Acura Care Maintenance - Should I Cancel ?
 

My dealer sold me below prepaid maintenance package for new 2020 Acura RDX SH-AWD With Technology Package.

Provider : Acura Care Maintenance
Cost : $1300.00
Term/Miles : 3 Year / 36k miles

Location : San Francisco, California

I was not aware of the actual maintenance cost at that time. Dealer had a chart that showed the overall cost if I pay out of pocket as I go exceeds 1300 for three years considering taxes etc, and convinced me this is a better deal, and I don't have to worry about searching deals for servicing every time.

Please suggest if I should keep this Or cancel ?

Cancel it, for a few hundred more you can get 8 yr 120k miles acura are warranty , it’s oil changes every 5-8k and a tranny/diff/transfer case drain fill every 30k anyway, local import mechanic is cheaper

I'm familiar with Acura Care, and have it for our RDX, but never heard of Acura Care "Maintenance". Is this something different? Acura Care is like an extended warranty that kicks in after the original warranty expires. The shortest term Acura Care offers is 4 years/60K. $1300 seems high and unnecessary for 3/36, during which your original warranty will cover items outside regular service. Here are the prices Hyannis Honda offered us for Acura Care:


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...118bfb3870.png
We chose D80: 8 years/100K for $1,705

CANCEL...you will NEVER spend anywhere near $1300 doing normal maintenance for the 3/36 period. BIG RIP OFF! As was said above, invest the dollars into an Acura extended warranty if you plan to keep it for quite a while.

I would say it highly depends on the amount of miles they plan to do in that time

It only goes to 36K miles. There is no way one would spend $1300 on routine maintenance in 36K miles. If it covers brakes and suspension (which I doubt), maybe it might be useful if one is taking the RDX to the track. But the RDX is the wrong vehicle for that type of fun.

It is 3 YEARS OR 36K MILES no matter how you slice it and dice it. Totally agree with @anoop

Is there something similar to Hyannis Honda Acura care in Ohio area, these prices look very good!
I am currently at 19,700 miles and have no additional warranty yet. I bought 2019 RDX A-spec at 17,800 used.

Just buy it from Hyannis...doesn't matter where you live and they are located. The plan is for coverage across the entire US at any Honda/Acura dealership.

Acura Care and Acura Care Maintenance are two different things.

Acura Care is a warranty that covers unexpected failures.

Acura Care Maintenance is a pre-paid maintenance plan.

Both are backed by Honda. Both offer 0% interest payment plans.

Chances are that you won't spend as much in repairs as what an Acura Care warranty costs.

There's absolutely no way you could spend $1,300 on maintenance in 3/36 during which time you're likely to need:

• Four engine oil changes and tire rotations
• One cabin air filter
• One engine air filter
• Two rear differential fluid changes (SH-AWD models only)

Normally, there are no transmission or transfer case fluid (SH-AWD models only) changes during that period, but even if there were you'd still end up spending less than $1,300 total on maintenance (unless you're real...uh..."gullible"?) Brake fluid is supposed to be changed at the three-year mark, but it might take a lawyer to actually get it covered if the maintenance plan expires on the same day that the brake fluid is due for a change. Haha!

@zroger73 ...yes...we all know that

Apparently not based on the misinformation in this thread and the fact that people keep talking about warranties. The OP asked about a maintenance plan. :)

At what price would it be worth it? How much are all these services likely to cost? BTW, I would put it at 5 oil changes & tire rotations. My guess is there's a lot of room for negotiation. Maybe at 50% it starts to look like a reasonable deal?

Even at 50% of $1300 it is not reasonable at all. These types of MAINTENANCE plans are designed to make a huge profit but, if I had to guess, a cost of $400-$450 is reasonable. I am assuming 5 oil changes (36K / 7.5K per oil change and tire rotate = 5 services @ $70 each = $350 plus cabin at $50 and engine air filter at $50 give or take. Either way, they'll never sell you a maintenance plan for $450.

That depends on who is doing the work.

A DIY oil change is less than $50 using genuine Acura-branded oil and filter. Dealers typically charge between $50-100 and use various brands of bulk oil.

A genuine Acura-branded engine or cabin air filter takes only a few minutes to change (literally) and costs less than $30. Dealers charge over $100 for a filter and installation!

