Looking for a honest, reasonably priced Honda Mechanic in Pickering/Scarborough area
 

I have an 09 Civic EX-L that is under warranty. I have the maintenance minder lighting up with the codes B12. According Honda, the following service needs to be performed:

B1: Factory Recommended Maintenance

* Replace engine oil* and filter.
* Service front and rear brakes.
* Check parking brake adjustments.
* Rotate tires**, inspect for wear and adjust pressure.
* Inspect tie rod ends, steering gear box and boots.
* Inspect suspension components.
* Inspect driveshaft boots.
* Inspect brake hoses and lines (including ABS).
* Check all fluid levels and condition of fluids.
* Inspect exhaust system.
* Inspect fuel lines and connections.

B2: Factory Recommended Maintenance

* Replace air cleaner element.
* Replace dust and pollen filter.
* Inspect and adjust drive belt.

I contacted Pickering Honda and they want $320 for the above service. From what I make out of it, what they seem to be LOOKING at a lot of things and not doing much. Based on what they really will be changing/doing, I am thinking this is a reasonable cost:

- Replace engine oil* and filter ($28 considering I bring my own Castrol Syntec 5W20 oil)
- Service front and rear brakes ($60 parts and labour)
- Rotate tires**, inspect for wear and adjust pressure ($15)
- Replace air cleaner element (Assuming $30 including labour)
- Replace dust and pollen filter (cabin filter about $20 and can be done by following this video: YouTube - 8th Gen Honda Civic DIY Cabin air filter change)

Based on the above costs, I figure this should cost me about $180 taxes in at most and makes the Pickering Honda costs to be rather excessive.

The questions I have are:

1) Are the above costs reasonable for ORIGINAL HONDA PARTS?
2) Can someone suggest a skilled and honest mechanic in the Scarborough East/Pickering area that can perform the above service for a reasonable cost (that is what I listed above or cheaper)?

Thanks

What's the mileage on the car? You may not need brake servicing, if you do, it will depend on what you have. Usually drum brake shoes last...a VERY long while, where as disk brakes need servicing more often. So that will determine the price. Now, I don't know if the honda dealer you called have ability to machine rotors, since as far as I know, they hardly check for runout and just get it machined. All that adds up to a lot more than you think. I don't know the prices from honda, but a decent set of front pads from part source will cost 35-60$ for the front end, don't think honda is gonna be on the cheap side. Moreover, labour for install plus all the "inspections" they do will rank up to an hour or so. So for all the inspections and servicing I don't see this price being unreasonable. Keep in mind you are going to a dealer.

D.T.P.

I have 40,000 KM on the car and got the brakes serviced around 1 year ago (25K). Inspect is a fancy term for look and I doubt that means that they remove every part and check things out very thoroughly.

I am not trying to be cheap, but I just want value for money. Can you suggest a good mechanic who is honest, skilled and reasonably priced?

I work at honda and perform type B12 services all the time.

A brake service is not worth $60. It's actually 1.4hours of labour for front and rear, which at my dealer is just over $150. This includes all the costs of the lubricants, grinding discs, cleaners, etc. that we need to properly lubricate your brakes.

At 40k, you definitely do need a brake service, assuming you still have some life in your pads.

My honest opinion on dealerships for Type B12 services is if you ever do wind up having a problem with your engine and it wasn't serviced at honda, you will have a hard time getting covered by warranty. So I usually recommend people under the 100k warranty to still go to honda.

If you want to save $50-$100 go to a private shop that will provide you with a proper invoice that you will have for your records.

By the way, a brake service is not part of any warranty requirements.. but it will greatly reduce your brake rotor, pad, caliper and fluid life.

Hi Chris_V2,

Thanks for the info.

My last brake service was 1 year ago and that was at 20K. I looked at the invoice and the cost of materials used for the brake service was..... $19 and the rest was labour :)

While I do see your point about brake service, I do feel the charge is excessive. I do agree that any company would want to ensure that the car was properly maintained and not abused and I am all for proper maintenance. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to avoid doing the work. I just want to do the work at a fair price and get value for my hard earned money.

Well unfortunately dealerships are there to make money. It's hard to get a good bang for your buck at dealerships.

If your brake service was done last year, you can choose to skip it, but like I said, that will prematurely wear out brake components.

Go get a Type A 12 service. It'll be around an hour of labour.

Bro all that **** is a rip off.

Change your oil every 5,000kms, change your other fluids accordingly and check your air filter. You have a honda not a GM where it needs careful overview.

Btw you can change your oil yourself and it’s still covered under warranty, as long as you keep the receipts.

I started doing this when I checked the oil on my gfs car and the retard over filled the engine oil by 1 full litre.

^ how do you know it was "1 full liter"? Did you actually measure it, bro?

http://http://t0.gstatic.com/images?...RB3Mxd6xsH&t=1

Would have been to the red line, double. I assumed it would be a litre because the space between L and H usually measures a litre. I could be wrong but I wasn’t hardcore enough to whip out the measuring cup.

I would've used my mom's measuring cup. Measure it up and take pics, then email pics to CTV's W-Five.

Learn, DIY and save huge $$$!!! :nod:

Guess you don't own a NEW Honda do you? Any thing newer then 2001 from Honda other then the Fit is no where near as reliable as what the big H used to be. Even the Fit isn't that great as far as the long term goes.

Face it, unfortunately manufacturers have realized that people don;t buy new cars anymore, they lease. Then they trade them in after ~3 years and get a new one. The dealer and manu's make near nothing on the 2nd owner, who also don't bring thier cars back for service so really all the money is on the first owner and the service they feel trapped into getting to avoid voiding the warranty, because unlike most of you they don;t do thier research. There is a few exceptions, cars like the Fit that are the entry level car for new car buyers and more likely to be bought rather then leased. These cars are likely to be owned for a longer time and IF they are a good car, then years from now when the kids are older you'll go back to the same company to buy or more likely lease your next car.

Why would you bother to make you cars last when you know we live in a dissposable throw it away society? Think of how much is saved in R&D by not wasting your time on developing a long lasting car that will not directely make you any money.

It's not a rip off. You're paying for a service.. It's called business. Do you expect them to charge you $20 for an oil change and $50 for brake servicing? The vehicle needs all that is recommended, I don't see how they're ripping anybody off.

And take it from a guy who works at honda, they are not very reliable at all.

I wish I would have thought about that then. I called the warrranty centre to find out if they would honour us some how. They said its my fault because technically I should be checking that the oil level is correct and the drain plug is tight when the car is returned to me.

^See that's not right. The technician should at least be able to put the correct amount of oil in an engine.

I don't have a problem with checking my own oil and glancing to make sure the drain plug is not dripping, but simple things like that shouldn't be an issue.

I used to be a lube tech back in the day after highschool and yeah a had the odd goof-up. But all in all, it's not brain surgery and shouldn't be the customer's responsability to make sure the technician put the correct amount of oil in. Especially if you know little about cars and have to rely on shops or the dealership to maintain your vehicle. But I do agree that if you are going to own and drive a vehicle that you at least learn some very basics, like how to check your oil etc...

I also agree, vehicles do need specific servicing at particular intervals. If you're having someone else do this service, it won't be free. Either learn to do it yourself, or pay and don't complain...lol.