I want to cry!

[cherokeemamma]

I am curious what happened at the dealership.
Hoping everything works out and there isn't even a fraction of the the problems you were told by the first mechanic.

 

[MET270]

no im not upset that they found so much wrong. im upset that there IS so much wrong. and to your other question, yes i bought it from a used car dealership and it had just over 160,000 miles on it. but thats the reason i want to cry. we are so close to our trip only to have all these problems.

More than likely those issues were present when the previous owner traded the vehicle in on a newer vehicle. The dealership didn't want to put the money into repairs to retail it on their lot so it was either sold at auction or sold to a wholesaler who in turn sold it to the used car dealership. I see this everyday. Most dealerships will perform a very thorough used car inspection for you for a fee before you purchase a vehicle from a used car lot. We do it all of the time, we have helped many customers keep from buying cars with a lot of problems.
Just a quick note to all of the dealership haters: what do you think happens when you have a problem that your "mechanic" can't figure out or fix? He sends it to the dealership to be diagnosed by a factory trained technician, he pays their bill, marks it up, charges you and most of the time never tells you about sending it out. We see this 5-10 times a week. Many times having your vehicle repaired at a dealership is less expensive and you get a warranty on the repair for 12 months/12,000 miles that is honored at any dealership nationwide. What do you do when your mechanic fixes your car, then the same thing fails while on vacation? Just some facts.

 

[sherilaine]

Better to find out before your trip than halfway through. I think buying a vehicle with that many miles, you would expect some issues.

 

[aprilgail2]

no im not upset that they found so much wrong. im upset that there IS so much wrong. and to your other question, yes i bought it from a used car dealership and it had just over 160,000 miles on it. but thats the reason i want to cry. we are so close to our trip only to have all these problems.

For a car with that many miles on it I would not bother sinking 2,000.00 into that, not worth it in my opinion! That is a lot of miles on a car!!

 

[Green Tea]

I took my Honda in for a recall and they came back with a two page list of problems with it. I then drove it for 5 more years without fixing any of the so called problems. I would get a second opinion.

Uh oh. I just took my Honda in for the recall and got the 2 broken engine mounts thing too. Plus needed brakes. I had those fixed plus a new timing belt. Hummm. Wonder what I should have done when they kept calling

 

[mommy2_3]

i called the shop and i am bringing it in Monday. they were slammed busy on Friday.

 

[tvguy]

For a car with that many miles on it I would bother sinking 2,000.00 into that, not worth it in my opinion! That is a lot of miles on a car!!

As long there is no collision damage or rust, it always makes more economic sense to fix a car rather than replace it. I bet the repairs add up to less than tax and license on a replacement vehicle. My last 3 employers ran fleets of cars, and 300,000 miles was the norm before they replaced them. And most often those were Explorers, Hondas are supposed to be better cars. (my last employer ran a E-250 Ford Van 650,000 miles)

 

[Luvchefmic]

i called the shop and i am bringing it in Monday. they were slammed busy on Friday.

I truly wish you the best of luck but WHY would you get the second opinion at the very place that sold you this vehicle 6 months ago ? Did I misread that ? I would go to a totally different place that has never seen you or your vehicle

 

[ssawka]

As long there is no collision damage or rust, it always makes more economic sense to fix a car rather than replace it. I bet the repairs add up to less than tax and license on a replacement vehicle. My last 3 employers ran fleets of cars, and 300,000 miles was the norm before they replaced them. And most often those were Explorers, Hondas are supposed to be better cars. (my last employer ran a E-250 Ford Van 650,000 miles)

But, how much is piece of mind worth, or your time if you have to deal with break downs? I know when it comes to my family, I would not trust DW and DD driving around in a car with 300K miles on it.

 

[Luvchefmic]

As long there is no collision damage or rust, it always makes more economic sense to fix a car rather than replace it. I bet the repairs add up to less than tax and license on a replacement vehicle. My last 3 employers ran fleets of cars, and 300,000 miles was the norm before they replaced them. And most often those were Explorers, Hondas are supposed to be better cars. (my last employer ran a E-250 Ford Van 650,000 miles)

Always makes more sense to fix rather than replace? I don't agree with that at all..also you're talking about fleet vehicles (taxi co private ambulance co trucking business ?) Certainly not a family vehicle different priority

But, how much is piece of mind worth, or your time if you have to deal with break downs? I know when it comes to my family, I would not trust DW and DD driving around in a car with 300K miles on it.

Good man, that's exactly the way I feel (but for my DH and family)

BUT we have totally gotten off topic & I know we just wish the best for OP and her situation

 

[lmhall2000]

Oh no, I would not take it to a dealership! You need to ask for references for a reputable Honda dealer that has his OWN garage, their prices are usually 25% less than a dealer, you can specify ot only use Honda parts. We found a wonderful man, we get our oil changed at Toyota dealership because I get coupons for it, they of course found 6 things wrong.
I am blessed to have a dad who KNOWS it ALL about cars, no joke, but he's 3 hours away so I fall back on his counsel.
Dealership had over $2900 of repairs that needed to be done...I ran down the list and I did $600 worth of it with the other mechanic, that was 16 months ago, YES we have a leak, it's 13 years old...it will have a leak, you just check the oil every month and if it's low, you put some in...no biggie.
On the mounts...my Dad has driven his 1993 Corolla (over 300k miles) without 2 of them for 5 years...it may rattle but it does not mess with the car, should they be replaced, yes, but is it imperative? Not likely, you were sold a car with broken ones (you should have had your own mechanic look it over before buying and had the dealership fix those before buying, but hindsight)

Now, if I were in your shoes..I would not drive a car like that to Disneyworld...I would fix what is imperative to get y'all to point A and B...probably less than $600. Put $400 into a rental van to drive down to Disney for the week. Put the other $1000 into savings for when you need to buy a new car or put something imperative onto the car..

