Our 03 Pilot with 83k miles will be coming up on a t-belt change May 2010 -- 7 years. I was having new tires installed today at a Firestone Care Center on Robins AFB (Destination LE), and asked for a quote on a belt change. The price suprised me -- 665.00 which included the water pump, tensioner and so forth. I recollect the dealer telling me the cost was around $1000.00. I am a little leary of using someone other than the Honda dealer who I have dealt with for years and have had good service. Any comments on experiences with Firestone?
I've had, and heard of, little but poor experiences with the likes of Firestone, Sears and other chains. Plus, you ought to do proper research into those prices. Chances are good Firestone is using cheaper aftermarket parts, which are not nearly as good as OEM, and aftermarket coolant. You should also get a complete list of the parts included by both garages. Firstone may be a few parts short of what the dealer was going to install.
That was my gut feeling. You get what you pay for -- plus I would have recourse with Honda if a dealt with the dealer. Leave Firestone to tires!
the Firestone dealer I bought new tires from recently tried to screw me by quoting replacement of the entire lower control arm for $400($300 plus labor) because of a worn ball joint.I bought a new ball joint from Advance Auto for $15,borrowed (for free)from them the press tool to install it,it took me 2.5 hrs in the parking lot.It would have taken them less than an hour on a lift,using air tools. Now,this was on a 2003 Sentra SpecV,but the example still is valid. YMMV. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at localnet dot com
That sounds a bit high to me for a non-Honda shop. A year ago, the Honda dealer quoted me $650 and an independent shop $450 using the Honda belt. Both included the water pump in the deal.
