Go to AutoZone or Pep Boys:

1 qt Mobil One 5W30: $5.69 x 5 = $28.45

1 Mobil One oil filter: $15.00

+ 6% (PA) sales tax $2.61

Total cost: $46.06

Now add a one time expense of about $100 for a good hydraulic jack and 4 jack stands plus $50 for a decent torque wrench.

You can change your oil and rotate your tires in your own garage. You will be learning a useful skill, have the satisfaction of doing it yourself and knowing it was done right.

Wheel bolt torque is critical for smooth vibration free driving. On the RDX it is only 80 ft.lbs.

Service techs are pushed by the clock and use pneumatic wrenches for everything. Wheel bolts get cross-threaded, torqued unevenly and way over-torqued (200 ft.lbs.) This warps rotors, causes brake pulsation, caliper chatter and wheel vibration.

With a little knowledge and practice you can do routine service better than the dealership and the time spent (including driving to and from and waiting while they do 3 other cars first) will be less. Plus you can stop in the middle to walk the dog and toss a baseball with your kid.

As your confidence grows you can get under the car and do visual inspections (the B service) that the dealership is charging $59/hour labor for.

The car Owner Manual states that these services can be performed by "any skilled person" without voiding the warranty.

I have saved thousands of dollars doing oil, brakes, filters, fluids, tire rotations and visual inspections at home. I have the satisfaction and peace of mind of knowing that it was done right.

If you can afford to pay 36 large for a heat ray of an SUV instead of 18k for a "practical" Chevy Equinox then you already have the innate smarts and work ethic to safely service your RDX.

It is useful and practical knowledge. It's fun too.

p.s. "wheel bolt" is a VW reference. Just think "lug nut".

 

My problem in doing my own service is convenience. What to do with the old olil? The time itself is worth something to me and when I bring my car for basic service the waiting areas at my dealers have had high speed internet so I work while I wait.

I make more per hour than the dealers charge me and therefore it seems wise to outsource.

Curious on the tire rotation. Is it necessary to change the tire monitors (valve stems) or does the system receivers know which tire is reporting where?

 

I've always rotated my own wheels in the past, however it hasn't been worth the little money saved to change my own oil, plus the dealer washes and cleans it which is nice

 

^^ I won't let the dealer touch our cars in terms of washing! They look at us like we're crazy when we say please don't wash - but you are guaranteed a slew of new swirl marks - especially with black...

I agree with econman - the greatest inconvenience of self oil changes is getting rid of the old oil.

 

I do all my own maintenance at home unless I have to go to the dealer for a state inspection or warranty work (in which case I might have them do an oil change if needed).

The only inconvenient aspect of home maintenance is recycling the old oil, but I do that about once a year so it's not too bad. I have a pretty good system worked out.

As far as time/cost, if I can do an oil change in 30 minutes on a Saturday morning, it definitely costs me less hassle than taking the time out of a business day to arrange servicing at a dealership. Even with loaners, shuttles, etc, a stop at the dealer will eat up time and pose somewhat of an inconvenience for me. I try to use convenience as my metric when I decide how to get stuff done, with quality of work figured in as well (I don't have a great opinion of dealership service in general, though our local Honda dealer is top notch and an exception -- we even bring our Acuras there. They also give out fresh-baked cookies which is a plus ).

BTW, Mobil 1 was about $21 at Wal-Mart in 5qt jugs the last time I checked. I think I paid about $5 per filter (with crush washer) last time I bought a case of Honda/Acura oil filters. So I am looking at about $26 + 30 minutes of time for an RDX oil change.

 

My dealer just charged me 48.48 for the oil and filter, and 34.40 Labor. $82.88 total And he washed it for me and vacuumed it PLUS HE ROTATED THE TIRES!! I really can't be bothered doing it myself. And I don't buy the stuff about the torque wrench, I had 360,000 miles on my last two acuras combined with the dealer doing all the service. No bolts fell out.
Everybody likes to do different things with their spare time though, and everybodies entitled to do their own thing, but when you take your car in for dealer service regularly, you build a relationship with the service department, and when, or in and Acuras case if, you have a problem, I think they take you more seriously

 

I've heard this theory numerous times and wonder of its validity. I used my Mazda dealer for all my maintenance on my RX-8. My clutch wore out prematurely and they were very good as an "advocate" on my behalf. Of course, I don't have a valid "counter factual" to compare my good experience with them to. That is, had I been a "stranger" to them would I still have received a new clutch under warranty?

 

man i wish mobil1 cost 5.69 here.

 

I've had no problems w/ dealer washing w/ my cars before, including my previous black RSX

 

Regarding rotating the wheels;
if one rotates wheels at home, how is the assigning proper location of the tire pressure sensor system done??

 

Unless they hand wash it or take it through a brushless carwash (which they may do), you can be assured you will wind up with swirl marks. They generally only appear in direct light.

Our local Honda dealer accidentally washed our departed 2003 Royal Blue Pearl Accord, and I could immediately see swirl marks when I approached it (it previously had none) - I was not happy. Especially after religiously Zaino'ing from the day we took delivery.

