Hey,
I have a 01 Lude and I am pretty sure I have the bad auto tensioner. I have done alot of research on this and I have the flapping sound around 1800-2200 RPM. Here is my problem. The Honda Dealership near me wants $908.00 to change the belts, waterpump, tensioner etc. From what I have read this is about $70 over the high side of what it should be. I called another dealer over an hour from here and they will do it for around$700.00 which is better. My third choice is there is an Import place here in town that will do the whole thing for $500.00. I checked this guy out with the B.B.B and he has no complaints since 1983! I don't like the idea of driving the Prelude anymore than I have to. It is currently parked and I drive my CRV daily. I really dont care for having to go so far away to the Honda dealership, but I know that Honda might be best. What do you think?

Thanks in advance!

Jamie

 

I would take the other guy for 500$ funny thing is as i write this im having all my belts changed at this lil shop in town, he's charging me 460$ and i snagged that. Honda is wayyyy to damn expensive, tell them to use oem honda parts for the belts and anything else.

 

Nothing wrong with going to an independant shop that works on japanese, however
as the person before said, Make sure you get your estimate with OEM honda parts.
I hear ppl all the time say so and so's shop that's a independant will charge me half of the dealership's price.. What they don't understand is that most of the time those shops use aftermarket parts which are always cheaper than oem, They probably have a cheaper labor rate as well but not by much. That's how the other shops can stay in business. That being said some shops get a good discount from the local dealerships on OEM parts and have a low labor rate, if they know what they are doing then great I would do it. That job on a lude is a lot of work, if i remember correctly it has an auto tensioner and a regular tensioner. Most honda dealers will want to replace the auto tensioner which also makes the cost go up(i believe that part is around $125) The other shops might now do that cause they haven't had the experience of one going bad yet, who knows. Also think about the warrenty of the job, most honda parts that are new are a year warrenty, most honda shops honor the work for at least 3 months. Will the other guy step up with his napa parts and redo the job if that napa part fails? these are the things you should be asking both shops and then make your choice.

 

just be careful with the lil' shops

they are more profit margin oriented...ie. if you have a bad cv seal they will charge you for the whole axle and only repack the joint and change the boot.

not to mention timing belts on DOHC honda motors, and especially DOHC VTEC motors seem to baffle and confuse most mechanics in my area.

~boom

 

Honda charges $85 per hour for labor. this is the number 1 reason why local shops are cheaper, as their average rate hangs in the $45-55 range, depending on your locality.

if you have the time, ask the mechanic if you can watch the install as you're interested in learning. some shops may tell you, "it's against our insurance policy", while everyone i have been to has no problem letting you check it out unless they have something to hide.

it's called playing on someone's superiority complex for your own benefit.

 

The average cost is around $700 at many Honda dealerships. You have a car that might still be in warranty. I am a believer in using the dealership during the warranty on the car as a whole-they tend to be more concerned about you. My experience has been very good at the dealership I use. They sold me the cars and know me. They have never sold me services I did not need. When it came time to do something it was with genuine factory parts that also have a warranty on parts and labor. We all want to save money, but there are times when it is better to make the best use of the resources that a factory can offer thru its dealers-and the warranty time can be one of them. If either the Timing Belt or water pump that are installed for you fail and the engine is toasted-and the dealer did the work Honda will take care of you.

Just my 2 cents

 

i got mine changed for 400 + 100 for the autotensioner that went out.

mine got so bad you could move the timing belt a few inches from side to side.

good luck