Valve Service

[R.W.]

After almost 20,000 I finally took my bike in for the 16,000 service which includes valve adjusting and most everything else, The bike checked out perfect and none of the valve's needed adjusting. But what surprised me was the Service Manager telling me he under charged me and got into minor trouble for under charging so many labor hours because the V4 is so labor intensive. Since I was quoted $506.00, that's what I ended up paying but here's a copy of what I should have paid. So my question for all you viffers is what is the average cost of the valve service at your dealership because I would not have had my bike done at a dealership if it would have been $850.00...

[jasonsmith]

Not sure quoting the VTEC will help but my dealer stated that the service would be $750cdn. Thats probably before taxes and all the other stuff that you have on your bill. I bet for me the damage would exceed $1k.

506 is great vs 850. Well done on sticking to your quote RW.

[34468 Randy]

Guys, You are right on the money here. This one was done just yesterday. Had it done at 50,000KM so it was somewhat overdue. Sure runs nice now though. And I would not hesitate to go back to where it was done. The comfort level I have with my dealer is very high

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[mello dude]

R.W. - I think a lot of it is that Honda lists a standard hours that is supposed to take to do the job, and the shop will charge that as a minimum. This is unfairly standard stuff in the dealership world unfortunately. Still $850? Sounds like a stretch to me. Maybe they are sticking you the VTEC price. $400 is fair, $500 is just ok. The job is a PIA labor out the wazoo, fortunately I can do mine myself.

BTW - All the valves in spec? Thats good to know. I did my 4th gen at 22k and they were also in spec. I may drag out to 25k before I crack my 5th open.

MD

[NorcalBoy]

wow, did you get wraparound along with it?????

[jasonsmith]

Originally Posted by 34468RANDY

Guys, You are right on the money here. This one was done just yesterday. Had it done at 50,000KM so it was somewhat overdue. Sure runs nice now though. And I would not hesitate to go back to where it was done. The comfort level I have with my dealer is very high

Very good to know Randy... thanks!

[R.W.]

I've never been one to keep a bike too long so I've never had to shell out for a valve job but I think the 99 will be in my garage for a long time. Maybe I'm just a cheap bastage or just out of touch but $500.00 seemed fair to me and $850.00 seemed excessive. I really like to do most of my maintenance work because I'm not very trusting when it comes to my bike, case in point they lost 2 fairing bolts and broke 2 fairing clips...

[34468 Randy]

R.W.

Hang on a second here. I looked more closely at your invoice verses mine. Basically you had the same work done as I did, with a couple very minor differences. I have the 06 and you have the 99. I am not too sure what the differences would be but they charged you 14 hours labour to my 7.5. This simply does not sound right to me. I think I would go back there and challenge them a bit on this. My end result was $1031.00 because the front page did not show all the taxes, levies and all that shit we pay here in Canada.

[NorcalBoy]

Originally Posted by 34468RANDY

Guys, You are right on the money here. This one was done just yesterday. Had it done at 50,000KM so it was somewhat overdue. Sure runs nice now though. And I would not hesitate to go back to where it was done. The comfort level I have with my dealer is very high

Attachment 3176

No offense man, but $94.00 for four spark plugs???? and $72.00 for an air filter??? Not to mention they busted 2 of your fairing clips??? I guess comfort is expensive in BC.........

[NorcalBoy]

***OFF TOPIC****

Very classy new avatar you got there R-Dub! UltramanRacing! that's a great idea for a new set of leathers, lol! gotta get HIYATA on the back too!

[34468 Randy]

Originally Posted by NorcalBoy

No offense man, but $94.00 for four spark plugs???? and $72.00 for an air filter??? Not to mention they busted 2 of your fairing clips??? I guess comfort is expensive in BC.........

None taken. You made me look again and you have a point. But having said this, I am very good at a few things. I can do really neat things maneuvering cars, funkie things with electricity, pretty good at manipulating a conversation, and can think and organize on the fly. Auto mechanics is not one of them.

Before I handed off my "92 Jimmy to my son, I had the son of a friend go over the truck to make sure I am not giving my son a pile of expenses. He was supposed to be a good GM mechanic and was cheap, working out of his garage. Well he is long gone and I have since spent $1500.00 fixing at least three issues he already dealt with. So you may understand why I choose to deal with a dealership now. I only wished I was competent working on engines but plain and simple, I am not. I stopped working on my cars back in the late 70's and my cars have never run better for it.

But I will question those plugs.

[nitronorth]

Hey Brandy..U buy ur bike in Chilliwack? I got my 05 there..didnt mind the fellows at all. dont know bout service as do my own,, but they seemed ok in the front. Stoppin in next week in fact...Notice any new vfrs in there? and yes, those stock plugs cost that much up here..:)

[NorcalBoy]

Originally Posted by nitronorth

Hey Brandy..U buy ur bike in Chilliwack? I got my 05 there..didnt mind the fellows at all. dont know bout service as do my own,, but they seemed ok in the front. Stoppin in next week in fact...Notice any new vfrs in there? and yes, those stock plugs cost that much up here..:)

Wow, that's a bummer for you guys! a box of 4 is $48.00 here......

[NorcalBoy]

Sorry for the hijack - this was a valve adjustment / service thread....not a spark plug thread - back on topic.......

[bitterpil]

Did anyone notice the 3.89 crsh washer. I used to pay .17 for them. All of a sudden my dealer started charging 1.30. I was told to expect a $1000 for my Valve service by the time my bike needs the valve job.

I also just took my bike in for the 12k service and guess what? They charge you the minimum Honda quoted hours even if you do things your self like change oil and coolant and air filter.

I had them drop in a K&N since the difference in cost was $8 over the OEM.
I waited until I got the bike for an oil change and boy am I glad I did. I use full syn and even though I told them not to change the oil they did. I would have lost $32 bucks worth of oil. In the dealers defence they are trying to make sure they are coverd. for every few machines that go quickly and they make money on they get one that goes WRONG and they lose money. Using the Honda quoted minimum helps things come out in the wash. My concern is more the lack of listening to the customer and taqking short cuts.

I do every thing I feel comfortable doing on my bike. Not just for money saving and not just because I like to work on stuff but I need to know the work was done. Sometimes CAR ,BIKE, ETC...I am not so sure the dealers are doing all of the quoted work.

[speed]

Hello Rich and everyone else,

I think $850.00 seemed excessively high, but then i do all my own work ?

[speed]

hey mabey print a copy of randys invoice and take it the the shop you had the work done at and ask whats up ? but they probably wont do much ? good luck

[Lgn001]

For what it's worth, the VTEC engine needs all four camshafts removed and installed twice just to CHECK the valve clearances. All the previous gens do not, so there is going to be a lot bigger labor hit on the 6th gen. Sad but true...