Hi All.

My mother-in-law has a 1999 Accord V6. It's garage kept and she only has about 40,000 miles on it. Dealer serviced since purchased. At her last service, dealer suggested timing belt and 3 outer belts, front engine seals, valve cover gasket, and water pump replacement. All for the value price of $1,060. Oh yeah, a pollen filter replacement for an additional $94.00, too.

Now I know we should consider the age of the car and not just the mileage, but in your all educated opinions, is all that service necessary? It seems a bit excessive.

TIA!

 

I personally would not. With only 40k miles I would say that everything should be fine, it sounds like she takes good care of her car. When the time comes to do this maintence, yes, everything they listed is how it is usually done. Usually the timing belt needs to be changed at more than double her current mileage. If your are concerned about the time frame do a visual inspection of the outer belts and look for cracking and the usual signs of a worn belt. This will give you at least an idea of the status.

 

service is 8 years or 105K unless she is idle a lot or the dealer REMOVED the inspection cover and saw that maybe the belt has signs of wear, change it next year when it will be due.

IF that belt breaks, you are looking at a min of $3K for a rebuild.......

 

Thanks. Kind of what I figured, too. I'll check the hoses and any visible belts and let her know that she can put this off for another year.

 

Two posts & no location. If you (actually your mother-in-law) lives somewhere really hot, that can be harder on the belt.