I took my S into the dealer today, Holler Honda, for an oil change. I don't usually take it to Holler, but it was close and I didn't want to make the trip downtown. Holler did it's vehicle inspection, and the service tech recommended replacing the rear struts, indicating that they were leaking fluid. The car was lifted, and I looked underneath, comparing the rear struts to the front. The front struts were completely dry with just a bit of road grime and dust, the rears a bit damper. But they didn't look that bad.

Just a note about how I drive. My car is a 2007, and I have 35,000 miles on the clock. I don't drive hard. I have been able to get about 25,000 mile out of the original OEM tires. So I think that I am pretty gingerly about driving the car. It's only been autocrossed once, and my driving style is not at all aggessive when I am on the road. I am meticulous about maintenance on my S and on all of my cars. I've had a lot of cars, but I never had to replace struts after only 35,000 miles.

The S is my first true sports car, and I fully expect that the costs of maintenance will be higher than on my other cars. Having had to replace two rear tires because of flats has been a wake up call in that regard. But still....

I'm going to get a second opinion, but does having to replace rear struts after 35,000 miles sound about right? What has everyone else's experience been in terms of strut life?

Thanks.

 

Sorry,
this pun made me laugh.

The oem struts should last far longer than 35k miles. However, all it would take is one time of the strut bottoming out to blow it out. This should not happen with oem springs and bumpstops, but you really never know. Also just like any other part on the car, you have to think, they are all made in a row and maybe it just happen to be that your rear strut got a seal that just wasnt as good as the others.

Did you happen to see if it was both rear struts or just one?

 

^^Lol...I looked at the rear struts very closely and ran my hands over most of the strut assembly, and there was no visible residue of hydraulic fluid or oil on my finger tips. I understand that the lubricant in the strut is clear. What's more the underside of the car was entirely clean. If the seals or O-rings had failed, I would have expected to see some leaked fluid on the strut or underbody. I've owned quite a few cars, and while I would agree it's possible I just got a bad set of struts, as a general rule, 35,000 easy miles is way too soon to replace struts. I've had cars which I've traded in without ever having replaced struts.

I took it to First Class Automotive on S.R. 50 and had them look at the rear struts. If the struts really needed to be replaced, then I would have paid for the repair work, but I just wanted a second opinion because the service bill at Holler was just shy of $1,000.00. Well, they looked at it, and the tech who's worked on my S before worked on it again.

Bottom line...First Class couldn't find any reason to change out the struts. As the owner said, he would love the work, but he couldn't justify it.

I don't know if I should circle back with Holler because we have bought 4 Hondas from the dealer. I would really hate to think that Holler was either incompetent or had some service people who were trying to bill service which wasn't needed, and I am not the sort of person to rush to judgment and accuse a dealer or service tech of trying to bill unnecessary work. It's even a bit more frustrating because when I took the car into Holler I specified full synthetic before the service rep wrote up the ticket. Then, I waited for over half an hour, and she came back to me and said that Holler didn't have any synthetic and that I would have to wait for the someone to pick it up. That's when I took it to First Class.

However, I have a lot of confidence in what the guys from First Class said, and they have never treated me wrong.

Am I missing anything?

 

Wouldn't the struts (if they needed to be replaced) be covered under your warranty?

 

$1,000 bucks? That's interesting. If you beat the piss out of your s2k like 99% of the owners you wouldn't be in this situation..jk jk


Not if the car was manufactured in 06.

 

$1000 seems cheap for a stealership.

struts alone list for $271 each. Then you have labor, and they would most likely want to replace all the rubber bushing around the shocks too. It adds up fast.

Triman, next time you come out to a meet I want to look under your car and see the "fluid"

 

Doesn't matter when the car was manufactured, warranty starts the day it's originally purchased.

 

Dave, that was my first thought. But it's technically out of warranty. I got it in early January of 2007. Nevertheless, I am going to talk to the service people at Holler tomorrow, and I will see if it can be covered under some sort of warranty or customer courtesy discount. After all, this is the 4th car I've bought from Holler. But the guys at First Class couldn't find anything anyway. But if I can get Holler to cover it...oh well...

 

Will do...I don't doubt the parts are pricey. But I think First Class could probably beat the dealer on the service rate.