Ugh with a sidebar of people are idiots…
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On the people are idiots sidebar: The breakdown occurred right outside the plaza where Karla was picking up Finley from a class. She was in the far left lane of the two lane exit/entrance to the plaza at a stop light. She has that damn automatic idle engine start/stop on her car, and when she went the light turned green, the engine wouldn’t start. There was no way to push it onto the median and no way to shift it to neutral anyway, so she put out two small cones and turned on her hazards. She ran over to get Finley and Trey went back to the car to wait for me and the tow.
When I got there, I pulled them over to the parking lot as the cars even in the turn lanes were driving way too fast, and it wasn’t safe for them to be in the vehicle. Then I went back to kind of direct traffic around, because there were way too many people that simply couldn’t comprehend there was a vehicle with cones and hazards on broken down in front of them. That lasted 15 minutes, during which 8 cars nearly took themselves out driving way too fast and nearly going into the Pilot (there was a clear line of sight, and there was still another left turn lane, and plenty of space before the light to go around). After the 8th car nearly wiped us out, I went back to the parking lot and watched. It was astounding. One time there was a car behind the vehicle for 3 minutes with no other cars around. I walked back over, and there was an early 20 something texting away not even realizing the car in front was broken down or that she had missed her lights. Another time I went back over because there was an elderly lady sitting there for 5 minutes. I walked back over, and she saw me and made sure her door was locked (I was in a suit, with my dress coat, btw). I got in front of the car and tried waiving her around, telling her that she needed to go around. She sunk down in her seat, scared. I tried to motion for her to roll down the window while standing like 30 feet away. She just looked at me with a panicked look. Finally, I just looked at her and started yelling like a loon and monster walking towards the car. She panicked and drove around…
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The timing belt was replaced last year at 100K miles.
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Well, Honda approved it. They aren’t putting a brand brand new engine in, but one with 35K miles on it. Still, that’s saving her 100K miles on the vehicle!
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So here’s the kicker. The 35K engine has a timing belt, but they are recommending that we go ahead and replace it now, and it will allow them to go in and double check the new engine for leaks and such, plus it’s $1K cheaper to do it now while the engine is out rather than waiting two years to replace it. I’m of 2 minds… The assurance of a new belt and the engine being checked is appealing, but I also dislike giving up the two years left on that belt AND the engine is still warranted…
Thoughts?
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Just had this done on my 2014 Ridgeline. At 140K. I don’t have the invoice in front of me but it was expensive. Truly, I was getting nervous driving with it for so long. @lufins-dad , I think I’d ask myself how long I plan to keep my (new) 35K 2021 Honda Pilot. Having the belt etc replaced now while the engine is out is quite appealing. The labor costs otherwise are real high for this. It also plays well with its resale/trade in value. When I traded in a 2016 CRV last year, that timing belt change question was near the top of a list of questions they asked.
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Just had this done on my 2014 Ridgeline. At 140K. I don’t have the invoice in front of me but it was expensive. Truly, I was getting nervous driving with it for so long. @lufins-dad , I think I’d ask myself how long I plan to keep my (new) 35K 2021 Honda Pilot. Having the belt etc replaced now while the engine is out is quite appealing. The labor costs otherwise are real high for this. It also plays well with its resale/trade in value. When I traded in a 2016 CRV last year, that timing belt change question was near the top of a list of questions they asked.
@blondie said in Ugh with a sidebar of people are idiots…:
Just had this done on my 2014 Ridgeline. At 140K. I don’t have the invoice in front of me but it was expensive. Truly, I was getting nervous driving with it for so long. @lufins-dad , I think I’d ask myself how long I plan to keep my (new) 35K 2021 Honda Pilot. Having the belt etc replaced now while the engine is out is quite appealing. The labor costs otherwise are real high for this. It also plays well with its resale/trade in value. When I traded in a 2016 CRV last year, that timing belt change question was near the top of a list of questions they asked.
We will likely keep it through 300K miles, so we know there are several more belt changes…
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Labor rates increase. 100K from now could make for an expensive repair. Can you predict what your 135K Pilot might be worth then? I get anxious to get a new Honda once my yearly labor + parts costs approach trade in/resale value. I think Ive purchased 10 new Hondas in my life time.
