Yearly Checkup

ronnyc

I have a 2005 Pilot LX. Car runs perfectly; has about 9000 miles. I took it in to the dealer for its yearly checkup. Before anything (including looking at the car) the estimate was about $600. This included replacing the air in the tires with nitrogen and replacing various fluids.

Is $600 in line, out of line, insane, actionable? (The actual bill was higher by about $70).

A friend of mine mentioned my bill to his mother who also has a new car (Chrysler) and her checkup was $100. But...?

RON

stever

You can check what we think a check-up should cost for your zip code with the Edmunds Maintenance Guide.

Costco and some other shops use nitrogen (at no charge) in their tires, but I think it's just a marketing scam on passenger tires personally. Check Tires, tires, tires for other opinions.

suvtime

ronnyc, I've never heard of replacing air with nitrogen on a Pilot. Looking through the Pilots maintenance schedule there is no mention of nitrogen in the tires. Here in Canada they seem to have four different maintenance procedures for the Pilot.
Type 1,2,3 or 4.

I can't tell by your message if you've already went a head and had them do the work or not. If they haven't I would pass and go somewhere else.

If you've been doing regular maintenance on your Pilot, according to the schedule in front of me you should only need a type 1 (which is an oil and filter change only) or a type 2 which would consist of the oil change and a brake inspection, tie rod end inspection, suspension component inspection and a driveshaft boot inspection.

I'm not sure of the price, but no way $600.

ronnyc

According to the Edmunds estimate, my cost should be about $33. I of course have already paid for the checkup (at Potamkin Honda in Manhattan). Here's the bill:

Perform 12 month service replace engine oil and filter perform complete lubrication to all door locks hinges and latches perform rear differential service clean fuel injection service rotate and speed bqalance all tires perform 3 wheel inspect all brakes adjust had break top off all other fluid levels clean and lubricate battery terminals adjust all tire pressure replace wiper refills and road test. Customer (me) requests purigen 98kpg (I assume this is the nitrogen?) This was the estimate.

Here's the actual bill: most items are nothing; but Fluid VT 08200 is $29.92 and EMISSION is $59.95.

Total parts is $122.30; total labor is $399,00 (at $95 per hour). Total is $649.17.

Is the consensus that I just got taken?

RON

stever

Maybe you can get Eliot Spitzer's attention before he leaves the AG's office for the governor's palace.

I did a 7,500 mile service for a Virginia zip code with the Maintenance Guide for an '05 LX and came up with $122.07. The 15,000 mile service comes in at $164.42. (The 11,250 one was $31.75).

Either way, you seem to have paid too much based on what you've told us, and a request for an adjustment may be in order. If the dealer doesn't agree, then you may consider contacting the AG/Consumer Protection office or BBB or your local news expose channel for advice.

ronnyc

I'm thinking of it. I don't mind paying to keep the car in great shape, which it is, but I'm feeling a little weird now about this and have to think about it.

I did some research about nitrogen in the tires and there is some info which suggests it is a good thing to do.

tidester

I did some research about nitrogen in the tires and there is some info which suggests it is a good thing to do.

I am quite certain you won't get $120+ worth out of that N₂.

tidester, host

ronnyc

That's for sure.

odie6l

"I've never heard of replacing air with nitrogen on a Pilot. Looking through the Pilots maintenance schedule there is no mention of nitrogen in the tires."

Any local Goodyear, or even Costco will switch you over to Nitrogen for about $20 per tire. The thing with Nitrogen is the tire will not seep as fast as normal air will. Also Nitrogen will not change in pressure with temp of tire / outside.

Odie
Odie's Carspace

ronnyc

I checked around, calling several Honda dealers in Suffolk County (on Long Island). Explained my situation (2005 Pilot EX, 9000 miles, needs the 7500 mile check up). The prices I got were $96, $125, $144. I called Honda US up; they were polite but not really that interested.

I left a message for Potamkin Honda's general manager.

I'm pretty sure the next time I need to do a check up, it will not be there.

RON

stever

"N2 and O2 are almost the same size and N2 is lighter than O2 (28 g/mol vs 32 g/mol) so if either gas were to effuse out of the tire, nitrogen would do it more quickly"

"Pressure will increase or decrease to the same extent as the temperature increases or decreases regardless of which gas is in the tire."

Eng-Tips (more than you ever wanted to know about nitrogen filled tires, LOL).

I'm still dubious. :shades:

Please keep us posted Ron.

stever

This link was posted elsewhere on the forums today:

Honda Service News - Nitrogen Inflation: What's Our Position (pdf file).

aspesisteve

yes, you got taken

sorry to say, but these services are all fluff.
with the exception of the oil change the rest you could do with out.

I've questioned service mailers like this before and when you tell them the maintenance manual says nothing about all these things they back peddle real fast.

ronnyc

Sadly, I think you are right. I called them and the service manager was very nice and explained the rationale behind all of this. Now, I may not be the sharpest tack in the box, but I should be able to understand the necessity of $450 in extra work and I didn't.

Luckily, there are other Honda dealers around and I think my next checkup isn't for a long time.

ronnyc

I got a long explanation about the charges, etc. Long and short of it is that I should have read the manual and then had them explain everything to me, costs, reasons, etc. It's not like they hid anything from me; this is all on me, really.

I figure, I can handle this one time. Just not twice.

Thanks guys for all your help.

RON