So the story goes yesterday I called for a service appointment to have the rear diff fluid changed at Dow and they were booking for 2 weeks from now. One service advisor I know decently well there Eric Gougeon called me this morning and told me he had a spot.

Since all I ever do is oil changes with the car I decided to get a more thorough check of most everything else.

I decided on a Honda type 3 maitenance which includes the following:

replace oil and filter (not getting done as not needed now)
service the front and rear brakes (they are grinding the rust off the top of the rotors)
rotate tires inpect for wear and adjust AP
lubricate all hinges, locks latches with grease
inspect tie rod ends, steering gear box and boots
inspect suspension components
inspect driveshaft boots
inspect parking brake adjustments
inspect brake hoses and lines
check all fluid levels and conditioin of fluids and check for leaks
inspect cooling system hoses and connections
inspect exhaust system
inspect fuel lines and connections
check all lights
inspect the underbody

More or less some of the stuff I could have done but others I didn't feel like. It's more or less like a physical for the car.

With the rear diff change I think he quoted me around $200.

I'll see if it was worth it or not. Any of you guys get any more of these more in depth checks? This is the first one since I have done in 3 years owning the car.

comments?

 

Here's my take on things -

Yes, a lot of those items seem trivial - but that's the cost of doing business with owning a car. We all know that every 24-30K kms, all car companies recommend some sort of comprehensive service to the tune of $200.

Many companies void your warranty if you don't follow the service plan.

I say bite the bullet, let them do their thing, and enjoy the rest of the summer

 

Okay I just got back. I'd agree with Simon. After the inspection I didn't real find any "big" suprises. One thing that I did however find was that they did a nice job grinding the rust that accumulated on the rotors. They also did that stinky job of changing the diff fluid. One other thing, they did put on new wiper blades cause they told m my other ones were torn. I told them I was in the process of ordering the Bosch Reflex types and I never told them it was not okay to charge me and change them. It was only a $10 chanrge but it's the principal that matters to me. It pisses me off a bit when dealerships feel that they can change anything for you and then just charge you. I had that happen with my Volkswagen years ago. It's more piece of mind knowing that everything is tip top.

 

This something definitely to do if you're still under warranty. Also a good idea if you're not mechanically inclined or don't really like doing that stuff. I trying to learn do a lot of the maitanence, but honestly working on the car is a dirty, fussy, aggrevating thing. A lot of the "non-important" stuff, I couldn't be bothered with.

I don't know about grinding the rust off the rotors. What's the point of that? And I hope they didn't rotate the tires, since you can only go side to side and you can't even do it for directional tires. Sorta like S2000's don't use CRV diff fluid.

 

No rotation Steve. The grinding of the rotors he mentioned would make they last longer and it's more of a preventitive maitanence to eliminate other areas of brake squeaking and to keep the rotors in better shape.

 

Well for brakes and clogged injectors, I prefer the "Italian Tuneup". A good run clears those clogs and wipes the rotors clean. Everybody need a workout to keep things working.

 

$200 isn't so bad, especially when it includes rear diff oil

 

It didn't include rear diff oil. I provided that on my own!

 

my 24000km service for the STi is $275 - plus additional $20 for the synthetic oil.

 

Simon what oil are you running Mobil 1 or Motul or something else?

$275 for that service isn't bad. Especially if and when you plan on selling your car people like to see records that it was properly serviced and maintained!