Just info for people who might be looking at the same thing. I posted in another thread that I got the maintenance minder codes on my wife's 2020 RDX to change the oil, flush the brake fluid, and change the rear differential fluid. I had been having the dealership do the oil changes on the car. I called them and told them what codes were showing. Along with the oil change, brake fluid flush and rear differential fluid change I wanted the tires rotated. So the services I asked them to quote:
1. Change oil and filter.
2. Change rear differential fluid.
3. Flush brake fluid.
4. Rotate tires.

The dealer's official quote for that work was $410 not including tax. To which I said "No thank you. I'm back in the maintaining my own vehicle mode again."

My cost and times to do the work.

• Change oil and filter. Cost - $32 including synthetic oil, K@N filter and new crush washer. Time - about 30 minutes which included waiting for the oil to completely drain.
• Change rear differential fluid. Cost $22 for 2 quarts of Acura rear diff fluid and crush washers. Time - about 20 minutes which included trying to break the darn fill bolt loose which wasn't easy because I have a bad shoulder. And I didn't need to jack the car up but did have to let the spare down.
• Flush brake fluid - Cost $19 for 24oz of Acura DOT 3 brake fluid. Time - about an hour which included taking all the tires off. I had my wife sit in the car and pump the brakes. I thought about getting a vacuum brake bleeder but since my wife was available I saved the few bucks.
• Rotate the tires - Cost $0. Time - about 10 minutes because I had already taken the tires off for the brake fluid flush.

So to do all the work myself I spent about $75 and a couple hours of my time on a Sunday.

I realize not everyone has the tools, time or ability to do the work themselves. But for those who do it definitely pays to do the work yourself. These dealer's fees are outrageous.

 

Totally agree, if you can do, want to do it and have a place to do it, its a win-win.

also, if you have OCD about job done right, the only person can make sure its done right is you.

routing maintenance like oil changes, is a lowest tier task, and this task is often rushed or done by lowest
tier workers. Overfilled oil, over tighten fill plugs, broken plastic push pins, all these are so common from
dealer service

 

This is why I like Honda/Acura. The services are generally easy and well thought out. Once you get the car jacked up and on jack stands, you could do all fluid exchanges in an hour or so. The worst one is probably the front diff, seeing as the fill and drain are quite far from each other and required me to crawl under the vehicle multiple times. The transmission fluid can also be changed without dropping the entire front cover if you rig up a long hose to a funnel to refill. Easy peasy.

 

Yep, you save money AND you know it's been done correctly.

I'm curious...how did the old brake fluid look?

 

from my experience brake fluid color looks the same even in 3-4 years, but you should still change it because it absorbs moisture overtime which can contribute to rust