markjhawk

First of all, long time browser, first time poster. Thanks for all the information over the last year. It has been a great year with my 06 RL Lakeshore/Ebony.

So my story of the $223 oil change. The B16 message we all love so much at 13500 miles. Call several dealers in No. Va...all in the $270 range (ouch). Yep, could do it myself but no desire. Should have just taken to another shop and took the right fluids, but thought first major service...do it right.

So my wife drops it off for the B16 service (given an RDX loaner)...also warranty work being done on the sunshade for a rattle.

This particular dealer is pretty small...only a couple of RL's at any one time. Wife loved the customer service, super friendly etc. Was feeling a little better about the $268 I was spending.

So we go to pick up the RL, after service dept closed, just the receptionist. She says $223...really beginning to like them after a surprise $45 discount.

After departure and closer inspection, I discover they don't appear to have done the 6 at all...no mention of the rear diff and no listing of the fluid. I would never have gone except for the 6 in the B16. Also no mention of the tire rotation.

So how can one possibly get to $223 for basically an oil change and those famous "visual inspections".

Well there is the $13.50 MOA Oil Additive and $14.50 MI 3000 Fuel Deposit Controller. Do other dealers throw this kind of "stuff" into their service?

How about the $16.67 in shop supplies??? $138.95 in labor. Various dogs and cats...

I will have an enjoyable phone call with the service manager tomorrow, but I find it pretty disappointing that an Acura dealer wouldn't actually complete the right service when such a big deal is made of getting the rear diff fluid changed.

Overall, love the RL...however every service dept I have dealt with so far has had some issues.

Mark

Chas2

Where did you go?

I just had mine done at Pohanka, cost $245. I think they quoted @ $221 but somehow it ended up being higher. I got there late, like after 9, and they ran out of loaners, so I got a Chevy Cobalt from Enterprise (they picked up the charge--which is probably why it was $20 higher!)

B16 gets you oil change, diff change, tire rotation, "lube job" (let me bend over further), measurement of the remaining brake pads, at least they wrote down 10/32" (charged $5 for brake cleaner--yeah right!) and the whole host of visual inspections.

Don Melcher

So - being a new RL owner - (under 3K miles) - maybe I missed something (not surprising as I only talked to one dealer face - to face - and all he did is misread stuff out of the brochure to me ).

Is it customary for them to "give" you a loaner? Even if you didn't purchase the car there?

Chas2

Every dealer in the DC area gives you a loaner car, although, as you heard with the Chevy Cobalt, it behooves you to ensure they have one available for you.

Usually I make a reservation in advance, etc. and get at least a TSX, sometimes a TL, but I did not this time, just spoke to the service advisor when I was picking up my 2G Legend, and said, how much to do a B16 on a 06 RL? Can I bring it in tomorrow? No problem. I just happened to show up almost an hour later than I did the first time, and all the cars were gone, but they gladly supplied at no cost.

By the way, with 3K miles, your first service will be an A1, which is basically an oil change, and tire rotation. Some dealers give it to you for free, others charge you, depending on the individual policy of the dealer.

Radley gives you free oil changes for life, except RDX (Mobil 1) if you buy from them. Pohanka gives you the first one free. These are Northern Virginia (DC Metro area) dealers.

csmeance

wow, 200+ dollars for a service??? Us TL guys have the same problem, but we don't have a rear diff. fluid change. Easy way to save money is to just get an oil change and get some waranty work done along with a seperate rear diff fluid change. Buy the air filters and change them your self, I'm sure someone can post the scans from the helms manual.

SpicyMikey

It may have been worth the price if they did all that they were supposed too. But you obviously have a legitimate beef.

I just got my first A1 indicator this week with 5300 miles. So, I called my dealer and asked them what that was and how much. He said it's just an oil change and a visual inspection. He quoted me $29. Seemed fair, plus I get a free car wash and vacuum. I decided to take it to them instead of doing the jiffy lube thing (which is what I normally do).

lland

My dealer have given me excellent service through the years with no price issues. Regardless of this, I still make sure we are absolutely clear on the price and exactly what services will be performed before they start. If there are any add-ons, my service rep knows he needs to contact me for authorization.

With my old Volvo, there was a recall on the headlamp wiring harness. I dropped the car off to have it done and when I got back, I was told "we went ahead and changed all of the bulbs as well" and tried to charge me $100 or so. When I asked why, I was told that it was recommended by Volvo. When I told them to put the old (working fine) bulbs back, after a short discussion, they waived the charges. I'm convinced they didn't change a bulb and that's one of the reasons I no longer drive a volvo.

