my car has 25,000 miles on it , and other than they regular oil changes every 3,000 miles i havent done any tune-ups on it.(other than topping off fluids)

so i call and make my appointment. i missed my 15,000 service so i figured its about time to go and get it over with. so i booked an apt. to get the 15,000 service b/c it includes the oil change, brakes, throttle body, wheel balance and rotation, pcv valves, brake pressure, and a couple more things. all this is $269.99 not including labor. i asked how long this was going to take and he said about 2 hrs the most. (should i stay and watch the whole time or just drop off car? i cant go in the garage where they do work, and theres no windows to see what they're doing)

my concerns are, do u think they are going to charge me for the 30,000 mile tune-up? is that even more money? what do you think the final cost will be inc. labor? the service dude never mentioned anything about me not being able to get the 15,000 tune up b/c i made the apt. for that. i just dont want them to turn everything around when the receipt comes.

did anyone ever do this before? (skip 1st tuneup and go back to get it done a couple thousand miles later?)

 

labor is usually about $40-$60/hr. I would ask beforehand. If you asked for the 15k checkup, you should get that. However, if you missed a few only have been adding fluids, you might want to let them do a bit extra. otherwise, if you have problems later on, they may try to deny warranty work due to poor maintnance.

 

My "free" oil changes take a friggin hour. I probibly loose more money driving to the dealer, waiting for them, and driving back than to take it somewhere else. Just drop it off unless you have nothing better to do. If your only 5k miles short of the 30,000, I'd just get it done right away.

 

The 15k and 30k service are probably identical.

 

Don't you have the free maintenance and scheduled tuneups until 5yr/60k miles or something with the 2004's?

 

im not sure i have to go back and check all my papers... wouold there be a shorter way of finding that out? doesit mention that in the manual? i bought my car in sept. 04 ... i dont remember if i have that or not.. i know thats bad lol

 

I know my brothers 04 ralliart has free scheduled maintenance.. just talk to your salesperson if you remember, or talk to the dealership manager. They should know.

 

I didn't get that w/ my 04 & I had bought it new...

 

If you bought your 04 in September, you should have free maintenence. I got mine in August, and I have the free plan, though I don't go in because it's faster to just do it myself. Time = more important than saving a few bucks.

 

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Is there anything on that 15K "tuneup" that I can't do by myself? I'm just about to get to the 25,000 Km mark (15K miles)... and I'm not about to pay them such an insane ammount of money for them to fiddle around my car for 20 minutes...

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i would guess balancing?

 

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Nothing to worry about then. I guess I just have to get my hand on the various "tuneup" steps for my car though... and I might as well do it during this week since I'm driving down to Boston over the weekend.

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I hear ya, dealers take a ridiculous amount of time for service. A 10min oil change takes 45mins.~1hr.

 

hell that ain't nothing first time i took my car for an oil change was the LAST!!!!
dropped car off at 7:15 to 7:30 didn't get my car back till around 12 or 1. since when does an oil change take that many HOURS. and I will never go back that place is LAME!

 

Eh, I just drop it off, and if I do decide to wait, I go to other dealers and test drive new cars. =)