I feel like I’m being royally screwed on my repair and need to know if I’m crazy. I can’t find anywhere that justifies these costs for parts and labor. They’ve had my car for days! And it’s totaling out to almost $1400 to replace my valve cover gaskets
I appears to be more than just the valve cover casket. I expect the fuel injection plenum gasket is generating a big labor fee.
I was confused because they only mentioned valve cover gaskets needed replace and nothing about the fuel plenum
This is the engine in your car.
The valve covers are the components with the three coil packs mounted on top of them.
Tester
you are welcome to call around and get a second opinion, and you are also welcome to get the car and bring it home and do the job yourself.
This is at a Honda dealer presumably? The intake needs to be removed to gain access to the rear valve cover. Warranty labor time is 2.3 hours. Customer-pay labor time is more. There’s a fat markup on those gaskets. OEM gaskets, front and rear, can be purchased for $35 total. Intakes are $56. Everyone needs to make a buck but if you can buy vc gaskets and intake gaskets for $91, being charged $361 sounds like they’re getting a little crazy.
Unfortunately is a small reputable shop which is upsetting. Originally was replacing the alternator but have a warranty that made that free but it went out because of oil leaking into it because of the valve cover gaskets. All they would tell me is V6s are difficult to replace those gaskets on and that’s why it’s so expensive I might as well have just gone to a dealer
Did you not ask for an estimate before having them start the job???
Here in new jersey, and I believe in new york, if the shop doesnt have a fully priced out repair order with the customer’s signature on it, the customer may simply refuse to pay for the work and take the vehicle.
The modern transverse mounted V6 engine configurations have benefits, but some negatives as well. More labor hours needed to service & repair for example. Suggest to consider the repair cost aspect as part of your next car buying decision. Compare the cars you are considering to purchase in part based on parts/labor fee for these oft-needed jobs:
- valve cover gaskets
- water pump
- timing belt (if applicable)
- starter motor
- serpentine belt & tensioner
- transmission fluid level check & routine service
Some of those fees will be considerably less expensive if the car is equipped with an in-line 4 engine, rather than a v6. Suggest to avoid turbo configurations if concerned about service & repair costs as well. As the car buyer, you are in total control. You decide which manufacturer offers up the engine configurations that get your loot. And which ones don’t.
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With labor rates being high across the board . . . new car dealership AND good independent shops . . . the days of cheap repairs are long gone
You did NOT get royally screwed, imo
Transverse V-6 engines can be quite labor intensive to work on
Replacing plenum gaskets on a transverse V-6 isn’t a quick in and out job
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No your 2008 (or 2018 lol) V6 Accord is NOT a turbo (factory)… My daughters 2017 Corolla is NOT turbo…
I think you are either trying to understand too much, or you are overly confused, or you just need to give up and stop trying to understand vehicles cause nothing is sinking in…
A transverse engine is an engine that sits in the engine bay sideways, east to west, not north south…
Meaning the engine is on one side of the engine bay and the transmission is on the other (fender to fender)…
A north south engine is in the front (most cases) and the transmission in the back of the engine bay (front grill to firewall)…
But I am now even wondering if you understand that… lol
But turbos are becoming more and more normal and a lot of vehicles are turbo (forced induction) now… A lot does not mean every…
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This is the layout of your 2008 Honda Accord V6 engine, afaik
And I’m not sure why you asked me to use “simple” words . . . transverse is not a purely automotive term and it’s not just mechanics and gearheads that use it
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There’s some confusion here. PatSmith has a 2018 Accord and has jumped into this thread about FigFigNewt’s 2008 Accord.
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Turbos are more common than ever, but not all cars will have them.
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I like the way you cut right to the chase
It’s a breath of fresh air, imo
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Yeah, Pat asking DB to explain his answer to the OP’s question (like it was his own question) and then thanking George (again, like it was his own question) for his answer to the OP’s question as well as asking all kinds of questions on his (Pats) threads made me think I was on one of Pats threads and not the OP’s thread… 
Heck at this point I don’t remember if Pat has a V6 or turbo I4… lol
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Avoid the V-6 and turbocharged engines? That leaves the hybrid powertrain as the only option. Vehicles keep getting more complicated.
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I don’t know how many new cars offer a 4 cylinder in-line non-turbo engine option. The manual transmission option is definitely getting hard to find.