Sunday, November 25, 2007

#47 Car Maintenance

Car maintenance is on my list because I am horrible at finding time to get my car inspected and take it in for regular maintenance. I keep the registration up to date easily, since that's done by mail, but I'm still pretty lazy about actually replacing the sticker on the car. I am a little ashamed to admit that the sticker for my inspection expired in March. March 2005! I can remember taking my car to get inspected three times since then, but one time I left because the line was too long (and I was on my lunch hour at work), once the people told me it was too wet outside to properly check my brakes, and the last time I'd had my car in for maintenance, they forgot to do the inspection. I've paid one ticket on the expired inspection, and I know I'm lucky not to have more.

I also knew I was overdue for regular maintenance. On the recommended Honda schedule, I had missed my 70,000 check-up, and am now approaching my 100,000 check-up at 96,000 miles. So I took advantage of a quiet week at work and took my car in on Tuesday. I was a little irritated with the process; I went online to make an appointment through the dealer's website, but the form said my appointment wasn't confirmed until I heard back from them. I hadn't heard by Monday afternoon, so I called them. The person I spoke with told me no appointment was necessary, that they worked on a first-come, first-served basis. Yet when I pulled in on Tuesday morning, there was a seperate line designated for "Appointment Only." Argh! I'd hoped to pick my car back up at lunch, but they told me it wouldn't be ready until the afternoon. I called at 3:30, since I hadn't heard from them. Nope, not ready yet. I finally got a call at 4:45 telling me they were working on my car and it would be finished in 30 minutes. So I rushed out of the office at 5 to make my way North, knowing they close at 6. I made it with 10 minutes to spare.

While I was there, my service manager told me they recommend a timing belt change at 105,000 miles. He thought I might reach that by summer, and wanted to warn me that it usually costs $750. Yikes! Now I'm wondering if I'll actually get it done. I'm hoping to sell my car & buy a new one next fall, and I'm not sure if it makes sense to shell out so much money on a car I'd be getting rid of. I wonder if it would affect the resale value at all? Not that I'm expecting much, on a car that's 7 years old!

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