Hi everyone, this is my first time owning a car. It’s a 2020 Honda civic. I had the « service » light turn on so I took it in to my local Honda service center. These are the issues they flagged and the estimated cost for each. Are these prices fair? Or are these things I can easily/safely learn to do on my own? (Ignore the wiper insert replacement, I can definitely do that on my own)
Thank you in advance!
Do your own air filter. The oil change is a fair price. The brake fluid is fair. This is reasonable except the air filter.
I think you can change the filters yourself and save a little
Have dealer service the CVT the fluid is about 90/gal so if they do it for 40$ good on them and that CVT is sensitive to fluid neglect. Is well rated otherwise. Cabin and engine filter are easy beginners level Do IT Yah-self (DIY) wipers if that is for the pair not too bad Walmarts are about 17$ per and will not last as long as OE.
You can also easily replace the engine air filter. The cabin filter is sometimes a bit trickier but not usually all that difficult. The transmission CVT and the brake fluid I’d let them do for those prices.
The answer is ALWAYS learn to do it yourself.
Some lessons you learn the hard way. Sometimes you get in over your head. Sometimes you don’t have the right tools.
YouTube is your friend, also I always recommend everybody buy a PDF copy of FACTORY service manual for their car. (not the Haynes/Chiltons manuals, those are okay, but the ones from Honda are way better.) (check ebay)
You save money, even if you need to buy tools, you still save money, and collect tools. I sometimes call DIY projects “working for tools”.
Find a friend who likes to work on cars and is willing to teach you. Also, sometimes it’s good to have a friend on standby for those “oh shit, I broke this bolt, now I need to go to the hardware store” moments.
The answer is ALWAYS learn to do it yourself.
Some lessons you learn the hard way. Sometimes you get in over your head. Sometimes you don’t have the right tools.
YouTube is your friend, also I always recommend everybody buy a PDF copy of FACTORY service manual for their car. (not the Haynes/Chiltons manuals, those are okay, but the ones from Honda are way better.) (check ebay)
You save money, even if you need to buy tools, you still save money, and collect tools. I sometimes call DIY projects “working for tools”.
Find a friend who likes to work on cars and is willing to teach you. Also, sometimes it’s good to have a friend on standby for those “oh shit, I broke this bolt, now I need to go to the hardware store” moments.
75$ for a cabin filter!? Better be HEPA certified! No? Rip off. Beside most cars it’s a 2 minut job and i pay about 10$ for part for my vw.
75$ for a cabin filter!? Better be HEPA certified! No? Rip off. Beside most cars it’s a 2 minut job and i pay about 10$ for part for my vw.
Do the transmission only. You can do everything else by yourself with an hours time and probably around 50-60$
They got you on the cabin filter and engine filter. Otherwise the transmission oil and brake fluid seem normal price. The thing with the transmission fluid and cabin filter is they can say they replaced them but you would have no idea.
They got you on the cabin filter and engine filter. Otherwise the transmission oil and brake fluid seem normal price. The thing with the transmission fluid and cabin filter is they can say they replaced them but you would have no idea.
The cabin air filter and engine air filter prices are absurd. I just bought an engine air filter for my girlfriend’s civic for $25 and cabin filter for $20. I installed both. No tools were needed. The engine air filter took me a minute to swap. The cabin air filter maybe a couple minutes. $50 and DIY, or $134.
The brake bleed and CVT prices seem fair.
The price on those filters is insane.
The cabin air filter and engine air filter prices are absurd. I just bought an engine air filter for my girlfriend’s civic for $25 and cabin filter for $20. I installed both. No tools were needed. The engine air filter took me a minute to swap. The cabin air filter maybe a couple minutes. $50 and DIY, or $134.
The brake bleed and CVT prices seem fair.
Brake system and cvt fluid are worth it. The rest can take less than 5 minutes and a YouTube search to do.