SWOBERT

Below is the e-mail I sent in response to an Acura survey after I got my rear window switch replaced under warranty. After my e-mail is the response I got from McDaniel's Acura. It seems that they took offense at my stating that their routine maintenance prices are too high. They defend the $96 a hour labor fee they charge for doing such things as changing the oil. At 20,000 miles, my routine service cost nearly $200! Is this too much? How much have you paid for a 20,000 mile service? Am I off-base here or am I being ripped off?

> Dear McDaniel's Acura,
>
> While I was dismayed that a power window switch failed on my Acura TSX at
> a little over 20,000 miles, this most recent experience was the best I have
> had at McDaniel's. The entire experience could not have been better.
>
> Specifically I was happy that:
>
> 1) Unlike previous visits, McDaniel's told me during my first call that
> the complete repair may not be possible and that a part may need to be
> ordered after bringing the car in to troubleshoot the problem.
>
> 2) McDaniels provided a temporary fix by raising the window so that I
> could use my car while waiting for the part to come in.
>
> 3) I was given a realistic estimate of how long it would take to get the
> part in.
>
> 4) Once the part was in, I was able to get an appointment quickly and
> the repair was done rapidly while I waited.
>
>
> Areas for improvement:
>
> 1) When washing cars, check for aftermarket magnetic XM radio antennas.
> Car washes can sometimes move these antennas and scratch the paint beneath. I know this now, and put the antenna in the trunk when I know the car is going be washed.
> 2) The prices McDaniel's charges for preventive maintenance isn't just
> high for car dealerships, it is high for Acura dealerships. At these prices, I
> expect the mechanics to be speaking Italian!



Dear Mr XXXX,

In an attempt to answer two problem areas you listed below I will do my
best to make sure we here at McDaniels Acura of Charleston are doing our
best to take care of our customers. In response to the
wash/reconditioning dept and your XM radio antenna. It is helpful to
always let the service advisor be made aware when you drop the car at
service so it can be noted on the Repair Order to be removed in case time
does not allow it for you to do so at drop off. We are in a partnership
with you to take the very best of care of your car both in our shop, when
it goes to the wash, but at times people do miss the obvious so if you
will do your part to state the obvious it benefits everyone. Second
McDaniels prices are not out of line for the service you recieve from us,
it just may not be well said from the advisor to you what a service for
you from us actully is. Our technicians are and have all and more
certifications from Acura than the technician at a Jiffy Lube. We pay our
technicians to extend there training and it provides you with quality
service and in turn we pay our techs a higher labor rate of $96.00 an
hour. If for your future maintenance service the cost of what is done,
service by service (ex. oil change, check of all neccessary fluids and a
complete inspection of the undercarriage, process any recalls that would
only show up and are covered completely while in service under warranty,
and then a check of the brakes and possibly a tire rotate and balance)
versus the job we call an A, B, C service and so on would be a vast
difference if broken down than cumulative under Acura means for
responsible service done at different time variants for the car. I hope
this helps in understanding the concerns you listed below and we do thank
you for choosing McDaniels Acura of Charleston.

LuvMyTSX

$188 for the 20k service. I think I've seen some pay more than you, so maybe it's about average, I'm not sure.

SWOBERT

As a point of comparison, I looked up the labor rates that are charged by several Ferrari dealerships around the country. If you have more Ferrari data please post.

Ferrari of Portland Oregon: $85 an hour
Ferrari of Atlanta, Georgia: $99 an hour
Ferrari of San Francisco: $120 an hour

Acura of Charleston, SC: $96 an hour

I wonder how that compares to Honda dealerships....

sauceman

If you consider what a routine maintenance will prevent in repair costs, the price they charge for maintenance is well worth it.

joerockt

Its so easy to do your own maintenance, to pay $200 is ridiculous...

And dont give me that "Well the dealer stamp is important"

Yui

They may charge you 96 an hour for labor but that's certainly not what is going to the techs....

biker

Exactly - the lowest guy on the ladder that does oil changes gets maybe $20/hr.

