15,000 Checkup?

I'm leasing a 2004 Honda Civic. It has just over 17,000 miles on it.
I've been doing the regular maintenance, oil changes, etc.

The dealer wants to do the suggested 15,000 mile checkup. It will cost
me around $240.

Is it worth it? I don't recall what it entails.

GK

 

You "don't recall what it entails"? Then I don't recall if it's worth it or
not.

Did you Read The Fine Manual?

 

Unless you want to get taken to the cleaners, I suggest that you start
paying attention to what the checkups entail. Most times these so
called checkups end up costing more than the individual jobs. Call
your dealer up and find out what exactly they will perform for the 15k
checkup. Post back and we will tell you if it is worth it and how much
each individual job will cost.

Nick

 

Most of what they're going to do you can do yourself. However, since it's
leased you may be under some fine print in the contract clause to have a
dealer do it. If not, then do it yourself else take to an independent
garage (not Sears, Firestone, Goodyear, Walmart, etc) and let them do it
for probably ½ what the dealer wants.

$240 really isn't too awfully bad. My wife has a Lexus and you feel the
pain when they stab you for $1100 worth of "recommended service" at 90k
miles, most of which by that time are more than just recommended, they're
pretty much mandatory if you plan on keeping the car (and we do).
Interesting tho on the Lexus 90k service I found out I can get it all done
at a Toyota dealer for about 60¢ on the dollar ($675 vs $1100). I'd check
the independents too but she'd shoot me. So far no one outside of the
Lexus store has ever touched "her" baby ;-)

 

Thank you for your courteous reply. I do pay attention. I thought that
these checkups were more standard. Perhaps they vary from dealer to
dealer. I don't know all Honda everywhere.

Here's what they will do at Planet Honda in Matteson, IL, for $240:

* change oil and filter
* inspect belts and hoses
* clean, inspect, and adjust rear brakes
* inspect parking brake
* rotate tires, inspect tires, set proper pressure
* check all fluid levels
* check functions of all lights
* wiper/washer fluid levels
* inspect battery (run test), clean terminals
* inspect valves
* replace air filter
* change wiper inserts

Thank you.

GK

 

Who cares if this is a lease car and you do not intend to buy it after
lease. Do not waste your $240. You can use it as the down payment for the
next lease.

 

About 1 to 1.5 hours of labor. Many other places do the same thing for
30%-40% less. My local Midas shop does the same thing for $159 regular, and
I have a $20 coupon for it.

It is a lot of dopugh for some one to walk around your car with a checklist.

 

Aww man, then we gotta hear about some poor sucker that bought a crappily
maintained Honda and all the problems that comes with it!

 

If you note, most of the items are "inspect" or "check" which means glance
at it and mark it as ok. For an Oil change, Tire rotation, wiper blades,
and air filter, I would say $240 is way out of line.

Just make sure you do the actual required maintanence. When you go to sell
your car, or you crash your car, having paid extra money for someone to
visually inspect your car ever once and a while really won't do you any
good.

 

They're going to look at them and watch them go around. Modern belts don't
go bad at 15k miles, never-ever.

Assuming drum brakes here, put it in reverse and drive in reverse for
about 50 feet. Press the brake pedal 3~4 times over that distance. Pull
the rear wheels and blow out the dust w/an air hose. Doubtful they'll even
bother to pull the drums. They'll have the wheels off already for the
rotation, so this "extra" step will maybe add 30 seconds.

They're going to set the brake and put the car in gear, forward & reverse
to see if the brake holds. Trust me, it will.

$20 (lifetime free rotation **AND** balance at NTB and Discount Tire
w/purchase of 2 or more tires) - This service by the way is probably one
of the best things you can do to prolong the life of your tires. Do it
every 5k miles and your tires will last a very long time.

Included in the $25 oil change, above. Takes all of 2 minutes.

Try them all and watch them through mirrors. Takes 1 minute.

Included in the $25 oil change, above

Battery and charging system load tests are free at Autozone. Terminals
won't need cleaning at 15k miles so this is BS. Takes 5~10 minutes. If
they -really- did this it would require disconnecting the battery meaning
all your radio presets would be lost. If your radio presets are where they
were, then all they did was smear some red goo on the battery cable
connectors.

Huh? How do they plan to do this without pulling off the intake manifold,
exhaust manifold(s) and doing a detailed disassembly of the cylinder
heads? This one I have to see. Maybe they meant they'll do a compression
check, but I even doubt that much effort will be expended at 15k miles.

Adds $10~15 to your $25 oil change, above.

$20 at Autozone. Tip the kid $5 and he'll probably put them on for you.
Send your wife in wearing some tight jeans and high heels, the kid will
put 'em on for free.

Indeed.

 

I called the local Midas. They told me they do the whole package for
$29.95. They're having a special right now.

The only thing I need to watch for is if they do this, they might find
something "urgent" that needs $300+ immediate work. I'm sure that's how
they make the "special" pay for itself. But, at 15K it is doubtful
they'll really find anything.

GK

 

I'm not a mechanic or anything but that looks like about $30 in
parts and an hour's worth of somebody's time.

 

That's a common 'gig' they all play. You take "ole Nellybelle" in to have
a belt tightened and you get the dreaded call 2 hrs later that your
muffler bearings are in urgent need of replacement and it'll be another
$200 or more. Find an auto repair shop that *won't* do that to you and you
have found yourself a priceless treasure. I'm happy to say I have found
just such a shop. Westheimer Auto Center 6233 Westheimer Rd in Houston,
TX. (Not Sal's)

 

Funny you should say that. That's what Midas said they would charge me
for doing that work.

GK

 

TOO MUCH MONEY! $240 is way to high for the services he will do. Perhaps$100
TO $125 is more realistic, providing he does all that's on that list. If he
won't budge from his ridiculous price, find another dealer or an independent
Honda specialist. It's good preventive maintenance to do all these
inspections to prevent problems or premature failure in the future.
Check out the Honda recommendations by clicking the link below. Make sure
the service done includes the steps indicated for your mileage. He should
probably find nothing that would need to be done except maybe tightening a
belt or two. There should be no need for a valve adjustment at this mileage.
You'll notice there is no maintenance suggested at 15000 miles. If I were
you, I'd rotate tires at the next oil change and at 20000 miles do that
maintenance.
http://www.freewebs.com/civicmaintain/civic.pdf
Good luck,
Howard

 

My dealer charges $55 (less my customary 10% discount) for such services...
known as a "Minor Service." If the air filter needs replacement, then that'd
be somewhat extra for the filter.

The other Howard

 

This PDF is excellent. Thank you for the resource.

GK

 

Does this match the owners manual? 10,000 miles seems a bit long between
oil changes.

 

The owners manual actually calls for oil changes every 5,000 miles.

BTW, I had the work done at Midas for $29.95.

GK

 

no - the owners manual says 10k. extreme service is 5k, but unless the
op lives in alaska or arizona i doubt they qualify.

modern injection makes engines much more clean burning. this loads the
oil with combustion product much less than "the old days". and oils are
much improved. 10k for the average family honda is fine.