I finally pulled the trigger on 2011 Acura TL, I own it completely. Now the dilemma I have is should I take the car to Acura dealer for maintenance or take it to someone who can do cheaper and do good job with the goods / parts I provide.
I just want to know how people are treating their cars?

I would appreciate your help

 

if the mechanics are trusting and reputable, I'd take it some where cheaper to get the maintenance done.
but on a brand new car, the only things are to do is oil changes......

 

^ what she said.

 

Don't pay dealer rates for labor (and/or parts and materials) if you have someone that will do it just as good for less.

Also remember that when you drop by the dealer for an oil/filter change, you don't get Uber-Master-Tech, you get Bam-Bam, the lowest guy on the totem pole (well, except for the car wash guy).


:wink:

 

i just dont understand why people cant do their own oil changes and air filter changes..

its like 30 mins of your life..

and its far from rocket science..

 

You probably know this, but if you don't use the dealer for maintenance, be sure to keep your receipts in case you might ever need warranty work. You'll need to show that you adhered to the Acura recommended service requirements (which aren't much in the first few years).

 

Exactly. I do my own oil changes just because it's more convenient to do it in my driveway at my convenience than go to the dealer and sit around while they do it.

 

I would definitely take your car to the dealer for any warranty work that doesn't cost you anything out of your pocket.

 

Personally I would love to do the maintenance myself. But I live in an apartment and its not as convenient to in all weather conditions. We are trying to buy a new house once we have our own little garage and driveway I will do it myself. Until then I will check out both and see whichever is best opt for it. But saving the receipts was a great idea. People miss these little things and thats where the dealer catch them.

 

Go to the dealership if its under warrantee, the person in front of me got the ZDX to drive, i got the TSX, but was still pretty cool to see what else Acura has to offer. Also made me appreciate how sick my TL is.

 

I treat my vehicles like I treat an F-16,...very meticulously. I totally disagree with Acuras way of maintenance schedules. The oil life percentage is ridiculous in my mechanical opinion. With conventional oil they use at most dealerships(some use full synthetic), waiting till an electronic indicator telling me it's time to replace my oil does not make me feel peace at mind. I use full synthetic, and a synthetic filter. I replace my oil at intervals including a number of parameters. Such as climate, environmental(dusty or clean air, smog, etc), city driving vs highway driving, so on and so forth. Usually I always change the oil/filter at exactly 5k miles. If I do a lot of downtown driving one month then I change it. I rotate my tires every 5k miles no matter how I've been driving in any conditions. I detail the engine every 7k ensuring I apply the correct amount of engine dressing afterwards. I clean/condition my leather once a week. UV protectant on all surfaces every 2 weeks along with a full wash/wax. I clay bar every 2 months and polish every 3(phoenix heat). Full undercarriage detail every 6 months. Air filter cleaning(takeda filter, had it long enough for only one cleansing) at every oil change. Coolant flush once a year along with a detailed radiator removal/detail(phoenix heat is a biatch and i'm OCD) Battery terminal corrosion control every oil change(minimal corrosion). carpet shampoo every 2 months. Brake cleansing every tire rotation. Fuse box cleaning/inspection every 6 months. Once a year I do a complete "look" phase inspection of my vehicles. I inspect everything from bumper to bumper, inside, out, under to find any deffects. If any are found that are major i take to dealer for them to pay, if minor then i fix. Everything I spend money on I take care of with a passion. For one I love maintenance, it's what I do for a living. Second,...it's a guy thing i guess. Don't rely on anyone else(you don't trust) to perform any DIY maintenance. Unless you don't care, or don't plan on keeping it and could just care less.

 

Oddly enough, that's pretty much what the oil life monitor does. But probably better than a person can. What I mean is keeps track of cold starts, RPM's, operating temperature, time, MPH, etc. It will track parameters better than a person can.

You may not agree with the algorithm it uses, but it's doing what you're doing.

Here's an idea: Next oil and filter change reset your MID/Oil Life Indicator. Go to http://www.blackstone-labs.com. Order a Used Oil Analysis kit (it's free, iirc). Do the change after that on your usual 5k schedule. Collect a used oil sample from your 5k change.

Send that sample off to Blackstone for analysis (this is when they charge you). See what their evaluation is. Then compare what they say about the remaining life of that oil to you MID/Oil Life Indicator.

