In 2011, I bought this 2003 Honda Civic during Winter. I turned on the AC, the power button illuminated, the fan was rolling, the AC clutch picking and I could feel cold air. Only for summer to come, and then I realize my AC wasn't really working well. Rather, it was the coldness from the weather (winter) that was passing through my vent.. What a disappointment.

Coincidentally, Honda had a airbag recall on my Model of Honda. Since it was for free, I scheduled an appointment to go to the dealership. After fixing my airbag for free, I asked for a solution to my failing AC. Honda told me I would need to replace the whole AC unit and it would cost me $1500. I said for what? Somehow, I got another guy who charged $450 for labor and the cost of a new compressor he bought for me. Till date, my AC never failed me for once. Even in summer, it was always chilling. In this case, I have saved $950 by avoiding the dealership.

The first recall above was for the drivers side airbag. In 2012, I also had another recall for the passengers side airbag. Of course, its free again and I landed at Honda dealership. After re installing the airbag, they did 24 point inspection of the car, and recommended that I need an overhaul of the suspension of the same car. They would definitely have to work on the four wheels, and replace vital parts like the axle, bushings...blah, blah, blah. And that would cost me nothing less than $1000 again. All these prices actually annoyed me because I actually bought the car itself for $3600. Why would all the dealers advice never be less than $1000? As usual, I went to one of my "kokoye" (spanish) mechanics. This guy conformed to me that I only need to work on the drivers side, and he charged $250 for part and labor. The car is bouncing till date. No suspension issues. In this case, I saved more than $800 again.

2013, I was trying to save myself $100 because I didn't want to take my car for a detailed car wash (body wash, engine wash, interior). I decided to do it myself. Unfortunately, I took out the car seat without disconnecting the battery. Only for me to finish doing my "aroro", and my airbag light (SRS) light came up. I did everything I could, the light would not go off. Honda said they will charge a diagnostics fee of $127. Then if its the airbag sensor that went bad, I would pay $300 for a new sensor and labor. My "kokoye" mechanic said he would charge $250. I ran to youtube where I watched solutions to SRS light. Without spending a dollar, I saw a step by step video that guided me how to reset the airbag light. I felt like a super hero when I resolved this. No dollar spent. remember, if I had listened to Honda, I would have spent another $427 because of my mistake...

Now, this is the most heartbreaking for me. Honda recommends that I change the timing belt of my car since it gets to 70,000 miles. This car is currently on 138,000 now. That belt has never been changed. I decided to change the belt because I was afraid the belt may just cut off one these days. I was also advised to replace the water pump too, since its close to the timing belt. The cost of parts and labor was $658. My heart was so broken when I saw the timing belt that is being replaced. Honestly, it looks very perfect. It looks more reliable in texture and quality than the new one I just bought. I felt like I shouldn't have attempted to replace it. I had the feelings that the belt could have lasted at least 20,000 more. Matter of act, the mechanic was pleading that I give him the belt (which implies that its still in a very good condition). I felt like I have wasted $658 today.

Now, following all my scenarios. Should we always follow dealers recommendation in maintaining our cars? Or should we just use our discretion? I do not know of Nigeria. But in the U.S, I feel that if you have to follow the dealers advice, you will spend double the actual cost of your car on maintenance alone. So, my people. Whats your take? Follow the dealers? Use your discretion?

I will never take my car to dealership unless if its under warranty. Even in the states, a lot of people don't take their car to dealership unless when they are under warranty. They are rip offs. I remember earlier this year I was having a problem with my 2005 accord. There was a knocking sound when u rev above 5,000rpm and the gear won't change from 1-2 without revving unusually high, same thing when changing from 2-3. I took it to Honda place at opebi road Ikeja. First thing they did was scan the car (I have a scanner myself and I already know the codes that will be thrown ). They didn't even test drive the car, they only scanned it and gave me a bill. Then they said after fixing all what was thrown and the car still didn't perform well then they will change the engine. u will be amazed by the bill they gave me, they virtually wanted to change everything sensor even the ones that didn't throw any code. They even listed ECU and pogramming which is a total of 90,000naira. To cut the long story short, the bill they gave me was 420,000 naira. No guaranty that the car will be OK because they are not opening the engine (the engine was shorting oil and giving a knocking sound, some folks I gave the car misused it while I was outside the country). They told me after they finish the preliminary work and they still hear the sound then they will open or probably change the engine which is additional 350k. I knew quite sure that all those things they listed will not stop the engine from shortening oil, they themselves knew that. As if that is not enough, it will take 2-4 weeks before my car would be ready. What did I do? I paid them 10,000 naira for scanning and took my car to my mechanic, went to ladipo and got a tokunbo engine for 180k. Replaced a few sensors for about 30k, changed abs sensors for 20k. I didn't change ECU like Honda recommended and some of the parts they wanted to change already came with the tokunbo engine. At the end of the day I spent about 250k to fix the car and its working perfectly . Honda would have charged me about 750k.

Hmn, stealership.

This is the one of the reasons why you don't go by the owners review on foreign online forums. There, they tell you certain cars and models are expensive to maintain due to heavy hammer they receive from their stealerships.