Biker, who just did his own 45K service for $20.

waTSX

Dude, I don't think I've seen you with a different avatar in my two years here. It's like seeing someone after they've shaved off their mustache - hard to recognize.

STL

The problem (besides the outragously hourly rates) is that most all dealers try to get you to do more routine maintenance than your car really requires. They always seem to find an excuse for why you need to not follow the normal schedule but rather the "servere" schedule.

sauceman

Haha, good one!

sauceman

So what's your car over here? Did you bring the Accord over?

Saintor

I disagree.

You can have a yearly 30$ oil change and you can go to 100000 miles without maintenance related issues. The rest is just a moneymaker for dealers.

iamhomin

$200 = 20k is like $100 every 10K miles. It's not that bad actually..(to those that needs to do their service in Acura)

Xtremespeed2102

yes but its not every 20k its smaller incriments too

n3ok318

iTrader: (1)

hm.. what if you count $200 for 20k and $400 for 30k

then it's $200 every 10k miles plus even more as u reach higher miles

damn and i need 30k maintenance soon

Magic Man

Routine maint? Do it yourself

Katz

An Acura dealer in California quoted $119.95 for routine 20K maintenance scheduling.

Since Acura was a little too far away, I went to Honda local dealer for $99.00 for similar package. Very satisfied with Honda service.

I started a thread on 20k maintenance 2-3 weeks ago, and you could check it out.

biker

Yep, good ole '99 Accord - although pretty soon it'll start gathering dust as it's getting to be full time bike season.

sauceman

Of course, that is if you want to keep it for only that much. Yeah, I guess I'm looking more at higher mileage than that actually

Saintor

Add 200$ filters & spark plugs and be done for 200000 miles. Timing chain - no maintenance.

Really, dealers regular maintenance packages are a joke. Anything worthy is an extra anyway.

sauceman

By experience with my high mileage cars, even with highly reliable cars like Hondas and Toyotas, the rewards when the car gets old of having well maintained your car more than offsets the cost of maintaining it at the dealership.

SPARKIE

Dear Mr XXXX,

In an attempt to answer two problem areas you listed below I will do my
best to make sure we here at McDaniels Acura of Charleston are doing our
best to take care of our customers. In response to the
wash/reconditioning dept and your XM radio antenna. It is helpful to
always let the service advisor be made aware when you drop the car at
service so it can be noted on the Repair Order to be removed in case time
does not allow it for you to do so at drop off. We are in a partnership
with you to take the very best of care of your car both in our shop, when
it goes to the wash, but at times people do miss the obvious so if you
will do your part to state the obvious it benefits everyone. Second
McDaniels prices are not out of line for the service you recieve from us,
it just may not be well said from the advisor to you what a service for
you from us actully is. Our technicians are and have all and more
certifications from Acura than the technician at a Jiffy Lube. We pay our
technicians to extend there training and it provides you with quality
service and in turn we pay our techs a higher labor rate of $96.00 an
hour. If for your future maintenance service the cost of what is done,
service by service (ex. oil change, check of all neccessary fluids and a
complete inspection of the undercarriage, process any recalls that would
only show up and are covered completely while in service under warranty,
and then a check of the brakes and possibly a tire rotate and balance)
versus the job we call an A, B, C service and so on would be a vast
difference if broken down than cumulative under Acura means for
responsible service done at different time variants for the car. I hope
this helps in understanding the concerns you listed below and we do thank
you for choosing McDaniels Acura of Charleston.[/QUOTE]

This reponse is a piece of shit.
OK who really wrote this letter????----must have been the car jockey!!!

SodaLuvr

Well, some services should be done more frequently than recommended. For example, draining and refilling the ATF every 15,000 miles (given the simplicity of the service, low cost of parts, and troublesome transmission history) is quite reasonable, as well as cooling system flush every 5 years.

As for inspections, I think they are necessary but certainly not every 10,000 miles. Personally, a full inspection every 30,000 miles is probably more than adequate.