My daughter has a 2009 Honda Fit. Great little car, but her Check Engine light just came on. She stopped at Honda dealership. They diagnosed and apparently the ignition coils are shot. Replacement is $1200.
This seems WAY high to me. Rock Auto lists the ignition coils at $61 each (Canadian $, and that's the most expensive ones. The cheapest are $23 each. So for 4 coils would be about $250 Canadian plus shipping).
I don't have a repair manual for this car, and my daughter lives 500 miles away so it's hard to have a look under the hood, but in my mind, I'm thinking these should be a pretty simple job to replace.
Anyone done this? Any idea why the cost would be $1200???
Here's a good video on replacing the coils. It's not difficult however the wiper assembly needs to be removed. $1200 seems a bit excessive. I suspect only 1 coil is bad but the shop wants to replace them all since they are all the same age and to save tearing it apart again
Thanks Todd. As usual, piece of cake to change them if you could get at them. Pulling the wiper motor and cowling would be a pain, but I can't see it being more than a couple hours tops. While they're in there, I assume they'll replace the plugs too. Even with that, assuming HONDA coils are double the highest price at Rock Auto, that'd be $500 for coils, add in another $100 for plugs (being generous), that still leaves $600 for labour.
Times like this, I sure wish she lived a little closer. It's almost worth driving all the way there anyway. Unfortunately, she needs her car for work, so it's already in the shop.
I know several single female family members (mother, sister-in-law, mother-in-law) over the years who have complained about getting the run around when they took their cars in for service. I was always a little skeptical until once I heard the shop owner explaining to my SIL why a particular job was going to cost so much. As soon as I joined the conversation (I'd arrived after her), he started hemming and hawing and suddenly he figured a bunch of the "must do at the same time" jobs disappeared and the cost was suddenly about half. I almost couldn't believe it. We went elsewhere. Ever since, I am wary when my daughter takes her car in.
To Pascal - I agree, and I would MUCH rather do it myself, but the 1000 mile round trip during Covid lockdown makes it tough.
-- Edited by 66 Beau on Friday 15th of January 2021 08:46:33 PM
Yeah if she could even take a male friend in with her and bonus if he happened to know a little about cars I'd guarantee she would save lots of money. 3 years ago I bought an 05 Honda Accord to import down south. It was a lady one owner car. It had come with free oil changes for the time that she owned the car. She gave me the paper history of the car and man they took good care of her at this dealership. Most oil changes were 6-7 hundred dollars and there were brake flushes, power steering flushes, and just about what ever you can imagine. I appreciate what manufactures SUGGEST but what really needs doing are two different things. To me that advisor was a crook as she got raped each time she went in there. It has been a great run around car for me though for sure.
Yeah if she could even take a male friend in with her and bonus if he happened to know a little about cars I'd guarantee she would save lots of money. 3 years ago I bought an 05 Honda Accord to import down south. It was a lady one owner car. It had come with free oil changes for the time that she owned the car. She gave me the paper history of the car and man they took good care of her at this dealership. Most oil changes were 6-7 hundred dollars and there were brake flushes, power steering flushes, and just about what ever you can imagine. I appreciate what manufactures SUGGEST but what really needs doing are two different things. To me that advisor was a crook as she got raped each time she went in there. It has been a great run around car for me though for sure.
I was going to quote some of my similar experiences when dealing with dealerships but let's just say you've captured them. Ethics isn't one of their strong suits.
What Jerel says is true. Years ago one of my brothers-in-law in Toronto bought a new car, and the dealer he bought it from gave him a booklet to follow with a bunch of maintenance items that were far more than the manufacturer suggested. He asked me about it, and I told him to throw it away and follow the manufacturer's service schedule, which is all you are required to do to keep your warrantee valid. In this case the dealer was just trying to make extra money from unsuspecting customers by getting them to pay for service that wasn't necessary.
I also told him to go to another dealer with more reputable practices, which he did. If there are more dealers in the area that she can go to, I would suggest that she get a second opinion. Or farm it out to a reputable private shop. It's not a complicated repair.
Service info for this job:
OEM Part # 30520RB0S01
Price $176.12
Labour to replace coils (hrs):
One 0.6
All 0.9
As a dealership, they would charge her flat rate hours to replace them.
