Lude Generation

So out of curiosity I sent an email to dear old Honda for a quote on timing belt change inc. new water pump and tensioner, and to include an additional quote for all oil seals to be changed too if any were leaking.

I knew it would be high seeing as the most convenient Honda garage to me is Lings very own, which we all know is usually pricier than other dealers, but after hearing of a few people getting reasonable quotes I thought it may not be too bad. After all someone IIRC was quoted around 700 all in for belt change (inc pump etc.) and valve clearances, and I think Merlin got his done on Honda Happiness for sub-300.

Still, wasn't expecting the quote I got considering in parts for everything it's only around 3-400 quid, all genuine Honda of course.

So after the usual faff with them not knowing what a Prelude is - despite me supplying model name, year, chassis code, engine etc. they then had to phone me for the reg - I finally got a quote.

£1040 all in

And the bastards still didn't give me a quote sans seals like I asked.

Can anyone else top this?

WTF!

So when is it booked in for?

paid 1400$ for them to not diagnose a faulty egr valve. the next step for them was to take the head off as they thought a valve was cracked. I took it to Hond-R and maz opened the bonnet and told me what the problem wa in 3 seconds.

I went back and wrote them a letter. got my money back just before they went into liquidation

and I quote

"You will save on labour somewhat having all components doing together"

No wonder they went bust LLL

Honda Happiness scheme worked for a while, but then they tried to bury it... The last time I had owt done at the dealership it was for an MOT which is when they gave me a £900+ estimate. It failed on a sticking rear brake caliper, and a bush in the lower control arm. They priced it up for a new caliper (£350+) and a new control arm complete with bushes (coz its much easier to replace in one go) and labour +vat. They were suprised when I said I would pick up the car in 10mins...

I eventually repaired the whole thing for £100 inc labour. I got the bush new from Honda (£35) and paid someone (a proper garage) to service the caliper and replace the bush.

That was the last time....

Yep, I had the cambelt done on my UKDM a couple of years ago under Honda Happiness and was happy with the price (and the fact I had a loan car for 2 days while they did it) but when I got a price earlier on this year for doing the JDM it was higher.
Looking round on their website now, honda happiness seems to have been dropped.
I've looked through all their current servicing stuff and they give prices for the first 3 years servicing on new cars. For other cars, it suggests they only offer 2 types of servicing ("12" and "12+") neither of which include the cambelt - to my eyes, both options include nothing more than changing the oil, topping up the screen wash and then looking round the car to tell you what else needs doing as additional work.

There's no prices given for cambelts now, for any car

not suprising but sad none the less.