russianDude

well, usually I change my own oil, but when it was cold in winter I had my Acura dealer change oil. The idiots overtightened the drain plug so much that I had hard time removing it, and when I finally removed it, the washer was fused into a drain bolt. I had to use cutting pillars to cut it and remove it. Good lesson never have dealer change oil. I think for oil changes they give jobs to their trainees and lowest skill techs. I use torque wrench, my oil changes are perfected!

mau108

Ha I'll one up you, when I had my Prelude and it was under warranty I had taken it in regarding a small oil pan leak, they didn't fix it (they put some die in the oil to see where it's leaking from), but the idiots managed to strip the head off the nut as well as overtighten it. I had to get a new bolt as the head was so worn down It wouldn't tighten back up.

Argh bunch of idiots there!

russianDude

yea, some people will probably say 'go to different Acura dealer' . BS, at all dealerships oil changes are view as waste of time, and lowest skilled techs get them, and rushing it out. Just kind of makes me glad I do my own stuff, not only from economics point of view, but also from doing it right. I use torque wrench, non of the oil places use it, so unless you got expert on tightening it right to 29lb/ft, you will end up with overtightened (most likely) bolt.

Kaze66218

I love ludes...(poligomy, is alive and well in my 'hood. My 5th gen was my first wife.)

I hate dealers. acura of the desert fixed a switch on my blower but forgot to check the rest of the unit for damage. $350 later while in warranty + religous $70 oil change + customer loyalty + faggot service tech that would not honor satisfaction guarrantee = pissed off customer that never lets another person do something he can do himself.

@Russiandude
Sorry to hear that. At least they didnt strip the threads on the oil pan from over torq'd oil bolt. You veally dont need Torque wrench: just snug her up and with a 4-7 o'clock clockwise turn she's set.

russianDude

you dont if you know what you are doing. that is not the case for low skilled techs. torque wrench just eliminates any doubts, too tight is a problem, not too tight you can get oil leak....

mrgold35

I've always had good luck at my Acura dealership changing the oil. The dealership are the only folks that touch the powertrain of the the TSX and RDX. I purchase my own oil, they change it, do a free inspection, perform any other scheduled maint, and wash/vac the car afterwards. It usually cost me about $35 for the oil change.

In my "younger" days, I would do it all myself. Now, I rather leave it to the someone else to take care of.

russianDude

Did you ever check if your drain plug was over-torqued? You would never know, until one day after days of abuse it finally snaps...

phineasboggs

Hah! I took mine to Crown Acura for an oil change, and they insisted I needed, after a few thousand miles only, that I needed all sorts of services (they started at $1100 of services) plus two new tires (I had had new tires at purchase). They finally negotiated that they'd pay for one and I'd pay for the other. Then, they replaced only one. Who knows if they even did do the service they claimed to do, let alone change the oil.

At this point, I consider Acura dealers to be crooks, and I cannot see any reason to ever go to them again.

So, you did good in comparison!

mau108

In an AWD vehicle it's always best to change all 4 tires if they have all worn out.

Kaze66218

I wished you all lived in my neighborhood.. I'd change the oil for free.

phineasboggs

Yeah, absolutely, but this was about their scamming me. Do you know of any Michelin tires that wear out in under 4000 miles?

Don't want to further hijack of OPs thread. My original rant

nj2pa2nc

Since I have no desire to do the maintenance on my 06 tsx I take it to an acura dealer I feel does an excellent job, does not sell me unneeded service or overcharge. My car still has the original brakes (measured at 8's in fronts and 6's in rear about 2 months ago) My car has almost 124,000 problem free miles.

Kaze66218

I really think it depends on the volume of service related customers they get in a month.

The local service writers here are paid in commission and if they are doing bad they do what they gotta do to feed their families. That doesn't mean all service writers are on commission, and that all big city or heavily serviced departments will yield the best possible experience.

But if the facility has all the lifts filled and the cars backed up a few days, then more than likely they'll do what's necessary to get your car in and out, with hopefully the very minimum amount of drama.

I still harbor a resentment toward mid luxury dealer service depts --previous rx300 owner with a bad tranny and clogged oil passages from deposit build up.

Costco

Try taking it to one of those nationwide quick-and-dirty oil change places instead then. I hate to generalize since not all of them are bad but I know some of them constantly order universal drain plugs from stripping the oil pan threads.

VietNinjaJ30A1

Agreed...and I'm only 25. I change the oil myself unless it happens to fall at the same time some other schedule maintenance is to be done, but I leave the transmission/transfer case fluid changes to the dealership.

My Acura dealership has been really good to me since I started taking my car there. They're prompt, never hurry me back to get my car (I'm usually in one of their loaners), and I've never had a problem with something after they "fixed" it. Maybe it's my attitude, but they never INSIST that I need to have any work done. At most it's been presented to me as a "next time you come in, we'll re-check and make sure the _________ is still ok." Or it could be that I don't need anything else done at the moment.