A DIY differential fluid change requires $20 worth of genuine Acura Dual Pump Fluid II and can be done in less time than it takes to drive to and from the dealer. Dealers typically charge about $150+.

DIY tire rotations can be done in 15 minutes using a jack and four jack stands for free.

DIY cost for 36,000 miles of maintenance would be about $350. The same work at a dealer could run around $1,000 (or more - especially if they "recommended" unnecessary maintenance).

EDIT: @securityguy posted before I finished typing. :)

Assume dealer is doing all of the work. Assuming they just stick to factory recommended maintenance, it looks like it becomes break even at $1000?

My dealer charged $85 for the first oil change and tire rotation (A 1) service.

If you are in the US, oil changes and tire rotations typically run $70-$75 with a website coupon special and cabin and engine filter replacements sound $50 each...all dealership prices and not DIY. I strongly agree with @zroger73 that the cabin and engine filters are super easy to replace yourself. You can also go to any HONDA dealership to have it serviced as well for far cheaper than an Acura dealer in many cases...the parts are all the same!!!

At most, I cannot see 3/36 maintenance costing more than $600-$700 based on where you live...CA prices are always higher.

Take the money and buy some decent tools and do the basic maintenance yourself.....you will save a ton of money and know that you are not getting ripped off. In 3/36000 you will be luck to spend $500 even at the dealership. Do the work for a fraction of the cost.

Thanks @zroger73 and @anoop , @securityguy for your inputs. This is very helpful..

Given below aspects, I am debating if I should just leave it without cancelling.

1. I will leave it to Acura dealer for servicing (Not DIY), and include all factory recommended list for servicing.
2. I live in San Francisco Area, CA, where the service and taxes rates will be towards the expensive side.
3. I may probably sell vehicle after 3 years. It may help in resale if I have performed all factory recommended service from an acura authorized dealer.

Based on above, I think the break even is more than $1000 (may be 1200-ish accounting for location, all factory recommended services, and taxes).. I am starting to lean towards keeping the 1300 (3y/36k) maintenance package so that I don't have to worry shopping around for dealers, and added peace of mind during resale..

Please let me know if you think otherwise.. Again, thanks a lot for your help here.

@sagar ...your money my friend but I can assure you that it will cost you far less to maintain your vehicle at any Acura dealer over 3/36 than making a $1300 investment. As @anoop stated above...you just have to make sure that they don't SUCKER you into things you do not need and just stick to the factory recommended maintenance. The "extras" dealers will try to talk you into is worth hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to them because they scare people into thinking that more needs to be done than is truly necessary or required by Acura.

My 2 cents;-)

The RDX is my first Acura, so I'm not familiar with maintenance costs. Even with dealer doing the routine maintenance, I just don't see $1300 worth of work being done in 36K miles. Maybe someone with Acura experience can chime in.

If you look here, you can see Audi's plan for the Q5 up to 50K miles is only $879.
https://www.audimv.com/audi-care-plan_.htm

I have had several "Honda's" which are no different than an Acura. I also have a 2017 Audi A4 and bought the $879 plan as those services ala carte were about $1600 so a solid investment. No way in **** that an Acura will cost $1300 over 3/36.

@securityguy @anoop

I will cancel it first thing tomorrow. I am still within 60 days period to cancel it with full refund. This is our first luxury-ish car (If I may call so.. :), and I was really not sure of the maintenance cost when I was at the dealership.. I should have done the research.. Thanks for sharing your insights. Helpful..

Yeah - it may have an Acura badge, but it's a Honda underneath and maintenance is no different.

Now, $1,300 prepaid maintenance for a BMW? Yes, please! Oh, wait... They already include scheduled maintenance for 3/36 (was 4/48 prior to 2017).

Agreed - :nod: If you want to save even more money - have all this maintenance done at your local Honda dealer vs. your Acura dealer. Hourly rate is significantly less and so are the parts - which are the same.

Yep...exactly what I said above:smile:

$1300 is very pricey. I bought my Acura maintenance program for $850 (5yr/60k IIRC) from my favorite warranty guy (Saccucci Honda). I calculated the pricing of all the services with and without coupons and realized that it would cost about that amount after I searched for coupons and argued with the dealer about what services to do vs the convenience of driving in to the service bay and saying "I'd like the A123 service please, when will it be done?" and driving out without ever pulling out my wallet.