When a dealer offers 10% off maintenance?

" snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@m3g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

They're trying to get you in the door because they know chances are good they will find other stuff that needs fixing.

Most people do nothing to their cars until they get an enticement like the one you got. And neglect breeds big repair bills.

innews: snipped-for-privacy@m3g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

Yeah I go once a year, for the oil change, and tell them to do whatever kind of maintenance is necessary. I don't drive much though... maybe 5-10K miles a year.

You my friend are a service managers wet dream!

G-Man

"G-Man" wrote in news:1399tus8b9ugl52 @news.supernews.com:

He didn't say he told them to perform whatever REPAIRS are necessary, just maintenance. What he's doing is GOOD.

I don't agree. Most dealerships go way above and beyond what is in the "What is needed" schedule.

I would go as far as to agree to everything that IS on the schedule. Even that is crap sometime. I learned when at 60k on an accord years ago, they changed the drain plug. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was on the schedule. This was YEARS ago.

G-Man

"G-Man" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.supernews.com:

True, which does no harm except to make your wallet a bit thinner and your car more reliable.

I myself go above and beyond the official maintenance schedule and have done so for 16 years. The car now has nearly 300,000 miles on it and is wonderfully reliable.

Replacing a drain plug is NEVER on ANY "maintenance schedule" outside of TSB or recall replacement. I do not believe you.

For the extra $100/year it might involve, why not, especially if they send you flowers afterwards. I'm willing to humor them, a little. Haven't been to one that would stick an ice pick in your radiator otherwise, not since some mumble years ago, and it was not Honda.

J.

they'll give you a discount, but they'll find over $1,000 of stuff that "urgently" needs to be done.

At MY dealership, I get the 10% discount off the final, before-tax price.

The OIL drain plug can require replacement after several removal/ replacements during oil changes. So, perhaps the mechanic noted that the hex head was becoming a little worn and relaced it. I replaced mine on my 2001 Civic a few years ago for that reason, and am about to replace it again. But I change my oil 4 times per year due to the high miles I drive (110/day commute). But it is NOT on the maintenance schedule to replace it.

eh? how are you damaging it??? if you're using the correct wrench, that's not going to happen.

You Tegger are now MY wet dream :-)

300K ? I love it!

G-Man

I don't care who you believe. I am old :-)

This was back around 1982 or so. I was young. Did I see it in writing? No, but it is what I was told. This is when I made the decision to do my own work. Up to a point. I'm not going to do a timing belt/water pump change, but I do most of the other maintenance.

BTW, I just got a Prius after owning nothing but Hondas for the last 27 years. This is going to be a learning curve. I got it just for my commute. I still have my '05 Pilot and my '06 Accord V-6 NAV. The Prius is a fun little car. I'm averaging 55 Mpg.

G-Man

Chief snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@w3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com:

Not at all. If not abused, the drain bolt is good for the life of the car.

The drain pan hole threads, on the other hand, have a tendency to expand and make the plug fit loosely, eventually stripping the assembly entirely.

A new plug can slightly extend the useful life of damaged oil pan threads just because its thread peaks haven't worn off yet.

The hex head never wears out, unless somebody was inept or used the wrong tool and rounded it off.

I change my oil six to eight times per year, and have done so for thirteen years. This is a total of 78 to 104 removals and installations of the drain bolt. The same drain bolt has been in use for those same 13 years and still torques up to 30 ft lbs with no leaks. The hex is perfect.

Torque spec is actually 33 ft lbs, but I go a bit light at 30. This in order to be gentle on the pan threads.

"G-Man" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.supernews.com:

Down boy!

Current mileage is 290,483. At the pace I drive, I figure it will roll over by about late winter or early spring.

I post my odometer here:

The local Acura dealer tells me they have two vehicles that come in which have higher mileage than me: A '97 1.7 EL with 435,000 miles, and some other car that has about 375K. I don't know the year or model. Original engines in both. Both still pass emissions.

My Toyota dealer has their std maintenance (15K, 30K, 60K...) prices clearly posted behind the service desk. My Honda dealer offers a 1- page list with the same info. A 10% discount means 10% off the posted prices. They also will do 10% off any additional work they might suggest; and they always suggest something additional. Nearly any work they suggest will be included in their OEM shop guides that also list the labor time for the work. They charge by those guidelines, that provide PLENTY of time to do the work (and go for lunch and/or train another tech. in the procedure). So, no, they don't jack up the already excessive labor prices.

Gotta luv 'em.

On the other hand, your local dealership can't make it off new car sales. They need a thriving used car and service business to turn a profit.

unless a dealer is utterly incompetent managing their franchise, that simply can't be true. if you check company accounts for fleet purchases, cars are bought in volume for prices as low as 50% of msrp. if an end user can buy them that cheap, you can bet the dealer can too.

While I've seen domestics that cheap, I haven't seen Hondas sold at

50%. And notice how the domestics are trying to get out of that unprofitable practice.

but you said "your local dealership can't make it off new car sales". it's the manufacturer that takes it in the shorts from deep discounting, not the dealer.