LL

Chas2

And I bet when you get there they will tell you, "Oh I forgot to mention that 1 means rotate tires, that will be $29 addtional" or something like that. Maybe they will give you the whole thing as complimentary when they figure out is the FIRST A1 service!

The other thing I hate is they tell you Oh, it will be $xxx. Then they forget to mention that does not include tax, environmental disposal fees, etc. etc. Just had a torn axle boot changed on my Legend, and there was and additional like $40 in taxes and environmental disposal fees.

Rant over

I guess they always do give a free wash and vacuum, and sometimes that is worth it, especially the vacuum, after playing on clay courts, those all weather mats are gray, not ebony.

SpicyMikey

Well it definitely doesn't include a tire rotation. That's optional and I'll take a pass on that until the next oil change. Taxes? Well no one ever includes taxes when they quote you a number. If they try and screw me then I won't go there again. But I have no reason to believe they will (until they try)

Touge

My A1 service was complimentary from the dealer, but on the receipt it showed 29.95 and came out to $32 something, so I don't think you should have a problem Mike.

SpicyMikey

Complimentary? That's nice. My brother used to work as a salesman at this dealership and I still know half the guys in there. They didn't offer ME a free oil change. I'm jealous

lumpulus

When I got my B16...I made an appointment, said I wanted an Oil Change, rear Diff fluid change, made no mention on B16, then reset the code myself. $99.

dnd2984

iTrader: (6)

MOA cost $7 at napa

Chas2

I am a big believer in tire rotation, especially with the PAX since I want to extend them as long as possible. It is easy enough to do yourself if you have a few minutes, a jack, torque wrench and a 23mm deep socket.

I know in the past, my fwd cars wore the fronts out at a prodigious rate in comparison to the rears. Since I always liked to try out new tires, and always liked to have the same tires on all four corners, I found if I did not rotate, I would always be in the market for two new tires, and having to decide, do I get four of a different type, throwing away two good rear tires, or just buy two more of the same tire and prolong the wait in trying a new kind of tire. Moving from Southern California to Virginia, I did quickly learn the difference between all season tires and UHP summer tires when it snows! I have only ever bought UHP all seasons for Virginia.

I have no idea how the AWD wears. I am going to guess that the fronts will still wear faster a lot than the rears in the RL.

Anyone have any data?

dwboston

Same here. Ther dealer here doesn't really use or understand the "A" or "B" service codes - they still try to use a mileage based maintenance schedule. I tell them what services I want and refuse things I can do myself like cabin air filter changes.

GoHawks

I agree. I'm religous about rotating the tires. When I traded in my '01 TL, she had 80K miles on it with the original Micheleins, and I still had 5/32 tread on them.

Rule of thumb used to be every other oil change or 6K miles, given the old rule of oil changes every 3K miles. With the maintenance minder typically not calling for service 5k miles at a time, it's almost a given (to me) that the tires will get rotated every time I go in.

visuelz

I have a feeling that the front will wear out faster just a tad bad. The weight from the rear of the car will push forward putting more stress on the front breaks.

GoHawks

Actually I'm betting that it will be the same since the RL has Electronic Brake Force Distribution.

My Land Cruiser has EBD and when it needed a brake job, the brake pads on all four wheels were pretty evely worn. Different than my experience of having to replace the rears once for every two times up front.

Per the Acura website...

the RL uses Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), which continually adjusts the pressure between the front and rear brakes according to shifting weight and other dynamic loading factors. This also helps prevent premature engagement of the ABS.

SpicyMikey

I find I don't need to rotate as much as I did when i was younger. I just don't take turns as hard anymore and that's where most of the uneven wear comes from. Once every 12000 miles works for me. Especially, since I don't replace my tires when they are bald. i chuck em at 4/32 at most.

Mike_TX

Front tire wear is as much a function of the "scrubbing" that takes place when turning as it is from weight transfer or which wheels are driving.

So you can almost always expect front tires to wear a a bit faster than rears, whether it's FWD, RWD or AWD.

Back when cars had REAL spares, I used to never rotate, and when the fronts were worn, I'd buy one new tire, mount it along with the spare and put the best worn tire in the trunk as a spare. Can't do that with donut spares, of course, but I'm still not a big fan of rotation ... it seems to invite troubles with uneven wear, balance and other stuff.
.
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dwest1023

+2. I just tell the dealer what I want done and reset the minder myself. My dealer tried to put the cleaner and stuff our RL and I asked him if it was recommended my Honda. He said, its just something we do. I told him to forget it. Just change the oil(free) and rotate the tires(to cold to do myself) The $156 B1 or whichever it was, cost me $29

SpicyMikey

You too get free oil? Am I missing something or is this just a dealer thing that has nothing to do with Acura corporate?

markjhawk

I called Karen Radley this morning (purchased from Pohanka but live closer to Woodbridge). I got the service manager and told him it appeared I paid $223 for an oil change. He said he thought they probably did the rear diff and just didn't annotate it. His words "You certainly paid enough to get it done". He wanted to talk to the tech. He called back as promised and apologized. They failed to do the rear diff service (said they did do the rotation). Taking it back Monday and they are going to give us another courtesy vehicle and said our next oil change will be free. Good to see they admitted their mistake and our trying to make things right with me.

