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-   -   Seeking advice: Visiting Honda service center for the first time (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/276217-seeking-advice-visiting-honda-service-center-first-time.html)

I recently bought my first car, Honda Amaze S (2013, Diesel, Manual, 89000 Kms). tried my best to buy a good car and hope didn't get scammed. After driving for a few days, I'm really satisfied with my decision with buying this car. But just wanted to visit a Honda service centre and do a complete check up. wanted to know if they will even do a complete check up. What should ask for? And what should keep in mind? Is it going to be a costly deed? (I'm kind of scared that they are gonna scam me)

There are some observations I have made which I need to get clarified by them. Like:

1) Steam like smoke from dipstick while idling
2) Black smoke when accelerator is pressed hard
3) Yesterday I went for a long trip in highways and felt vibration while accelerating whenever I shifted to 5th at 50+ Kpmh. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong.

Any help or opinion is appreciated!

Just let the service advisor know that this is a pre-owned car and you would like to get a 'general checkup' done. You don't have to mention specifics like "check brakes" etc, as you have already mentioned the purpose of your visit.

Normal diesel behavior I think.

This is a problem worth mentioning. Opt for wheel alignment & balancing.

Honda dealers never scam you on the mechanicals. That is, they won't push for brake pad or clutch or suspension replacement, unless it is actually necessary.

What they will try to scam you is by pushing useless add-ons that will inflate your bills (AC cleaning or brake scrubbing or anti-rust protection and so on). You should refuse to opt for these add-ons with an alibi ("next time perhaps" OR "this is a pre-owned car, I just want a full checkup this time").

Long term diesel City owner here. The diesel Amaze/City need major work at and around the 80-100k km mark. Scheduled stuff as well as wear and tear related. Things like diesel filter, gear oil and coolant will require replacement in addition to the regulars. You can find details in the owner’s manual. A lot will depend on what all work was done by the pervious owner during the 80k km service. In case service history is not available, have it all done yourself.

Furthermore, things like suspensions, clutch and brakes may also need replacement, depending on their condition. Generally, their life is this much only. EGR will also need cleaning. Then come the tires and battery. Also, Amaze is prone to rusting. So, an underbelly anti rust coat is not a bad idea, as the car is already 9 years old. It is a hard fact that these cars require attention and money at around this time, but will then provide reliable and trouble free service for the next 75-100k km.

I don't recommend buying 11-year old cars with high odometer readings as the first car. Better to buy something much newer, even if the car is a hatchback from a lower segment.

Anyway, what's done is done.

You should search through Team-BHP & find a really good, trustworthy, independent garage for your car. Once my cars are out of their extended warranty period, I usually send them to good aftermarket independents only. They work out 50% cheaper for most tasks & 75% cheaper for a few.

1. Quite common in Diesel engines, I have seen this in my Jeep Compass and some VAG cars like Vento etc.

2. BS4 diesel engines tend to emit black smoke while accelerating hard. Nothing to worry about.

3. Maybe due to bad engine mounts. :thumbs up

Smoke from dipstick opening - it is blowby and normal only if it's very minor, constant amounts would definitely mean oil consumption in the long run.

Vibration from 5th gear and 50kmph - would go against the opinions posted so far and say that you are lugging the engine and hence the vibes, try upshifting at higher rpm, this shouldn't happen.

I have been servicing both my cars in Honda for more than a decade now and from my experience they don’t scam like pre-mature part replacements. Black smoke is common on any old diesel vehicles due to carbon deposits over the time. It’s a torquey diesel engine and drive ability is better when you shift 3rd ,4th and 5th gear above 1500 rpm. When you drive at 50kmph in 5th gear then rpm would be hovering around < 1500. As your location shows Coimbatore, so I would recommend Sundaram Honda near Avinashilingam college.

1&2 are normal. An EGR valve cleaning should fix 2 to a great extent.

Regarding point 3, I am inclined to agreeing with DRIV3R.

Light car+ a torquey (not very rev happy) diesel engine + only 5 gears means it probably has really tall gearing.

Check what RPMs it is doing at 50 in 5th gear. I'll bet it will be pretty low around the 1k mark. You're very likely lugging the engine.

In such preowned car first visits, most dealers try to take the customer for a ride. You need to understand that there are few things which are necessary and there are few which are recommended, plus there are hardly any repair which is done on the service station, they are incentivise to replace.

I would recommend you to go, get the check up, make notes on what they have to say and then figure out a third-party garage (from your friends etc, basically trustworthy) to get the things fixed.

I will share an incident from 2016, a friend of mine bought a used Honda city, there was some noise from the front brakes/ wobble, he went to Dakshin Honda Hosur road and they recommended replacement of both from discs [INR 12k if i remember correctly], he called me, I took him to my guy, he took out the discs and did a basic lath work (coster INR 1000) and he drove that car till 2021 without any brake issue.

Shifting into 5th gear at 50kph and then accelerating is super counterintuitive. You will end up burning more fuel than you think you are saving and end up doing damage to the motor. Even my 2004 WagonR isn’t happy shifting to 5th at 60-70kph, I am not sure what the gear ratios are like on the Honda Amaze diesel but I’d say you are probably lugging your motor too much. Use 5th only above 80kph and even then if you plan on accelerating further, stick to 4th/3rd leave accelerating in 5th gear to speeds of 120kph and up :thumbs up

Coming back to your question, go to the best Honda service center in your town and ask to speak to the works manager there; tell him you bought the car used and would like to have a complete check done on it. Specify that the health of all rubber parts like belts, hoses, mounts, bushes, seals, bump stoppers etc. be taken into account as they would probably need replacing

Thanks for all the answers. I visited Sundaram Honda, Coimbatore and asked them to perform general check up.

