Hello Accord Experts,

I have not done maintenance on my accord 2000 V4 , 94K for about 4 years.
Should i do one. If so you guys recommend any particular services.
Is the honda dealer service any better than the regular shops.

Any advice i sincerely appreciate

Thanks
Jenefa

 

The main't schedule is in the owners manual, I would say you probably are in dire need of a trans fluid change, fresh spark plugs, possibly avalve adjustment and new valve cover gasket kit.
if you know of a good independent that has a proven record of working on hondas, you might want to try them and save some $$$
However there is a benefit to paying a little bit more and having a service history with the dealership; such as if the trans goes south in a handbasket 5000 miles after the extended warranty, and you would really like it replaced for free, it helps you plead your case for "Service Goodwill". In those cases American Honda and the dealer split the cost of the parts and the technician doing the work gets his pay cut in half.

 

I hope you've at least been changing the oil over those four years. How many miles have you done in that time?

You absolutely need to get the maintenance done. There is no question whatsoever about this. Your owner's manual spells out the service intervals and what has to be done each time. Read it for comprehension. After you do that, you have three options:

1) There's nothing horribly complicated about doing most of it yourself given a service manual, some basic tools, and the basic ability to follow directions. In fact, most of it is rather easy. You save money, quite possibly lots of it, and as a bonus you have a sense of accomplishment and empowerment.

2) If your time is worth more than your money, you can certainly let a shop do the work, but you will pay them well for this. At least understand what it is they will be doing by checking the service and service intervals info in your owner's manual. Try to find a shop that specializes in Hondas or at least Japanese cars.

3) The most expensive but foolproof way to get this done is at the dealer, who will guarantee the work done with the reputation of the Honda name behind it. They may try to upsell you on services that aren't absolutely required, and it's up to you to educate yourself on what those are so you don't pay unnecessarily.

Ideally, you'll find some balance of the three. Good luck. Hondas are good cars, but no car can go long without maintenance.

 

If I were you I'd wait till 105k and take it to a Honda Certified shop (not a dealer) tohave the timing belt, water pump, drive belts, and seals changed. They should also check the timting belt tensioners and make sure they are operating properly. if they suspect a tensioner is faulty, better to replace it now while they are in there doing the service. I found my Honda Certified Shop in the Yellow Pages (I could not find any online, I had to use the actual Yellow pages paper book.)
I would get the transmission fluid changed ata dealer though for the reasons Hondadude suggested.
Your plugs probably need changing too. Just make sure you do not use Bosch. OEm for your car is NGK - PZFR5F-11. They can be bought at Advance Auto Parts for around $9 each or ordered online from Sparkplugs.com for around $12 each. Spark plugs are very easy to change on an inline 4 engine (the engine you have in your car) with simple hand tools in about 15 minutes. If you have a shop change the plugs for you, please buy the plugs on your own because the shop will probably charge you $20 or more a peice for them. You could bring the plugs with you for them to swap out when they do the timing belt job.