I have a 2004 Honda Accord with almost 202,000 miles. It’s a v6 so as you know it has a rubber timing belt and I never replaced it. Im thinking about replacing it all though I would just get a new car I don’t really have credit. I have a decent score but no history so I keep getting these high interest rates and “oh you need to pay every two weeks.” So I wanted to open a secured card and put about 1000 or so on it and pay for the maintenance which is about 898 at a Honda dealership plus tax. Do you think this is a good idea or should I still just try and get a new car?
I'd change the timing belt, it may go another 100k miles if you take care of it. Shop around and find a good Scotty-type mechanic, or take a vacation to Tennessee and schedule an appointment with him ahead of time and pay him to do it! I personally wouldn't pay dealer maintenance fees to have that replaced. They charge way too much and there's no guarantee they do it any better than somebody that's not directly connected to Honda.
Scotty isn't TN right now. Also, there is not much stuff in Nash Metro lol
Yeah I didn’t exactly wanna have Honda do it and I could ask around more. My dad has worked on cars for years and my brother knows how to work on cars too. My dad is older though and I don’t wanna ask him because he has a messed up wrist. If we messed it up we’d be screwed. Where I live they want me to pay 1800 at my local Honda dealership and I can drive an hour away where my brother and dad lives and they will do it for 898 plus tax when my brother called in and asked his local dealership. They would change the belt, spark plugs and water pump. There’s not much I can do. I either get high interest rates or other kind of crap because I don’t have history and I’m a first time buyer. Shoot my brother tried to co-sign and they still tried to scam me. So like I said I wanna get a secured card started up and pay for that and keep the car for even at least another 60-80 thousand and I’d be totally fine with it. I’m sorry if this is all mixed up lol.
That's not a bad price if they're including all parts and labor. The belt is the timing belt, not the serpentine belt, right? Or do you mean serpentine belt and timing belt? If so, that doesn't sound too bad. My local Ford dealership charged me $140 to drive my Mustang for 20 minutes and tell me they couldn't find anything wrong.
It’s the timing belt. I mean yeah it isn’t bad, it’s half the price and I can just drive an hour away.
I would definitely have the belt replaced. Find a good independent mechanic that can do it for less than the stealership. (NOT a chain shop like Pep Boys or Firestone!) If you maintain that car you may be surprised just how far it will go. In the meantime you can start saving for its replacement so that you may not even need to take out a loan when the time comes, or at least you'll have a substantial down payment.
See I have the money to pay for the maintenance right now but instead I wanna put it on a secured credit card and pay for it and then you know pay on the credit card back so that way I can have history and eventually get a newer car.
You need a financial advisor, not an auto mechanic.
How long have you had the car? I ask because, if that timing belt breaks, basically your car is gone. Is there no sticker on the engine that shows when the last time the timing belt was done?
If the dealership is charging that much, you could likely get it done, with oem parts at a good local shop for like $500 or less.
I don’t completely remember how many miles it had when my sister got it. It was originally my sisters car and then I bought it off of her when it had about 192,000 miles. I’d say she bought it with probably a little over 100,000, not totally sure. The timing belt though, it’s never been replaced. I know it probably is hard to believe but that thing has never been replaced lol. My brother looked into everything on it pretty much. It’s like a guessing game. They say you should change it every 80-100 thousand miles but mines at 200 and it still runs fine other than I have a caliper out and my sway bar links are not linked(which I’m getting all that stuff replaced here shortly) if I do get that belt changed. We never know though, it could even last until 300 and still not break.
@will1234 Yes it may last a good while, it is just a gamble. Hondas make pretty good timing belts, some like Volkswagen, not so much, I have seen them break at like 100k. If it has been changed, it should have a little sticker on the engine with the date and mileage, normally anyway.
I’ll try and see if there is one later on today. Yeah I wanna stick with Honda, they make good cars and if I get anything else it definitely wouldn’t be a Volkswagen. Some are nice but I don’t know lol.
Your dad can be there and tell you how to do it without touching anything.
If there are no other issues with the car, I would replace the belt. You can buy a belt online a lot cheaper than the dealer will sell it. The dealer has a big mark up for parts.
Yeah I looked and I could get all the parts like the belt, water pump and stuff for like 200. I would do it but I don’t wanna chance messing it up and my dad is older with a messed up wrist that he had surgery on. Other than that I don’t really have a mechanic friend or anything.