I'll bet you find the TL Oil Life Indicator is closer than you think it is. Regardless, you'll have a good baseline to determine if you can stretch you OCI a bit, or you might need to shorten it. It's good info to have.

FWIW - on my 3G, my indicator comes up at ~4,500 - 5,000 every time. Has for almost 5 years now. Like clockwork. Obviously it thinks I use the car pretty much the same way all the time (daily driver). And it's right.



All that said, I don't agree with some of the Acura intervals/recommendations either.

 

Jeez man, do you ever rub it with a baby's diaper? (Ferris Bueller's day off reference).

That being said, I take good care of my care but thats crazy how much you take care of your car. Do you take care of your wife/girlfriend/partner as much?

I figure I take good care of it, when its ready to go, its ready to go. Its kinda nice being somewhat wealthy!

 

That being said, I take good care of my care but thats crazy how much you take care of your car. Do you take care of your wife/girlfriend/partner as much?


Of course I do. Married my jr. high sweetheart. Going on 10 years now. Married just before i left for boot camp. She's toughed it out through 3 tours to the middle east and 1 to korea. Best woman i've ever come across. You think i take care of my vehicles at an extreme level? lol come out to your closest AF flightline and watch the routine maintenance we do yet alone the repairs. Or go to the AGE shop on base and watch those inspections done everyday,...that shit will blow your mind! yes i'm comparing a $40 million aircraft to a $40k car. People take pride in many different things,...I take pride in everything i have and do. If you pay attention to the dealers checklist they are SUPPOSED TO PERFORM at every routine oil change alone,....it takes them roughly 30-45 mins to perform this. yet takes me 2-3 hours to perform each task the right way. hmmm,...shotty maintenance maybe?

 

Here is a link regarding the oil life monitors... Even when the oil life monitors are telling you to change the oil, they are on the conservative side. I would think the manufacturer of the vehicle would know when the oil should be changed (they've run countless tests and what not), else they would not stand behind these electronic systems. The article goes on to state that even when the oil life monitor declared it was time to change the oil, the oil still had about 2000 miles of life left (per Blackstone laboratory tests).

 

um i think this is pretty obvious.. lol

why would you think anyone would take it their car to their own mechanic for warranty work??

 

Fixed.




My dad retired from the Air Force. Hydraulics Maint. T-38's & F5's mostly. Then went to work for Northrop and retired from there. Was head of Test Flight Maint for the F-20 program at Edwards at one point.

He still HAS to fix anything that is remotely not quite right.

 

i dont think that was the question....

 

Air filter - sure that's easy. Oil - eh. I work far too many hours a week to spend my *not* working time messing around with the oil in my car - then dealing with getting rid of the oil when I'm done.

Plus - if it takes me an hour to do - that's an hour of $$ outta my pocket - if i can pay a guy less to do that same task - i come out ahead.

 

good way of thinking... but at the same time, if they mess up and not do it properly, then your fucked.

 

Most definitely true there.

 

Agreed! time is money! lol

 

Thank you for this gem! Next time my wife complains about me washing my car too much I'm gonna show her this

She verbally jabbed me a couple times because I washed my car three times in nine days a little while back. It wasn't really that much though...it was back-to-back Sundays, then on Monday since it rained that day.

I plan to do a lot of my own work on the TL. I don't know if I'll ever change my own oil, but I do plan to do my rear diff fluid as well as rotate tires and clean my SRI filter. I'll probably try to tackle changing the brake pads when that day comes. It all depends on how much info I find on this site... I'm not one to try and tackle a job without any guidance.

 

So you intend to do your diff fluid change and tire rotation, but not an oil change?
That's interesting. Why not the oil change too?
Had a Pilot and paid for the diff service, but I do my oil changes.

 

Check these pages for FAQ/DIY threads:

https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-2009-2014-123/4g-tl-garage-listing-topics-711436/ - 4G

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/3g-tl-garage-faq-3g-tl-newbies-553554/ - this is 3G TL, but there is a lot of cross-over.

 

lol, Bearcat94-"Bam Bam!"

 

The car wash guy is usually named "Spike". Some time he wears his studded collar to work.

 

Thus it's better to let the Honda/Acura dealerships do it, because if they fucked up, you can be assured that they won't shut down their little garages just to evade your lawsuit.

 

Just want to thank you for your service.