I recently took my car in for its annual inspection. During that inspection, several issues were found. One of which was a Timing Belt seal leak. A year... and a half ago my wife and I moved to NC from TX for my job. Before we left I had my car go through Honda's 200,000 mile maintenance and had a Timing belt replaced. For those of you that are not familiar with the replacing of a timing belt, it is not just the belt, but a whole kit including the seals. The total price of the Kit and labor comes out to $900.00. Even though Honda was more costly than other mechanics in the area, I choose to have the work done through Honda of San Marcos because we trusted the "Honda certified maintenance" and also because it was our home dealership. As most of you know, my wife and I are from San Marcos and have very deep roots there. We wanted to make sure that it was done right and that we could rest easy while being away. Within the last year and a half the car was shipped to NC and has been driven to and from work. The mileage at the time of the Timing Belt replacement was 203,609 miles, the mileage now is 213,610 miles. I have logged a total of 10,000 miles since our move. Timing Belts are meant to last 70,000 miles before recommended replacement. At my rate of driving that would have been 10 years. I called the dealership in San Marcos to find out what can be done about the faulty seal. According to the Service Manger there, NOTHING can be done. Honda of San Marcos’ policy is 12 month or 12,000 miles warranty on all works. I find that terribly convenient for Honda because most issues that are not of catastrophic nature are only found during maintenance and inspection. I cannot recommend a dealership that does not stand behind its work or parts. This problem would have not been found if not for the annual 12 month inspection process in NC. We are now out $900.00 that we originally spent with Honda of San Marcos and looking at another $600.00 to have this replaced in NC.
The Team at Honda San Marcos made my car buying experience an absolute pleasure. No pressure and honest and sincere people that demonstrate what the big... corporate sales lots should aspire to want to be. I would recommend Honda San Marcos to anyone interested in buying a vehicle. You will not be disappointed. Sincerely, Greg Bila