Honda City servicing costs - Too much?

[carzy]

My Honda City (purchased Mid-2005) went in for its much needed service today, I guess it was the 5th or 6th service though I'm not really sure as I haven't been around much. The car has 14K kms on it.
The Honda Service Center called me later after the car was dropped off in the morning that the estimated service charges would be Rs 3500/- and also said that the car needed to be cleaned (I must admit the interiors and exteriors have been ignored for sometime). He said they would take it to the cleaning machine and shampoo the insides and out and it would cost 1800 bucks.
So I gotto pay 5300/- in all

I don't know exactly what components they will be taking care of, I'll know that once I get the bill. Is this a reasonable price or are they taking me for a ride?

[GTO]

Can't really comment until you put down a breakup (parts & labour) of the 3,500 bucks.

[Dippy]

I'm assuming you did the 15k service. Can you put a scan of your bill here? We could then compare because regular service for the City doesnt cost more than 2000 rupees. Of course not counting the cleaning charges.

[iraghava]

Dippy - I think he's doing his services based on time since his mileage is rather low.

I would think he's done his 30k service or his 40k service this time.

[csentil]

Yup, City service shouldn't cost that much unless there's a change of engine oil, coolant, brake fluid etc. I'm just speculating here. You should ask them what is being done that justifies the cost. The dealer is duty bound to explain it to you.

If you don't want complete cleaning by Honda just ask them for the normal wash and get it done outside where it should cost lesser.

[Chevy_lover]

Cleaning charges of Rs. 1800 is very high. It will be better if you can get it done outside.

As far as servicing is concerned, with Oil change, filter change, transmission oil change, etc and with labour and taxes, I think Rs. 3500 is normal. I regulary spend similar amount on my Tavera!!!

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by carzy

He said they would take it to the cleaning machine and shampoo the insides and out and it would cost 1800 bucks.

Cleaning costs seem to be high though do not know what they do for Rs. 1800. Toyota charged 1400 for Corolla interior cleaning, etc.

[Chevy_lover]

The normal charges for cleaning and shampooing the interior of the car is approximately Rs. 850. I saw an advertisement in a local paper.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

The normal charges for cleaning and shampooing the interior of the car is approximately Rs. 850. I saw an advertisement in a local paper.

Cleaning costs vary wildly depending on the quality and what you want. OT: you can get a AC `serviced' for 100 bucks too.

[carzy]

Thanks for your inputs. The total cost came out to Rs 4.5K. Iraghava is right - the 30K service was performed at this time. Here is a breakup of the major costs, I am optimistically assuming they performed all the services mentioned. The most expensive has been the cleaning (is it supposed to be that expensive:

Labor Costs
-----------
Interior Cleaning & enrichment 1600/-
Throttle body R&I / clean /replace : 350/-
MPI system checked : 400/-
30K / 18 month service: 1000/-

Service Tax 12 % , educational cess 2% Higher Edu Cess 1% : 400/-

Spare Parts:
-----------
Eng oil : 600/-
Rest : 200/- approx

[Jaggu]

Yup cost are typical Honda charges, though many wouldnt agree to Honda being costly. lol

Only interior cleaning should be under 900 along with body polish it would be 1.6 to 1.8.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by carzy

Throttle body R&I / clean /replace : 350/-
MPI system checked : 400/-

30K / 18 month service: 1000/-

Spare Parts:
-----------
Eng oil : 600/-
Rest : 200/- approx

A little confusion there is one head for 30K /18 month service. Another head for Throttle Body and MPI checking.

Did you have any specific problem that you reported that required the throttle body or MPI system checking? If not, then, if this is part of the routine checks for that age and mileage it should have come under the 18month service head itself at 1000+400+350.

Again as oil and other components are being billed separately. Then is the 18 month service thing (Rs 1000), just the labour.

What was done to the throttle body? Just 3M spray cleaning I guess.
What was done towards checking MPI?

[carzy]

Originally Posted by 1100D

A little confusion there is one head for 30K /18 month service. Another head for Throttle Body and MPI checking.

Did you have any specific problem that you reported that required the throttle body or MPI system checking? If not, then, if this is part of the routine checks for that age and mileage it should have come under the 18month service head itself at 1000+400+350.

Again as oil and other components are being billed separately. Then is the 18 month service thing (Rs 1000), just the labour.

What was done to the throttle body? Just 3M spray cleaning I guess.
What was done towards checking MPI?

Yes there were a few problems in handling the car. I don't have much tech knowledge when it comes to cars so I'll explain in layman's terms: It wasn't running smoothly - gear shifts were getting cumbersome and in the 2nd and 3rd gear it felt like riding a bullock cart. After the service, I've noticed the gear shift has become smoother but I still feel it lag in the 2nd gear.
The horn also had to be fixed (loose wire).

The bill had 2 distinct headings one for Labor and the other for Spare Parts just the way I've typed it The sub-headings are charges for each (seperate charges for 30k service, throttle, system check)

I don't really know what was done to the throttle and MPI Check. Will have a chat with the dealer about the same - Pardon me if I'm sounding tooo 'duh'.

[Jaggu]

@carzy: let me again reiterate, charges are AOK except the interior cleaning part, usually that much tab comes when we include the exterior treatment for the honda here in bangalore.

[wilful]

Would you folks recommend the interiors to be cleaned by an outside agency (at lower costs of course). I ask because at the time of my last service, the guy there said it would be better to do the interiors next service - and the cost indicated was about the same as mentioned by carzy.