Hi, wanted to ask for an opinion / other Honda driver's experiences with timing belt replacement. Have a 2003 Honda Civic sedan, 264,000km, and can't find any record of ever replacing the timing belt. Online recommendation seems to point to Civics between 2001 - 2005 needing a timing belt replacement at around 177,000km area. I remember one time being told at a Honda dealership that when it was time for the timing belt replacement, they might as well do the water pump too as it's in the same area, and it's like 10 hours of labour to drop the engine and get to that stuff.....so all in parts and labour would be in the $2200 area. Not surprisingly, that number didn't please me lol.....and I suppose I had a bit of skepticism because it's a good dealership overall but they do tend to 'suggest' other things you can do for your car every service. Anyway, realistically, the car's book value isn't too much above that at this point, so if the belt wasn't done, I'm at the point of do I want to spend that much on it when the car's running ok in general? just ride it until it breaks and then buy a new car then vs. now (buy some time)? or would an independent mechanic be the way to go now to at least see if I can mitigate the cost and keep this car going a bit longer before buying something else? If the belt hasn't been changed, it's sure lasted a long time, have to give it that. I've always felt the original parts are generally better than the replacement stuff, whether that's true or not, but either way the belt's been a warrior if it is the original. Car's been good otherwise....not driven hard, rarely go over 100km on highway, bit of oil burn now (apparently normal for Civics, so I've been told), and I use Lucas oil stabilizer after a tiny head gasket seal warp had the temp gauge fluttering (doesn't anymore). In the end, the answer's not too hard to figure out....it's more about what option I elect to go with....but asking dealers about a maintenance question is always 'spend spend, spend' so I wanted more 'impartial' feedback from the Civic community, even if the answer's the same lol.

 

See what an independent garage would charge then make a decision.

 

welcome to the forum. i had an o2 civic dx. when the 100k mile warranty was up, i found a good mech who worked on Honda's in his garage. certified at where he worked on cars. in 2005 at 110k miles i had him replace my timing belt, he told me to get from honda, the timing belt, crank seal, the cam seal, the water pump and gasket, and tensioner. parts were about 150.00 from Honda. he at that time charged me 100.00 cash. took him about 1.5 hrs and i was on my way. at 220k miles i purchased all the parts from honda and paid about 180.00 in parts, he charged me 150.00 cash and never a problem. he never dropped the engine, he had the special socket to remove the front pulley to get to the timing belt. you might want to find a person who is a qualified honda mech or has lots of background in timing belt changes. engine does not have to be dropped. dealership knows to take advantage of you. currently its about 800.00 to do a timing belt.