Garcia Honda keeps telling me I need all sorts of things done for my Honda. The price tag is Way high. I took the advice of a girlfriend and had another service company take care of the timing belt, but their price was worse than the Honda. What’s going on?
If this was the first Timing Belt you were probably way past due for one . That makes me think that there are several service items that you should have done also . Without knowing what the dealer wants to do I can’t say if they are right or wrong.
Look in your manual for service schedule .
When a timing belt is replaced, there are a few other items that usually “should” be replaced while the mechanic is that deep into the engine. So, you might be comparing apples and oranges on your price comparison. Your problem arises because you haven’t yet found a mechanic you trust. You need that with a car as old as yours.
High is relative. What you consider high cost might be perfectly reasonable to us.
16 year old cars need service. Good mechanics are expensive. Bad mechanics are far more expensive… think about it… they guess at the problems with your money.
Since you present no frame of reference, not any real information, we can’t answer your quesion
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I’m guessing the other shop . . .apparently an independent . . . also replaced the timing belt tensioner, idler, cam- and crank seals, and maybe also the water pump and thermostat
Since many good independent shops only charge nearly the same hourly rate as the dealer, if they did those additional items . . . which was a smart move, in my opinion . . . then the price could easily exceed the dealer’s quote, which most likely ONLY involved the timing belt and none of those other things.
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One of the regular posters on this site said to open and equip a 2 bay garage now costs about 2 million dollars. It take a lot of dollars per hour for an long long time before you start making money.
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I had the timing belt, water pump, coolant, and serpentine belt replaced on my 2005 Accord EX V6 in 2012 at 105,000 miles. It cost me $700 at the dealer, and that was the lowest price I got, including two independent shops. I did get one of the indie shops to price replacing the pulleys and oil seals, and they wanted over $1100. In 2012. How does that compare to your estimates 8 years later? The good news is that you won’t need this service again for 7 years or an additional 105,000 miles.
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Maybe OP is asking why does it cost so much to change a belt?
Does he know diff between a timing belt and SERP belt?
If he said he knew how involved changing a timing belt is and why it is expensive then he could have then said why is a dealer more expensive then a shop?
Sharon:
Aside from the timing belt, do you have a list of the repairs and the prices that Garcia Honda says you need?
Dealers are often competitive on the price of a timing belt change. Their mechanics have done a lot of them on their brand of car, so they can do the job well in less time with less chance of mishap. Even using OEM parts, which are the standard for quality along with their higher price, dealers can do this job right and at a fair price.
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