There it is, for posterities sake. Going to pencil this spec into the manual to have it handy when it comes time for the t-belt replacement. Thanks!

 

I see my thread has been moved to where threads go to die.... The nursing home of acurazine.

 

3200 to swap motors? wow thats really steep guess having mechanic friends arent so bad after all. doesnt seem that hard to swap motors because ive done my tranny before and basically everything comes out all thats left is 2 mounts. gl in court i think the price is really steep but if you win the case 3200 shouldnt be a problem.

btw: we're both on the same boat. stupid tire shop still hasnt paid me yet my car fell off their floor jack because the idiot jacked it from the sub frame and the jack slipped and bent the crap out of my radiator support. made the hood stick up about 2 inches couldnt drive it for a few months.

 

I know $3,200 seems steep but I'm just comparing it to the valve job.

A.) It's a dealership. They were going to charge me 15 hours of labor which came out to $1,500 and the engine was I think $1,200 plus $300 for fluids and other things then plus tax.

B.) I need to go to a dealership to get exact documentation, after what happened I don't want to take it to a small shop and have them miss something that will benefit me in court.

C.) This sucks

 

I vote C

 

Is a DIY out of the question?

Get an accurate description of what happened from the dealer and detailed estimate. You should win in court.

Then do the work yourself. It looks like most of the dissasembly has already been done. Pull the heads, disassemble them, send them to a machine shop for new valves and a valve job. You could even have them gasket matched and pocket ported while you have them off. It's no harder than changing a timing belt. Just follow the Helms manual.

I did my friends Toyota truck a few years ago and it cost about $300 in machine work, valves, gaskets and supplies vs the estimates he got. $1200 from a shop, $2800 from the dealer. He had a burnt valve and had just had the timing belt changes so I didn't change any timing components.

 

I was thinking about doing it myself and just having the dealership write me the basic estimate for a valve job then use that as court documentation.

But I work 60 hours a week and travel a lot, so for the average person it might take them 3 weeks to finish this job, it would probably take me 3 months.

There are plenty of ideas that i'd want to do with the job if I did it myself. But the dealership is hesitant about doing anything besides go by the manual. So yes, I feel I could spend this money more wisely on fixing up the car, but sometimes it's not worth the hassle.

 

just get the money first. if you have time, then use that money to DIY, if not then go ahead and take your car to the dealer. you dont have to decide right now.

 

That's what I wanted to do but being that I'm 350 miles from home it makes it a completely different story. I don't want to pay $400 to have it towed home then possibly not get that money back and I didn't want to push the car anymore than I had to, so driving it home was out of the question.

Oh well, cars at the dealership here in NJ, it is what it is.

I have an 09 TSX loaner and that car has nooooo balls.

 

TSX V6 does though.

 

Just got back from the dealership and the car should be done tonight or tomorrow.

Only had 2 bent valves, the other valves were ground down to fit in the seat perfectly. There was no head damage either. Pistons on the car had almost no carbon build up on them.

Overall, I think the total cost should be around $1800 for this job because the head didn't have to be machined.

Does that sound kind of steep? I never ever use dealerships because of the insane labor cost. But I thought a valve adjustment was about $700 bucks, isn't that technically what this is that they are doing? I think my labor rate is about $1200 for this job.

I'll be getting an itemized invoice tomorrow.

 

It's much more than a valve adjustment. They don't remove the head to adjust valves, but did have to remove the heads in order to replace valves. I think that is where the money is, R&R on the heads.

 

Lost track of this thread once they moved it... any updates?

 

Eh, been busy with the holidays. Car is running fine now but as for the court side of the matter.

I filed a BBB complaint and I got a response from the dealership saying "so they are suppose to be held liable for every part and component they put on the car for an indefinable amount of time"

They still don't get the point that "no" they aren't held liable for an indefinite amount of time if they do the install right... But that's what they don't think I can prove that they did the install wrong, which I can from the water pump.

Last week, I took the pump and bolt to the Acura dealership by my house and they were like, "omg, 100% that's from them over torquing that bolt, we've never seen anything like that". So one of the techs there offered to go to court with me and testify, he was a really nice guy and my situation.

Everyone I take this part to knows that this situation is 100% F$%#ed up and that the shop who did the install messed up.

As for tomorrow, I still need to get around to sending them a demand letter so I can file a small claims court case against them.

Hope you had a good holiday.

 

Like I said before, I wouldn't be too worried. They're scared and playing dumb. Good luck on the demand letter and keep us posted!

 

But, but, but the timming belt warranty was up!!

Thats good news to have that tech go with you. Are you sure he is not just the shop janitor? HA J/K. They (the other shop) may question his credentials in court.

 

Hm, the guy did seem to know a lot about the new squeege mop 3000 and thought the water pump I was showing him was a flux capacitor. Uh oh... lol


But ya, the guy is ASE certified and he has logged many more timing belt installs than the shop I had it done at, so let them fire away with the questions. I made him aware that they might do that and he was pretty blunt about his answer, "F'it, I'll be fine"


As for the demand letter, I don't want to bring up the water pump or give them too much info if we go to court. I don't want them to be prepared for that bomb I drop on them, so I'll keep it fairly vague.

