My manual says I should replace the timing belt and a couple other odds and ends at 60,000 miles on my new 2012 Accord EX V6. Does anyone have a ballpark figure of what the dealer will charge for this service? I can't do it myself and I'm not rich so I figure I should save and plan ahead.

I've only owned this car a month. New car happiness aside ...... this may be the best car I've ever owned. I drove my last Buick for eleven years after purchasing it new and the VW before that, (again purchased new), for almost eight years, (someone backed into it). I keep cars for the long haul. I want this Accord to last forever.

Lennon

 

How many miles are on it now?

60 k miles?! really?? I thought the new engines use a timing chain and can sustain longer intervals. (edit - took me a second to reread the OP and realize this is a J30)

I replaced my first timing belt at 120k. First time for my car. When I took the belt off it looked fine as if it could have gone another 30-60k miles but who knows. I would not suggest waiting till twice the recommended change interval but 60 seems really short. Maybe 75-80k would be good for the first one and then the second one at 175 or so, thats what I'd do.

But anyway back to you question;

Book labor time (what a dealer will charge) alone is 4.7 hours. Say your local labor rate is $100/hr your looking at a minimum of about $600 parts and labor included. Now while they have these parts off they will suggest doing your water pump and timing belt pulleys and tensioners. I would suggest doing this as the labor to get to these parts is already being charged. So with these extra parts and an extra hour or so you can be looking at near 1000 at a honda dealership.

3rd party shops will probably charge you less. Expect 10-20% mark down from dealer prices, however, this is not an absolute. Could be more could be less.

If you don't know of a shop that you can trust check out this site;
Mechanics Search | Car Talk

search your area and read reviews, people are honest and you will quickly find out which mechanics are genuinely in the business to fix your car not rip you off.

 

It's only the 4-cyl that got a chain in 2003. V-6 still has a belt.

But your 2012 Accord has a maintenance-minder. Does the manual actually call out a mileage interval for the belt? I expected it to be in one of the numbered categories that come up when the maintenance minder goes off. Say the dashboard warning lamp shows "B 4" where the maintenance booklet has a list of things that fall under "#4".

You say the car is pretty new and you're just planning ahead; that's good because the timing belt is kinda pricey. But I expect you would have to maintain some pretty severe driving habits for the timing belt to come up as soon as 60k miles.

 

60k seems pretty early to change the belt, my info says change at 110k, book time according to what i have is around 7-8 hours/plus parts. the indicator based maintenance calls for 60k under severe conditions only.

 

Thank You All for your responses! My Accord is still very low mileage. I just hate to be blindsided when I take a car in for required routine maintenance and find out I should've stopped at the bank on the way over.

Silver6gen,
Thanks for the mechanics search link.

JimBlake,
You're right about the maintenance minder. I'd never heard of one of these much less owned one so I wasn't sure how much I should rely on it. I'm guessin' it's pretty accurate.

Dr. Drivability,
Your "severe conditions only" statement sent me back to the manual and you too are absolutely right.

This is a cool forum.

Lennon

 

Honda recommends timing belt service (which includes timing belt, tensioner (this is a hydronic tensioner which most of the time starts to leak after 100,000 miles), water pump, serpentine belt, and a coolant flush) every 105,000 miles or 7 years. It's about 6 hours labor, but can be done in less time depending on the tech's experience. Timing belt service usually cost about $900 for your accord.

 

The maintenance minder code for timing belt replacement should not come up until 105k miles, or 7 years, as stated above.

 

Here is a detailed video with step-by-step instruction on the replacement of the timing belt on the Honda Acura V6 J Series engine, including the replacement of the pulleys, tensioner, as well as the water pump and special tools needed to complete the job.

 

Lennon...congratulations on your purchase. If you maintain your Accord, you can put 3-500,000 or more miles on it. I had a 1993 with 300,000 miles an inexperienced driver t-boned my wife. Still makes her sick...
To the point. I was surprised the manual recommended changing the timing belt at 60K. Do change water pump and tensioner during timing belt. IF you don't & need a water pump, labor costs are the same. My last Accord was a 2001 4cyl...timing belt recommendation was 100,000. You do not want to ignore Honda's recommendation. If the belt breaks, you coast to a stop and a wreaker is needed. You also risk head, valve, etc damage or a destroyed engine. I have a 2012 V-6 also with 50,000 miles. My plan is to do the service at 60,000 and look at the belt, discuss with my mechanic and as another reply stated, I hope to see enough belt life to go 80-100,000 before the next belt change. Costs...shop around and verbalize changing water pump & tensioner, unless you have a good mechanic. Ballpark is $600- $800. Other maintenance is important, especially transmission but I may go over a little on those. Timing belt...a must. I too am saving up. Hope this helps. This is my 7th Accord. Best car for the money in my opinion..