Lots of good advice from others on this thread about requesting just an oil change or just a rear diff.

Mark

RoadDog

I had my B16 done this week. It cost $215 and they did do the rear diff. Or, at least the paper work says they completed it.

I don't mind the "fluff" in the service so much.... It is typical of all luxury brand autos. I have had Audi, Lexus, Infiniti and this Acura. They all have their version of this service.

My disappointment came with them "lubing" the door and windows seals. They seem to have used a silicone spray that left residue around all the doors and windows on the paint.

They did a complimentary wash, which was useless because all the water beaded and run off their silicone over spray. I've tried to get rid of it, but no luck. Looks like I'll have to strip the wax (zaino) and start from scratch.

NavyDoc333

Even though I'm no longer an RL owner... I'll jump in here. As far as tire rotations...on every other car I owned, I would rotate them every 5k. So I brought it into Walmart at 5k for a rotation.... they measured the tread all around and said, 'you don't need it, they're wearing perfectly even.' So I waited till I went in for my first oil change, and they did the rotation at 7500mi. Two other times since then I've taken it to SEARS or Walmart to have them rotated, and both times been told, 'you don't need it'. (Which I tend to believe or why wouldn't they do it and collect their easy $20?) So the dealer may do it... but it may not need it. Maybe try your local Sears or Walmart. Even if they do it, you'll save a little money. (Just don't forget the wheel lock key which I did once)

dwest1023

With Radly's it a dealer thing. Works out handy with having both RL and TSX. I bring my own oil for the tsx, but the RL is leased and I don't car what they put in that. Folks here, mentiion the free car wash. I don consider that any benefit whatsoever. I donot let the dealer give any of my cars sandpaper carwash. I can't stand swirl marks and thats what you get at those dealers.

ed111

A poster above in this thread mentioned resetting the maintenance code himself.

How is that done?

neuronbob

Page 352 (2006):

Turn ignition to ON (II)
Press SEL/RESET repeatedly until oil life comes on
Press and hold SEL/RESET for more than 10 seconds until reset menu comes on
Use the arrow keys to select "RESET" on the menu
Press and release SEL/RESET
You're done.

SpicyMikey

You too? No need for a tire rotation even after 7500 miles. You know what that means, you now drive like an old man.

When I was in my 20's I always felt I was unlucky and got bad brakes, tires, and speakers installed in my cars. They never lasted as long as they should have. Somehow, now that I'm in my 40's, my luck has changed

By the way, so you decided to dump the RL rather then deal with the hassle? What did you get? Did you buy the GS?

Treblig

It's a Dealer thing. My Dealer provides me with free scheduled service as well. I just had the oil change and tire rotation performed yesterday.

ed111

Thanks, neuronbob, for the info on resetting the service reminder.

I wouldn't have thought it was in the manual - rather something the dealers kept to themselves to induce a visit!

Good to know.

gdevine

Wow I really loving my dealer. They charged $187 for synthetic Mobile 1 oil change and diff fluid change, with tire rotation and "visual inspections" and of course they always wash the car in and out. I really have no complaints and actually nothing but praise for my dealer in Calif. Acura of Stockton has really treated me well for all service issues.

VOdoc

While we're talking tires, I find it's easy to get lazy and forget to check tire pressures on a regular basis. With cooler weather taking hold, you may be surprised to find that your "cold" pressures have dropped a lot. I just went in for B16 service a month ago ($260 ), asked the dealer to check and inflate the PAX tires to spec; they claimed to have done it. Then this week I noticed the front-end underbody spoiler scraping slightly at the bottom of the driveway, and whaddaya know? All 4 tires were exactly 4 psi under the recommended pressure. PAX tires have lowish and unequal recommended pressures anyway: 32 psi front, 30 psi rear.

BTW, next service I need to remember to mark the front tires with a grease pencil so I can find out if they really are rotating them or just pocketing the cash.

Last thing--the tire pressure indicators on the MID correlate exactly with my digital pressure gauge, they just don't show fractions.