So, with that info, going off a dealer labour rate of $110/hour:
4 coils = $704.48
Labour = $99
Total = $803.48
+ BC sales tax of 12% = $899.90
The dealer rate is an estimate, as it varies from dealer to dealer (not sure what the going rate is in BC). The hours and parts cost are from a subscription service, but they get their info from the OEM, so it should be correct.
Apparently Dad didnt hear about it until after the fact. You want your kids to be independent, self-reliant people, right???
The cost included initial diagnosis, new plugs (it better!), plus oil change, and the 4 coils. So in the end, not far out from MCs estimate. So not as bad as it first seemed. $1200 still seems way high, but evidently, not complete robbery. They got it done in one afternoon too, which is an important consideration since she needs the car for work.
Thanks for helping me feel a little better about it.
I feel your pain Wes. My son (who is not a car guy) moved back to Ontario from PEI in 2019. I used to service his Honda. He went to the dealer in St.Catherines to get his winter tires on last fall and walked away with something like a $600 bill. They got him for pretty much every maintenance service. Being a bit proud he didn't call me first to ask for advice. I didn't want him to feel he got rooked but I did say "Give me a call first next time".
It seems like a lot of money, but I suppose it's reasonable for a dealer. With the extras thrown in, including the diagnostic time, they are probably not far off the mark.
Bright spots would include the fact that she got OEM parts, which almost always are better than aftermarket, and this means she should never have the problem again, unless she keeps it for another 11 years.
And... I didn't realize that you guys only pay 12% sales tax. In NS we pay 15% HST, so if it were here there would have been an extra $30 or so tacked on...
To add on to my above post, gouging doesn't only happen at dealers - I've heard stories of people (older ladies or trusting women in these cases) going to Canadian Tire or one of the muffler shop chains and coming out with $1000+ bills when they went in for a simple repair. Somehow their cars always needed all of their brake rotors and pads replaced... those "free inspections" are not really free, just a way to take advantage of people who don't know much about cars.
MC wrote:those "free inspections" are not really free, just a way to take advantage of people who don't know much about cars.
Bingo!
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
Remember those "lifetime" muffler warranties those exhaust shops had? Those mufflers were of the thinnest grade steel and they hoped you'd roll in needing the rest of the exhaust, shocks, brakes etc .
I remember watching the tech 'testing' my exhaust system during a change out of my "lifetime" muffler. Two hands on a huge pair of water pump pliers and he was trying to crush the pipe. Fortunately I was there and called him on it. He seemed pretty embarrassed and by the way he was peeking over toward the office, I got the impression he was just doing what he'd been told to do.
I suspect there are a lot of businesses just hanging on right now, and milking any opportunity to bring in another few hundred bucks means the difference between keeping people working and sending them home. The temptation to overstate the need for a new tie rod end or brake rotor has got to weigh on you if you're the one who's going to have to let someone go, or if it's you that's on the block.
Still, I have never returned to any place I thought was padding the bill. Fool me once...
While trying to diagnose the surge on the HHR I drive I found a post from a guy on an HHR forum who said he was in a shop for regular service and the tech recommended replacing the camshaft position sensors "due to the mileage on them"! Then he was quoted $600 bucks. I got a pair for $39 shipped on Rock Auto and they take 20 minutes to replace. I wouldn't consider them a maintenance item!
Doing these "maintenance" and "while we are at it" repairs at shops are their bread and butter. I don't know how many times I've been asked "Would like us to replace your windshield wipers"? "How about a new cabin filter"? Quick & dirty cash grab.
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
Years ago, brother in law went to Canadian Tire to replace the timing belt on his Accord. They talked him into replacing his water pump while it was apart. So they took out a perfectly good OEM water pump and replaced it with a Canadian Tire part. Sure enough, a few years later it started leaking and he had to pay to have it replaced. The OEM one would have been fine as they are good for several hundred thousand kms.
So, they got him for the parts and labour on the original pump, and again for a premature replacement. I had told him to go to the dealer, which was a little more expensive but parts quality is much higher, but he wanted to save money by going to CT.
