Time to do the timing belt/water pump in my TL. The dealership is $100 cheaper than the cheapest local garage.
I’m not sure how to process this strange new world I live in. 
It is not unusual for Honda dealers to charge less for timing belt/water pump jobs than indy garages do, so I don’t think that this is totally surprising. It is definitely good news, but it isn’t unprecedented.
But what all is included with each estimate ? Tensioner and idler ?
This Does Not Surprise Me. I Have Found Several Instances Where OE Parts From The Car’s Manufacturer Are Less Expensive Than Aftermarket. It Pays To Check Around If You Are Thrifty Or Just Want A Good Deal.
I also consider the labor and parts warranty when I comparison shop. Results may vary greatly.
CSA
But what all is included with each estimate ? Tensioner and idler ?
Tensioner, idler, water pump.
Yeah, it’s not unusual for Honda dealers to charge less for a T-belt… But Acura dealers? Hrm… They’re always more expensive for everything except sometimes oil changes. At least, the ones I’ve been to around here are.
Of course, they made up for it by wanting $400 for the spark plugs, so I’ll be taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and doing that myself this weekend.
shadowfax: I witnessed fleecing luxury car owners when I worked at the GM dealer. OEM muffler for a Chevrolet Caprice: $30. Identical part number for a same model year Cadillac DeVille: $85. That was not a dealer policy. It was the official GM parts list.
Yep. Honda’s sometimes a little better than other vertical brands, but you definitely pay more when they see the A instead of the H on the grille.
The other dealership in town wanted double what the one I’m taking it to is charging, but they also wanted to do a lot of extra BS that isn’t necessary but that they insisted must be done with this job.
Sorry, no, I don’t need you to replace my cabin filter for $200. I can do it myself in 5 minutes for, like, $15.
I paid $70 for an Acura serpentine belt a while back. They didn’t even smile about it.
“I witnessed fleecing luxury car owners when I worked at the GM dealer.”
It can even take place within car lines, depending on the specific model.
What am I talking about?
Well, back in '74, when I bought my brand-new POS Volvo, the dealer sold Pontiacs in addition to Volvos. I spent an incredible amount of time in the service department at that dealership, and one day while I was sitting in the service manager’s office, I happened to spy his “cheat sheet” for Pontiac maintenance & repairs.
Whatever type of service or repairs were being done on a Pontiac, their SOP was to take the price of those repairs for a Catalina and multiply them by a certain factor, if they were performing that work on a higher-priced Pontiac model.
I don’t recall the exact “multipliers”, but it was something along the lines of…multiply by 1.4 for Ventura, and multiply by 1.8 for Bonneville and Grand Prix.
Since–aside from the engine displacement–there wasn’t any significant difference under the hood from one Pontiac model to another, the…penalty…for having chosen a more expensive model was really ridiculous and was clearly a case of taking unware/unsuspecting customers for all that they were worth.
I had similar a experience and paid over $100 less at the Honda dealer with my timing belt.
Back around 78, my 73 Lincoln had a broken tail light lens. One of the three. The Lincoln dealer wanted $80 for a new one. I only paid $750 for the whole car so I just broke out the one on the other side to match.
Back in the late 50’s, my high school agriculture teacher owned a Mercury. He learned to go in and order the Ford part for much less money.
“Back around 78, my 73 Lincoln had a broken tail light lens. One of the three. The Lincoln dealer wanted $80 for a new one. I only paid $750 for the whole car so I just broke out the one on the other side to match.”
@Bing - So Glad You Didn’t Become An My Ophthalmologist… Or Dentist Or…
CSA
I regularly get my Toyota’s oil and filter charged at the Toyota dealer. Their prices are less than the local Jiffy Lube or the local tire dealer, and they check a lot of things. And they have free Keurig coffee.
The oil change is used as a loss leader to get other work, so I am regularly bombarded with all those other “necessary” things my car needs.
You get the up sells at JL too.
I expect their business model is to offer a low price on one thing, and make their profit by recommending add’l work. with the implied threat that if you don’t do what they say you’ll void your warranty.
If an inde shop tried that, it wouldn’t work, no leverage, b/c you have no warranty through the inde.
I’ve heard some horror stories, such as . . .
Lexus ES300 and ES330 owners being told by the Toyota dealer that they don’t work on Lexus . . . apparently, this was a stand-alone dealer, w/o Lexus on the lot . . . so they can’t do the timing belt job
Am I correct in assuming that a dealership is not obligated to work on a particular vehicle, especially if it’s a non-warranty repair, and it’s not even a brand that they sell . . . ?
I needed a main relay for my son’s Acura who was stalled and I was in a hurry. On the way I stopped at the Honda dealer who was closer but they said no, I had to go to Acura. So I detoured to Acura to get the part and of course it was marked Honda. I thought it was a little strange since you could go to any GM dealer at the time and get Chev, Olds, Pontiac, Buick etc. parts. Didn’t matter.
Usually the Acura dealer just comes back with a bunch of green boxes checked as everything ok. Once they recommended new wiper blades that they put on and cost me $15. So that was no big deal. I didn’t like though paying the same price for blended as for full Syn though or making appointments weeks ahead of time so just do it myself.
Your assumption is correct.