In my city the Acura dealership is 25% - 50% depending on the job more than your local mechanic shop. The upselling is also annoying.

Our RDX warranties are expiring soon will you keep goin to Acura for your service?

 

hell no, go to any indie mechanic you want. why would you pay extra?

 

Few reasons

-goodwill relationship for warranty and TSB repairs
-clean prompt service with mechanics that specialize in your car
-courtesy shuttle rides and loaner cars
-your service history at one location for better resale value

does it justify the price difference I say no but wanna here peoples service strategy going foward.

 

Pouring money into dealership by accepting all their “recommended work” is not going to pay off for a potential (not guaranteed) goodwill service that you may need.
If you know good mechanic (big if, so many incompetent mechanics), its a better deal.
The best deal if you learn how to change your oil, and then only go to dealerships for things that are too difficult for you, ie changing transmission fluid or brake fluid.

I am on 3rd year, DIY tire rotations, oil change, and rear diff. Have not had the need for dealership service yet, will do brake fluid there in 6 month.

 

I stick with dealer service. I find it reasonable compared to indy shops, typically, unless we're talking Euro/Italian. Also, good will is a thing. Mazda ate a $2700 diff as a favor to me, because I like offroading my CUV's. Wonder how many $80 oil changes that was worth...

 

Using old school math, the worth is obtanium, Unobtanium. 33.75 from a private cipher. However, with new math, heaven only knows.

 

In my neck of the woods the dealer cost is not too different than a good 3rd party mechanic and my Acura dealer provides free Uber rides for all my services (roundtrip to my house is about $25-30) and the service is top notch so I don't plan on using anyone but them even after my warranty passes. I generally do use 3rd party mechanics but my dealer (Burrard Acura) does too good a job for similar money to justify considering anyone else.

 

Its hard to compare dealers as they vary so much. I am lucky and have a very good dealer only a few miles away. They may suggest items but never push them on you. Also if you "pass" its not a problem. My service advisor (female) is very courteous and takes care of me so I keep going back. I do price check on some items and their charges hold up well. On the rear diff fluid change they were vastly cheaper than what the local Honda dealer down the street charges for a CR-V. I have watch them with customers and they are honest, give sound advice and recommendations and do a good job of explaining service priorities. I have no desire to go to some local mechanic who likely has little detail knowledge of this vehicle. As for oil changes, even that I have done at the dealer. My son nearly lost an engine on his Toyota when the local shop put the wrong oil filter on his car and it proceeded to blow all the oil out of the engine. (What a mess!).

 

Can someone total up service cost if you do everything that MID tells you at Acura dealer for first 4 years/50k, it wont look pretty…

 

I agree to some degree. For a few years I was taking my MDX to the local Honda dealer cause they were cheaper than Acura. As that Honda Dealer got HUGE, their prices went up and service went down, until they were actually MORE expensive than acura.

Then I was using a local franchise place who was pretty good and reasonably priced. But one of the last things I had to do on my MDX was replace the drive shaft cause the bearring cracked. Local place estimated 1800-2300. Acrua dealer charged $1350.

I find it's like groceries. You have to shop around for best price/value for each item.

 

I only use the Acura dealership. I figure they know my vehicle the best, and I’ve had some not so great work done by independent mechanics.

For my next service, I will need the rear differential fluid change and an oil change. $139 for the diff fluid and $70 for an oil change. I don’t think that’s too unreasonable.

To each their own I guess..

 

I only know of one indie in my neighborhood that I trust but he's not that much cheaper than the dealers. You get what you pay for. And I usually need a loaner, so I usually go to the dealer where I bought the car. Their Service Dept. is very good.

 

It’s been a good handful of years since I’ve taken either of our RDX to a dealer shop. Competent local guy down the street vs. dealer that’s half an hour away is an easy decision. Price difference? I have no idea. An interesting thing though is OEM parts I’ve bought on Amazon have often shipped from Acura dealers.

 

Thats not what most people pay for a service package. The service package that includes rear-diff fluid change also includes number of "checks", and most people are presented with a package price that can run $400-450. Whenever I must use dealership (because its too difficult for my DIY skills), I also only ask for specific things, but thats not what most people do who go to the dealer.

If you guys think that putting money into dealership somehow guarantees you goodwill gesture, dont be so sure, I know someone at Lexus dealer who was loyal customer, but when rear main seal leaked shortly after warranty, no luck getting anything for free. Its a big stretch if they do anything for you, also depends on how much money we talking about.

 

Why not? 50K miles likely =

Diff at 7500
Diff at 15K
Diff at 30K
=$89x3

Oil changes 7500 miles ea (I prefer 5K)
$89ea

Transmission and transfer case @30K
$400ish (for both).

Air filters ($75/with labor?)
15,30,45k?

Honestly, this isn't bad at all. Keep in mind a GLC300 will cost you $399/10K miles, $699/20K miles, $399/30K miles, $699/40K miles, @50K you get the joy of replacing your spark plugs plus the "A" service, for a grand total of around $1K. At 60K miles you have your B service and your brake fluid and your DCT fluid for a grand total of $1500-2K roughly.

 

but thats when you tell them to do individual items. If you say you want say B16 service, the price will be higher because its a package that includes many checks

 

MBs "A" and "B" services are the minimal required to maintain warranty on your vehicle. If you want extra...that's MOAR! Their A and B services basically cover what most brands do normally, such as OBD2 scanning, updates to ecu, etc. MB just tells you and bills you, lol! Their service is actually trash. Buddy paid $150 for an inspection on his AMG and they didnt even air up the low tire or tell him how much brake pad or tread was left. Just check marked it "green" lol! Mazda did more for me for $20.

https://www.mbusa.com/en/owners/service-maintenance#products-services

All that crap comes standard with a $75 oil change, with Toyota, Mazda, Acura, etc.

 

That doesn't mean you can't do the work yourself. I never take my vehicles in for this basic service. You could also take it to an independent if you're not comfortable doing the work yourself. No need to ever step foot inside the dealer, except for warranty work.

 

thats my philosophy too, I try to DIY as much as I can, and whatever is difficult for my skills I take it to the dealer just for specific item. I would take to good shop, but dont know any good ones ☹️