Below are the observations/recommendations from them:

• WIPER BLADE NON OE
• LH AC VENT DAMAGE
• REVERSE CAMERA NON OE
• ROOF LIGHT BULB NOT WORKING
• AC LED BULB NOT WORKING
• AC MOBE CABLE STRUCK UP
• ALL DOOR WHEATHER STRIP DAMAGE
• OIL FILTER BASE ORING OIL LEAK
• REAR BOTH WHEEL CYLINDER OIL LEAK
• LOWER ARM AND LINK ROD BOOT CUT
• BRAKE DISC SCORING
• BRAKE PAD THICKNESS 2.5MM
• CALIPER PIN BOOT BULGE
• FR LH FENDER LINER DAMAGE
• WHEEL ALIGNMENT AND BALANCING NOT DONE

The service advisor asked if I want to get these issues fixed today. I told him I will get it fixed on Thursday.

I asked for a rough estimate for the below items:

OIL FILTER BASE ORING OIL LEAK - 800
REAR BOTH WHEEL CYLINDER OIL LEAK - 4800
LOWER ARM AND LINK ROD BOOT - 9500
BRAKE DISC SCORING BRAKE PAD - 7800

Change oil, preferably synthetic 5w-40, oil filter, also timing chain and diesel filter, air filter. If there is considerable white smoke, you may need to change gasket.

Easy to solve, clean EGR, clean intercooler (make sure there is not much oil in it), put liqui moly injector cleaner in 25L diesel and drive hard (above 2500 RPM) for 30 minutes.

This may either be a balancing/alignment/suspension/engine mount issue which the service center will figure out, if it is none, then probably resolving 2nd issue will solve this one too.

In this case, it makes sense for him to go to Honda first. Reasons:
1. Honda doesn’t sell spares otc. So an fng will more likely than not have child parts
2. He can find the history of the car (and visually inspect the underbody and ask them to explain with proof any changes needed)

Ideally the inspection should have been done prior to purchase. Shouldn’t cost more than 3-5k Rs.
In fact the best thing to do would be to get a complete service done at Honda. Change filters, check belts, replace the oil. Get the car running to the best of it’s ability using the best parts. Then once the owner is familiar with the car, he can take a call on taking the car to fngs as and when issues come up.

50kmh in 5th gear is lugging the engine, that will make it vibrate under load, possibly amplified by weak engine and gearbox mounts. Drive in 5th gear at 1,700/1,800rpm and note the road speed. Drive in 4th gear to that road speed then change into 5th gear. The engine will still be "on cam" and somewhere between 1,500 and 1,600rpm by the time you have finished the gear change.
Do the same for all gears.
Most turbo diesels have a sweet spot between 1,500 and 3,000 rpm. That is the ideal engine speed, 1,500/1,600 rpm for efficiency and 2,500/3,000 rpm for torque.
Always keep below 3,000rpm, torque starts to fall away quickly above 3,000 rpm anyway, if you want the engine to last a long time. Peak power at high rpm really stresses the engine and wastes a lot of fuel for no real benefits, they just sound faster.
Find a good independent garage to give the car a full check. Agree the cost first and get a written report.
Maybe let them carry out a basic service. Oil and filter, air filter, fuel filter, top off fluids, wheel balance and tracking. Then see what else they find that may need attention. Unless you have an overheating problem don't bother with flushing and refilling the coolant. At some point you are going to need a water pump or hoses or a thermostat, that is the time to get a cooling system flush.
89,000 kms for a diesel is barely run in. It's a Honda, change oil and filters and it will last 300,000kms if you don't thrash it, keep the revs down !!!!
Only use the type and grade of oil recommended in the user manual. Don't use oil or fuel additives. Don't be persuaded to use "Pixie Dust", "Unicorn Horns" or any other "magic in a can". Honda know best !!!
Enjoy your car. If nothing else just change the oil and filter every 8,000 to 10,000 kms.

Regards Neil

This is a continuation of my previous thread (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...irst-time.html)

I went to a Honda service centre to do general checkup of my Amaze. They made some observations and recommended to replace some parts.

Below are the observations:

• WIPER BLADE NON OE
• LH AC VENT DAMAGE
• REVERSE CAMERA NON OE
• ROOF LIGHT BULB NOT WORKING
• AC LED BULB NOT WORKING
• AC MOBE CABLE STRUCK UP
• ALL DOOR WHEATHER STRIP DAMAGE
• OIL FILTER BASE ORING OIL LEAK
• REAR BOTH WHEEL CYLINDER OIL LEAK
• LOWER ARM AND LINK ROD BOOT CUT BRAKE DISC SCORING
• BRAKE PAD THICKNESS 2.5MM
• CALIPER PIN BOOT BULGE
• FR LH FENDER LINER DAMAGE
• WHEEL ALIGNMENT AND BALANCING NOT DONE

I asked them for estimate for each but I couldn't remember correctly. Today I called them again and asked for the estimate to replace the main parts. Below is the estimate:

Brake pads, Disk - 7800
Caliper pin, Boot - 3800
Oil filter base o ring - 800
Rear brake cylinders - 4800
Lower arm, Link rod, Boot - 9800

He suggested the lower arm boot cannot be replaced alone, the whole assembly has to be replaced. They also said this has to be done as soon as possible otherwise brakes might lose it's effectiveness. I don't really understand how critical these repairs are. The next service is due on March.

I asked two of my relatives. One of them suggested I should fix the issue as soon as possible. The other one suggested we should consult a mechanic and check if these repairs are really necessary.

I need suggestions/opinions from anyone who understood the recommendations

1. Should I go ahead and replace all the parts recommended by the service advisor? Or are there anything I can skip?
2. Should I do it now? Or should I wait till March and do it during the next service?
3. How to check if the price estimate is accurate?

Thanks a lot