 

[ssawka]

Oh no, I would not take it to a dealership! You need to ask for references for a reputable Honda dealer that has his OWN garage, their prices are usually 25% less than a dealer

Not around here! I've used both dealers (not Honda) and independent garages over the years. The parts and labor rates are generally comparable between the two. I do find independents to be more reliable though, but they try to "up sell" you as well.

 

[aprilgail2]

Now, if I were in your shoes..I would not drive a car like that to Disneyworld...I would fix what is imperative to get y'all to point A and B...probably less than $600. Put $400 into a rental van to drive down to Disney for the week. Put the other $1000 into savings for when you need to buy a new car or put something imperative onto the car..

I agree-
I would not drive a car with that many miles anyplace but local-I would never drive 27 hours for sure!

 

[mommy2_3]

well from the research i have done, Hondas are supposed to be very good cars. where people have gotten well over 200,000 miles on it. i am taking it to the shop where i got it at because i am under warranty. its not a big warranty but i pay half of what the bill is. we bought from them before. that van lasted about 6 years and we drove it to Oklahoma many times, Iowa, Illinois (northern and southern), Missouri, Texas and in many many places in Kansas. I live in Kansas. our last vehicle was a 99 Pontiac Montana.

 

[PinkLemonade7503]

It sounds like your car was in an accident. If you take it to the dealership where you bought it, they might lie and say they don't see all of those repairs, because they don't want to pay to fix such major things.

I guess see what they say on Monday, and then you might want to take it to a third place, to get an unbiased opinion.

Either the Honda dealership lied about how much stuff is wrong, or the other dealership sold you a car with a lot of problems. Hondas can last 200,000, but it depends on who put the miles on it.

Good luck! I hope you get answers in time for you to feel peaceful for your trip!

 

[Astylla]

I deal with this daily..I work for a well known dealership and while I can say I have faith in ours..we often have guests coming from othe whir local not as reputable ones coming to us because of such described or because they well..messed something up.

Dealership service departments have a bad wrap..this is true.

Let's face it not everyone is on the up and up and that's unfortunate.

I can't speak for this particular one but people always get sticker shock at our prices. One of the "issues" is we are in a higher class area..second is we have specially certified techs for certain manufacturers of vehicles ,
Master Techs that have to get re certified yearly , etc.
We also guarantee our work while some private shops may or may not.

Like anything really getting a second opinion is never a bad idea and I encourage it even so. We also offer these comp. inspections as a courtesy to our guests not to rip them off..though I am sure some feel differently and I am sure it could happen. /shrug

I highly advise knowing as much about your vehicle as possible and please don't believe everything you read online..the manual is a great resource first.

We get so many calls of people trying to diagnose their own vehicle like WEBMD..unless you feel absolutely comfortable in all aspects of repair and such..it's still better to bring it in - even if its not the dealer.

 

[tar heel]

I gave up my last van at 231,000 miles, but the difference in my situation and the OP's is that we had had it for years and "knew" it. What we had and the OP needs is a good, trustworthy mechanic who will tell you what really needs to be done. We had a recall on our van around 150,000 and the dealer gave me a list of $3,000 or so things that needed done -- most I did not do ever and I had the vehicle like three more years.

We always buy used cars, but our mechanic goes over them with a fine-toothed comb first and helps us decide whether that is "the" car. Sometimes it isn't.

OP - I hope it turns out not to be that bad. Unfortunately, there are things that tear up when you get to that many miles even on good cars. I hope you didn't pay much for it.

 

[tvguy]

Always makes more sense to fix rather than replace? I don't agree with that at all..also you're talking about fleet vehicles (taxi co private ambulance co trucking business ?) Certainly not a family vehicle different priority

You made my point. I think most of us maintain our personal cars far better than most fleets are maintained. I have a small hand in our fleet upkeep, getting them to the shop when something breaks. And almost every car I take in is thousands of miles overdue for an oil change.
Replacing an engine and transmission in the cars most of us drive (hondas, toyotas, nissans, Fords, chevys etc) probably will cost you about the same as the sales tax and license on a new or near new replacement vehicle of the same type.

 

[tvguy]

But, how much is piece of mind worth, or your time if you have to deal with break downs? I know when it comes to my family, I would not trust DW and DD driving around in a car with 300K miles on it.

Piece of mind is worth a lot. That is why may cars are serviced and inspected every 3,000 miles. Now, full disclosure. I'm in California, and the big issue here isn't the reliability or safety of an older/high mileage car. It's getting those cars to pass smog checks. I had to retire a 1983 Mercury because the part I needed was used just one year, and I couldn't get it anymore.