60% of labor cause you went to dealer, they charge around 120$ hr for labor where a shop would charge around 40-65$

tools, you can buy a nice set at walmart for 40$ and it will take care of most of your repairs and they come with a lifetime warranty (stanley tools)

and for a caliper change, seriously only takes 15 mins. jack car up take wheel off, 2 bolts hold caliper on and remove brake line.

calling around and price shopping doesnt take all day and is well worth the effort. if your to lazy to save money then why complain?

 

$7000.00+ for maintenence sounds a bit steep.
You may want to enroll in a tech school and learn to do it yourself.
Not too hard and the coin in your pocket vs. the dealer will go a long way towards a new car.

PS. If you can operate a computer, you can fix a Honda.

 

^ a tech school? if he doesnt have time to work on the car himself now what makes you think he's gonna have time to go to a tech school?

He already got the point...maintenance on his current car now (even through the dealership) is gonna be cheaper in the long run than buying a whole new car. Granted if i were in your shoes, OP, after they fixed everything that is known to be wrong or go wrong i'd just leave it at that but if your comfortable with going in for the scheduled maintenance then stick with it. Just shows u want to be driving a "healthy" car.

 

I think you're asking both a general and specific question.

As for the general question, Consumer Reports asked the very same question years ago and devoted an edition to reporting their findings. The bottom line is the least expensive way to own a car is to run it until the wheels fall off instead of regular replacement.

I must agree, I own a '95 Civic with 230k miles and a 2001 Odyssey with 190k miles. I think we represent the worst (most expensive) case scenario, I also have my cars dealer maintained. I'm wondering about your car or your dealer, though. I've never had repair bills that high and certainly not year after year.

If the high cost of low living is giving you heartburn, you may want to hook up with a reliable independent garage. My son's 1998 Civic needed a brake job and an alignment. The dealer wanted $1200, he found a good mechanic that did the work for $550. You may even find it advantagous to shop dealerships. My 2002 Miata needs a new timing belt. The local dealer wants $1400! The dealer 40 miles up the road wants $300. I asked the cheaper dealer if that included a water pump and he said that at the first belt change, based on hundreds of jobs they've done, replacing the water pump isn't needed.

 

Just like the timing belt, it's preventative maintenance. When the water pump does go bad, it can seize up and rip up your timing belt when it does, causing the same effect as if you hadn't even changed your timing belt and it went on its own. Then you most likely are to get your pistons crashing into your valves, causing at least a few bent valves, if not some holes in the tops of your pistons either.

And that is why the water pump, tensioner, and timing belt are replaced together.

 

Brake fluid flush
Left turn bulb replaced
Front brake pads replaced
Front rotors replaced
Brake calipers replaced
Leaking rear wheel cylinders replaced
Leaking oil pump o-ring and oil pump seal replaced

That's not counting the usual 15000 mile routine.

You guys seriously believe that someone who has never worked on cars on his entire life would just take a couple of hours to replace this? By the way I was shown the leaks and the wear of all above listed parts....

 

15k mile there is no way in hell oil pump should be leaking did they give you some vasaline when you got your receipt?

and all that you listed above i would charge only 200$ + parts that would be 8$ each rotor (would have them resurfaced) 3$ bulb 25$ for each brake caliper and wheel cylinder.

damn dude pay me 2100 i will travel and fix everything on your car.

i just took a trans out of a 86 chevy pick up and installed a new front main seal and only charged 150$ you really need to find another mech.

 

please reread my original post

 

you still got one broke off in ya, that is way to much to pay for those repairs.

 

just lease a car if you don't want to do work to it. It is worth it to you to spend $300-$500 a month not to complain. Understand if you keep a car you have to work on it, if you keep up the lease you spend money every month but have no repair problems, the car will be new and under warranty. if you dont want to work on a car then dont, just lease. for your specific situation and lack of wanting to work on a car that is your best bet. that is the difference. let us know when you decide to learn