I just dropped off my car for the 48000 KM (30000 mile) service. I do my own oil and diff fluid changes and they still want $300. When I asked why so much they said that they service the brakes and they should be done every 7200 miles. I don't recall seeing anything about this in the owners' manual or the Helm manual, both of which are in my car at the dealer.

Thoughts and comments?

 

it shouldn't cost that much unless they are replacing the brake disks. They might just mill them instead but should cost $300. Pads should be $80 at most and only an hour labour. They might flush the brake fluid too, then perhaps that $300 might be right.

 

Brake fluid is recommended to be bleaded every 3 years by Honda, I am bleeding my cars's brake fluid every 2 years using Motive Power Brake Bleeder. It is easier to do with this tool than diff fluid.

 

They are ripping you off, plain and simple.

Pads should be replaced "on condition", not on miles (or KM). Same with rotors. Rotors do not have to be "turned" or resurfaced when pads are replaced, and in fact in most cases should not ever be "turned". Shoot, you can get new ones for US$50 a piece, and a single set should last you for many years on the street when used with the OEM brake pads.

Brake fluid should be replaced every couple of years (independent of mileage). (Service interval for brake fluid is three years, but I think two is better for a street car. A track car will get the brake fluid replaced much more often.)

Changing your own brake pads and even flushing your own brake fluid are probably the easiest do-it-yourself maintenance items on this car. Those are also two of the biggest money-making items for unscrupulous shops. I highly recommend you learn to inspect and replace your own brakes, unless you are totally allergic to wrenches. The only tools you actually need are a set of metric combination wrenches, a 12mm socket, a torque wrench for the 12mm socket that can read between 17 and 24 ft-lb, a 19mm deep socket, and a torque wrench for the 19mm deep socket that can read 80 ft-lb. And a jack. One of those cross-type tire irons is also a good idea.

See the FAQ in the "technical" forum.

A couple weekends ago I changed both front brake rotors and the four front brake pads in about an hour using hand tools and a single jack out in the padock of a racetrack. It's just not that hard to do. There is a learning curve, but it's an easy one.

But if you don't want to DIY, then at least don't take your car to a shop that wants to gouge you!

 

BTW, I do my own 30,000 service. The two messiest parts are the parts you already do! Aside from that (and replacing the air filters, which is dead simple), everything else is just "inspect and replace on condition". You are paying them $300 just to look over your car. If they do find something that needs to be replaced, you can bet they will charge you extra for it anyway.

If you are comfortable with that, then do it. Personally I am more comfortable with inspecting my own car, because I trust myself to care more about it than I trust some dealer to care about it.

 

Thanks for the info. Actually, no, I'm very uncomfortable taking my car to a dealer. It's really just for warranty purposes that I'm having them look over my car. I don't want a warranty denied. Yes, I know they shouldn't deny me warranty because of doing my own inspections, but they can do it anyway. I have a history of warranty hassles with Honda.

I'm lucky enough to have xviper live in my city and he has helped me a great deal over the last few years, and he probably would have done this for me but I've imposed on him enough.

 

service the brakes every 7200 mi??? haha that "service" is basically them making sure there's still pad left

 

My ass is starting to hurt.

 

By the time I got to 30,000 miles, the way I looked at it was that I only had 6000 miles of warranty left anyway.

And, in fact, I did have a warranty item after that (fuel filler tube replacement) and they replaced it under warranty.

My reason for deciding to do all my own service was that I had started tracking the car and so the dealer was ill-suited to working on it anyway. Besides, due to the requirements of a track car I had to start doing a lot more aggressive preventative maintenance than the schedule called for anyway. For instance, I did the 30,000 mile service at 30,000 miles, then did it again at 40,000. I plan to do it again at 50,000. I figure that if I am doing it myself I can monitor the condition and adjust the intervals based on how I am actually using the car.

The main reason for going to a shop is that there are certain things they can do more efficiently than most home garages. They have lifts, they have engine hoists, they have expensive computer diagnostic tools, and they have experience. But you are paying for all that. At a dealer, you are also paying for the word "Honda" in the sign.

In the end, it is your call. But the dealer probably is going to charge you their flat $300 rate for 30000 mile service no matter what they actually do for your car, because that's how their system is set up.

 

As far as changing the front pads (as I did my first time on the s2000 this weekend)...the most difficult part was jacking up the car. 5 wheel nuts, a 17mm open end wrench, and a 12mm socket to remove the lower caliper bolt, and you are almost done! Just open your brake fluid cover, remove old pads, use a 4-5 ing C-Clamp to push back the front piston, add new pads and some grease on the shims...reinstall the caliper pin, close the brake fluid cover, mount the wheel and repeat for the other side. The rear needs a 19mm wrench instead of the 17, and you have to remove 2 bolts instead of one. Also you will probably need the special brake tool to screw in/out the caliper depending on the size of the new pads versus the previous pads. I got mine tool for about $12 at Pep boys...I'll let you know how it went later!

I gotta give credit to The Reverend for a nice writeup with pics though...

http://reverendsgarage.net/index.php?conte.../brake_pads.php

-Justin