Busy day today. I had to leave first thing with Michelle so that I could take our Honda van into the dealership for the 7500-mile service after she dropped Daniel off at school (the van has our only carseat). I'm really torn about taking our two cars (Honda and Ford) to the dealerships for service. On the one hand, they stand behind their repairs, and that has helped us out with the Ford. A couple of years ago, the Ford ('97 Escort) had air conditioner problems, some kind of leak. Well, it was bad enough that they had to replace the whole system for something like $800.
A couple of months later, the same problem happened. Well, now they discovered that the cause of this problem and the original problem was that the car was running a bit hot due to an old radiator that was due to be replaced at the 120k mark (but the car was around 110k). That heat caused a hose to melt through and ruined the air conditioner system again. However, since we had the repair guaranteed, they replaced the radiator (which I had to pay for, obviously) and then replaced the air conditioner system again at no charge. So I'm happy to pay extra for that bit of security.
I'm also happy to let the dealership take care of the car because I presume they have more expertise with that make and model that some random repair shop (I went to Pep Boys years ago for some tire problem I had on an old car, and the experience was horrible ... I'd never go back there or to Sears, which also has a poor customer service record, I've read). But I know I'm paying an enormous premium. I just hope it's worth it.
Today, I shelled out $96 for essentially an oil change. Now they also rotated and balanced the tires (but that comes free with the tires I bought from another place anyway) and performed "manufacturer recommended inspections and lubrications" and a couple of other very minor tasks. That's really what I'm paying for ... preventive maintenance, and I hope it is worth it.
Posted by Observer at May 17, 2004 01:55 PMComments on entries can only be made in pop-up windows while those entries are still on the main index page. Sorry for the inconvenience this causes, but this blocks about 99.99% of the spam the blog receives.
Finding a trustworthy mechanic is tough. If you don't know of one, the dealership, while expensive as hell, at least has avenues to take complaints.
Posted by: Humbaba on May 17, 2004 02:59 PMI'm in the same boat about car maintenance. I still take ours to the dealership for routine maintenance and I feel like it's been a good preventative measure. We bought the car new in October of '97 and we're about to hit 100K miles. We had our very first problem a few months ago with an oil leak and something to do with some supports. The support problem wasn't an eminent threat to the longevity of the car or our safety, so we're living with it for now.
Posted by: Perkusi on May 17, 2004 04:03 PM