 

It automatically retrains itself to the wheel well sensor it is placed at. You dont have to do anything.

 

I guess I've had luck, because my black RSX never had a scratch on it in any form of light, and I had it washed everytime I was at the dealer

 

I do not think this is a correct information.
Can someone shed some light on this subject?

I vaguely remember on one of these forums that each wheel sensor has to be reassigned to a particular unit once it is remounted on location other than its current one.

 

Not to be a stickler (and it is a bit off topic), but scratches are completely different from swirl marks. Here are some pics of paint with swirl marks (before and after):

Swirl Marks Example

They tend to be very fine, and only noticeable in certain lights - especially on darker colors. They are generally the result of rubbing dirt into the paint (among other things). Car washes that use brushes (especially the spinnging kind) can really impart a bunch of them. Even careless hand washing can result in swirl marks.

 

I know we have covered the topic before, but there is no need to give them your maintenance business in order to receive fair warranty service later on. They are bound to treat every customer fairly. If it makes a customer feel better to build a business rapport with the service department, that can potentially be a good thing, but it's not a requirement. I have gotten great warranty service from out of state dealers on a trip on two occasions, and I was a complete stranger to them.

I do agree with the previous post about impact wrench abuse; I think the dealers are among the worst in this regard. One time I had to use a breaker bar to get the lugs loose from my wife's car after the dealer really socked them down, and they galled up the lug nuts to boot. If we had been on the side of the road with a flat and only the Mickey Mouse lug wrench included with the car, we would have been screwed (literally). No doubt they used an impact wrench there with no regard for proper torque. When I hand-torque lugs at home to 80 ft-lb, they come back off quite easily.

 

i find it is always good practice after any maintenance is done which requires removing a wheel/tire to check the lugs yourself once you are home...

just make sure you can break them and then tighten them back down yourself with a torque wrench.... once you have done that try to remember to check them a week later or so... heck... even a few days later to see if any have worked "loose" a bit...

last thing you want is to have had maintenance done and then get a flat in the middle of the night and find you have no way of loosening the lug nut... or throw some kind of breaker bar in your trunk...

i learned this because once i had my tires rotated and then took a road trip... 2 hours into the first leg of the trip... i felt a vibration at speed... couldn't figure out what it was... checked the lug nuts and one nut (of 4) on one of the front tires had barely been tightened... i undid it with my fingers...

can't hurt to check and it takes no time at all...

sbp

 

All good points, but just to address the issue of oil disposal.

Places that will accept used oil for disposal:

Wal-Marts that have a car service center.

Pep Boys

Autozone

Sears Auto Centers

Some NAPA stores

Car dealers service departments (many will take coolant and brake fluid as well)

Additionally, local auto service shops (and almost any place that uses a garage facility) heat the bays with used oil burners. These furnaces typically have 500 to 1000 gallon tanks and the shop will be happy to take your oil.

I store mine in old windshield washer borttles till I have about 10 gallons then drop them off at a truck repair place.

 

I do all of my own oil changes, in my opinion I see no point in paying someone to do that for me. I like to do as much work as I can myself, not only because it saves money but also because that way I learn about my car. The more work you do, the more you will know about how the car works. Then, if you are stuck in a situation where you HAVE to go to a dealer for work, you are more likely to know when they are trying to screw you. Sorry to be so blunt, but I have had that experience before.

I got into an accident with my RSX and messed up my rear control arm and wheel bearing. I took it to Acura and with parts/labor they were going to charge me $1600. I went onto car-part.com, found the control arm for $75 and the hub assembly for $50, went to my friend's shop and fixed it ourselves. I saved $1475 because I was comfortable enough with my car to fix it myself.

Regarding regular maintenance, though, for anyone who is leasing, at your end-of-lease inspection they will require you to show them at least one service record, or they will try to charge you for a reguarly scheduled service. But...if you are under your $1000-$1500 total "damage" then they will just write it off.

 

You go girl!

 

Sure. It is the variance within the division of labor and personal preference with the opportunity costs of one's time. I dislike the inconvenience of the mechanical process, the dirty oil, and given my relative level of ignorance in such things, outsourcing maximizes my net happiness.

I'm about to remodel my bathroom with a moved/larger shower and a cursory list of the materials involved seem to indicate that the $33k price tag greatly exceeds the cost had I chose to do it myself. However, my fear is I will tear up my home. Hence, me personally, I'm a big believer in professional service.

 

When it comes to home repairs now that's a different story. While I wouldn't mind doing some work myself, I don't see the benefit in knowing how to remodel my bathroom

When it comes to my car, though, I want to know what I'm talking about when faced with mechanical problems.

 

ha, it costs 5.59 at my local grocery store! I saw it was $4.99/quart at costco today. I think it's even cheaper in the big jugs at walmart.....

 

FYI, I just saw Mobil 1 5W-30 for $4.14 a quart (on special), but $4.69 regular price at Target of all places!