widespread that is in other areas. After several trips to the Philippines I have seen how they work in their own country & they have no formal apprenticeships there.

[buddah51au]

Basically, the service you get comes down to the individual doing the job, not the dealership or private repair shop. After running several workshops in my time and taking flak for other peoples stuff ups, I got out of that area altogether & finished up working for Lubemobile in Sydney. but once again they had a few workers in those days i would not have recommended although most of the mechanics were well qualified.

[primetimex]

Thanks for your replies buddah. I have been servicing my Honda's through the dealers for the past 20 years odd and have suspected that at time a less than well qualified mechanic is working on the car.

I don't know whether it is a good idea to make it a point for the Service Advisors that no apprentices to work on the car because after all we are paying our hard earned money on it.

[buddah51au]

I personally think that to make such a comment would be a waste of breath, once the car is in the workshop you have no control over who works on the car.

These comments today have got me thinking on what would be the best advice I could post, so here is what i would do personally if I was paying for others to service my car considering the $$$$$$ Dealers charge. For intermediate servicing i would probably use Ultra Tune. Then maybe consider using the dealer for major services only (every 40,000km), but if you were happy with the service you were getting stick with Ultra tune permanently.

The other thing many are not aware of is if you read the fine print in your service manual it recommends oil changes every 5,000km under severe conditions. Severe conditions for engines is stop start city driving and short trips. And don't forget your Auto Trans - service (change oil) once a year or every 20,000km, whichever comes first. Note that when you change Auto Trans oil you can only drain around 33% of the oil.