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Old Mar 27, 2008 | 04:30 PM
  #4  
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losiglow
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Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Eagle Mountain, UT
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Haha! That whole bill is a load of :rofl:.

Almost every one of those charges is a crock.

Struts - 95% chance that's bullcrap. EVERY tire place will try to throw new shocks and struts on. Heck, you could bring in a brand new car and they'd try to replace the shocks and struts. Unless you're cornering like a 1970's cadillac you don't need this done.

Ignition stuff - Grossly overcharged. $67.90 in labor to replace spark plugs? I probably won't spend $67.90 in spark plugs for the entire life of my car! And damn, they want to replace the wires, distributor and rotor too? I doubt all that stuff really needs to be done. But if it does, you could buy all those parts for around $75 and do it yourself in about an hour or less with a cheapo hayes manual at an autoparts store.

Brakes - If they need to be done then sure, get them done. Again, I'd do it myself, pay $40 for brembo rotors and $40 for AEM or Hawk pads. If the rear are rotors they probably aren't the pressed hub type. Again, the year of the Accord would matter here. But they'll recommend to change your brakes if there anywhere around 50% worn, when they still have plenty of life left in them. A brake system flush? I highly doubt it. Unless they're replacing calipers (which they suprisingly didn't recommend), they're no reason they really have to do it.

Bearings and Seals - Hell no! If you don't hear noise your bearings are fine. If you hear a constant - very noticeable usually - whorling noise as you drive then you need new wheel bearings.

Fuel System Tune Up!!! - :bs::bs::bs:What a friggin crock! All they're doing is pouring a can of $6.99 fuel injector cleaner in your tank (Which
they're charging you $34.99 for by the way) and charging $55 in labor? What the friggin hell?! Definitely don't do this.

Ball Joints - Possibly legitamate but again, it probably depends on the year and mileage of car. Being that it's a tire place recommending it, I doubt it needs to be done. Most Honda's dont need major suspension components replaced until around 150K miles or so. I had 200K on my '93 and all the components were solid, with exception to the shocks which I had replaced at 190K.

I wouldn't have anything done at this place. Tire shops are so damn crappy. If you notice any of this stuff going bad then take it to a REAL mechanic and get an estimate. But of all the stuff mentioned, the only thing you couldn't do yourself is ball joints, bearings, and struts. Brakes are an intermediate job but still quite easy if you have a manual. Good luck. And stay away from tire shops! (except strictly for tire stuff).
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