I have been shopping for my daughter a used car and have been amazed at how many Acura and Honda 3.5/3.7 V6's are on the used market with WAY over the recommended timing belt mileage/years. I have not found a single one that has over 105K miles that had the proper timing belt replacement done at 7 years or 105K miles. None! Out of dozens, heck, at least a hundred and twenty-five so far! Amazing. I carfax many and most are serviced by Honda or Acura dealers, so it must be the owners cheaping out and disregarding the timing belt interval. Off course, I highly doubt that any salesmen tell them "hey, when this thing gets 105,000 miles, you are gonna have to drop $1500-$2000 to get the timing belt and water pump replaced. No record, no sticker in the engine bay. I've had several private sellars tell me that they knew nothing about replacing a timing belt. The car dealers get pissed when I tell them they should drop the price another $1500 to take in account the cost I would have to bear to get this service performed that should have already been done.
Why don't Honda/Acura V-6 Owners Replace Their Timing Belts?
- Thread starter Stumpy
- Start date
Are you hitting the pavement when you look for these cars or exclusively using CarFax? The latter is dangerous, IMO.
I guess the base street price includes the need for the service, as people are blithely buying these cars without the service being a deal-breaker.
I guess the base street price includes the need for the service, as people are blithely buying these cars without the service being a deal-breaker.
As the recent purchaser of my first Honda (a 3.5l Acura), the honest answer is that I haven't owned a car with a timing belt since my 1991 MR2 which I sold over 10 years ago.
You have timing chains any more for the vast majority of vehicles. So you just don't have to worry about it very much.
You have timing chains any more for the vast majority of vehicles. So you just don't have to worry about it very much.
The evidence shows, these engines routinely exceed the TB time or mileage by almost 50% and still don't look that dangerous. However the belt might fail in 20 minutes or 20K miles. YMMV
When I sold our 2007 Accord EXL I had the belt replaced at about 80,000 miles and sold it shortly thereafter. I kept the receipts and the Honda dealer had it listed on Carfax too for additional proof it was completed. Sold to the first person whom looked at it. The car was pristine for the year and it was loaded plus we purchased it brand new. I agree most people just leave it go and sometimes they don't even realize they need to be replaced. The Honda was a much better vehicle than the JEEP GC limited we replaced it with hahaha.
A friend has an old, rusted out Pilot that he uses for his side gig, doing lawn care. He bought it nearly new, years ago. Still on the original belt at somewhere north of 250k miles. When the belt goes, it will go to the scrapper. Not much point in dropping that kind of coin on it now.
- Joined
- May 16, 2022
- Messages
- 855
Same reason people don't change oil? People gonna People...
Personally, 40 years or driving I have somehow managed to never own a car with a timing belt, or If I did it was one I sold in the the 30K mile range early so I didn't have to deal with it.
I always checked and made double sure what ever I was buying new or used DID NOT have a timing belt. IF a car has a belt no matter how good of a car it is I won't buy it.
Same with that GMC small diesel that requires the transmission to be dropped to replace a belt or even a EV hybrid battery that I know will need to be replaced at 8-10 years +/- I simply avoid cars / trucks that I know will require a outlay of $1,500+ at what I consider early, plenty of cars / trucks don't have those added expenses and IMO a prro design so thats what I buy...
Personally, 40 years or driving I have somehow managed to never own a car with a timing belt, or If I did it was one I sold in the the 30K mile range early so I didn't have to deal with it.
I always checked and made double sure what ever I was buying new or used DID NOT have a timing belt. IF a car has a belt no matter how good of a car it is I won't buy it.
Same with that GMC small diesel that requires the transmission to be dropped to replace a belt or even a EV hybrid battery that I know will need to be replaced at 8-10 years +/- I simply avoid cars / trucks that I know will require a outlay of $1,500+ at what I consider early, plenty of cars / trucks don't have those added expenses and IMO a prro design so thats what I buy...
I always found it was the tensioner and pulley bearings were the first to fail.
I think I must be the only person in the world that prefers a timing belt over a chain.
Yeah most do have chains but Honda hangs on to the belts like on your 2020 Acura. Considering how many manufacturers screw up timing chain systems(the last version of the Honda K24 comes to mind as well as the 2.4 and 3.6 GM's) maybe belts will make a comeback!
If the previous owner planned to sell the car. they would not do costly maintenance right before they sell.
That's the way I roll too.
You answered your own question. Put yourself in the normal world - not BITOG - where the typical vehicle owner mostly only knows "change the oil and filter" and otherwise, cars only go to the shop when something breaks. This is completely normal.
There's a Honda specialist shop a few minutes from where we live and he says you can safely go 130k miles, but after that, he'll insist you really should get it done soon. Is the belt or tensioner going to fail at 135k miles ? Not likely, but his customers trust him so he's going to err on the side of caution.
I just sold a car and a) it only had a 1/4 tank of gas* and b) the license registration expires in a couple of weeks.
*Buyer was from an hour away so I did add gas to get it to a 1/2 tank not to be a (censored 'cause of the kids here).
It’s amazing how little research people put into one of the most expensive purchases they’ll make. You would think, at minimum, folks would do a simple google search.
“I just bought a used 2018 Chevy Silverado and it looks great, but I had no idea lifters and transmissions were issues!”
“I just bought a used 2018 Chevy Silverado and it looks great, but I had no idea lifters and transmissions were issues!”
Similar threads