What sucks about small claims court is I can't ask for money for the hassle I've been put through.

Having to go to all these techs and track them down and my car in the shop multiple times.. I wish there was an avenue for me to stick it to them even more.

Oh well

 

I am very sorry they are pushing this to litigation. I would find where they advertise and place ads countering theirs.

I would post on CL in the Automotive Service section as to your experience. If there is a billboard available near their facility I would look into renting it.

I hope this works out for you.

 

Oh don't worry cabrio, I already have that on my agenda if things don't go according to plan.

None of it will be slanderous but it will be truthful. Especially since they are in a poorer section of town, advertising should be cheap.

I would love to post the BBB letter that they sent, but for the time being I feel it's better to not post everything at the moment.

Not sure if I mentioned that they had the balls to threaten with counter-suing me for the cost of their attorney fees. That made me livid but it is what it is, justice will prevail in the end.

 

Press the gas pedal down further lol

 

tsx 4 banger ??^

 

^ yeah you gotta wind that puppy up to get it to go

 

Did I really read somewhere that the 0-60 takes 9 seconds??

That is pathetic if that is true. But honestly it felt like that was about right.

Car handled pretty decent though.

 

^ 3300lbs car with 200hp yeah that's about right

 

yea man my moms got the accord 4 banger... and that thing is slow.

she loves it, cause it's good on gas and comfortable and got a navi.

i hate 4 bangers.

 

sounds like the worst case scenario. getting my belt and pump done tomorrow. going with honda parts.

 

theres no doubt it my mind the bolt was WAY over torqued.. think of how many turns more the bolt turned to put a damn dent on the backside of the waterpump... theres no way someone used a torque wrench and was like ohh thats to spec.. it had to be done with an impactgun to have enough force to make a dent...

 

I didn't read the whole thread, but if you have comprehensive coverage, why not just let your insurance take care of this. I don't know why you go through the hassle of dealing with the shop directly.

 

Input #5 needs INPUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

What happened? did you win? Did they refuse to pay? Do you now own the shop???

lol

 

# 5 alive!!!

Ha, no, I haven't even got around to sending the demand letter. It's all finished being written, I am sending it out to them this upcoming Monday morning.

I'm actually excited to see these guys in court face to face.

Maybe it will be like that episode of Seinfeld and the judge will order the guy to be my slave till he pays off his debt. But if his house work is anything like his shop work, I'm not too sure I want that.

As for using my deductible/comprehensive.

1.) I have a $1,000 deductible (It's an old car, people who have $100 deductibles on such an old car are wasting their money)

2.) It was their fault and no reason for me to accept responsibility. People assume that it takes so much time to pick up the phone and sort a few invoices then spend 1 day in small claims court. I am a fighter, it's the principle of the matter.

 

Umm pits? after reviewing my honda water pump, it does have that dimple on there. not sure if I brought this up to you before, but I can take a pic if you want.

Im not saying they didnt overtighten it but probably not enough to dent it.

 

I have a Honda water pump too and it has the raised area but not the little dimple..

Could you take a picture if you don't mind?

And is it a new or old water pump that you have?

 

its the old one but the new one looked identical. i'll post a pic soon

 

Here you go Azn, this is the new Honda water pump that I have and while it looks somewhat similar it definitely doesn't have that raised dimple. Check it out.

 

Thanks for the update, I suggest you get into court asap. The longer you wait the more time they have to mount a defense & the less likely the judge is to find for you.

 

I'm on it, I have the paper work ready to go, but I have to follow protocol. First I contacted them twice orally by phone, then I filed a report with the BBB to see if they would respond that way. And now since they have refused through the BBB, I am sending them a demand letter and giving them 10 days to respond and pay in full.

If they deny that, then I'll fill the court papers on day 11.

I want the court to feel I gave the shop many opportunities to resolve this matter and that I didn't just go straight to court first.

 

Huh?

How is waiting roughly a month going to hurt his case? That doesn't make any sense.

Edit - Two months.

 

Smart approach.

 

He should show every effort has been made to settle amicably but do it as fast as possible.

The more time he waits the more the judge (who in small claims court is usually a lawyer that is an administrator appointed by the court not a judge) is likely to think either you did not think you had a case or you did not not treat the situation as a priority.

I have seen this happen to friends I have helped prepare small claims cases as lawyers are not allowed there.

How much actual litigation experience do you have? Oftentimes the rules of the court make no sense.

I am only trying to help him what is your motive?

 

I can understand if he waited 6 months and then started sending letters but he seems rather diligent in his effort to go through alternative channels before filing with small claims court.

Small claims are going to be different in each state, and I've only dealt with Oregon and California, but the short passage of time will have no adverse effect on his case. If anything it shows he didn't rush into court demanding he be compensated.

I'm also trying to help but scaring him into filing without first hearing back from his written demand.