Howdy Honda
5519 E. Ben White Blvd., Austin, TX 78741
*Invoice* #328339 · Customer Copy · 25JUL26
Line A — Recall: Tire repair kit (relief valve)
1 · 42771-3D4-A41 kit — factory recall, replacedN/C
Total line A0.00
✔ Legit. Part of Honda's recall of ~1 million tire repair kits in 2023–26 hybrids. Done free, as required. Remember this kit — it comes back in Line C.
Line B — Outstanding recall: PGM-FI software update
"Recall not performed at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience."0.00
Total line B0.00
Not performed
Flag · Sent home with an open safety recall
$0 — but still- Where
- Line B, the dealer's own words: an outstanding safety recall on the fuel-injection computer software.
- How
- The car sat in this service department from 10:12 to 12:10 — two hours on site — and the free software update was logged, apologized for, and skipped. "Please call to schedule."
- Why
- There was time on this visit to add an $18.99 injector-cleaner upsell (see #3), but not to perform a no-charge safety fix Honda pays the dealer to do. Priorities, documented.
Line C — "Howdy B1 Service" · no tire rotation
Labor — B1 service package139.13
Ripoff #1 · Full package price, half the package
$139.13 labor- Where
- The Line C header itself: "B1 SERVICE NO TIRE ROTATION."
- How
- In Honda's Maintenance Minder code, "B" is the oil service and "1" is the tire rotation. The rotation — the item that defines B1 — was not performed. The full package labor was charged anyway.
- Why
- Charging menu price for a menu item minus its headline ingredient. Either rotate the tires or reprice the line.
6 · 0W20 full synthetic @ 5.9135.46
Ripoff #2 · Phantom oil — 1.8 quarts billed beyond capacity
$10.64 disputed- Where
- Line C: six quarts of 0W-20 billed.
- How
- Honda's owner's manual for this exact engine: change capacity 4.2 US quarts including the filter. Six were billed.
- Why
- The extra 1.8 quarts either never entered the car (billed, not delivered) or did enter it (overfilled — which Honda's own manual warns against). There is no third option in which this charge is fine.
1 · 15400-PLM-A02 filter, oil17.89
1 · 94109-14000 washer, drain (14mm) ← remember this price1.48
1 · IC/15P fuel injection cleaner18.99
Ripoff #3 · The wallet-flush cleaner
$18.99 disputed- Where
- Line C: a pour-in fuel-system additive slipped into a routine oil change.
- How
- Added to a 13,000-mile car — an engine barely past break-in — without being requested.
- Why
- Honda's Maintenance Minder schedule calls for this product at no interval, ever. It exists on this invoice because it's nearly pure margin, not because the car needed it.
Parts 73.82 · Labor 139.13 · Total line C212.95
Tech notes: "Performed oil and filter change, inspected brakes, set spare tire pressure, performed multipoint inspection…" Fiction
Flag · The spare tire that does not exist
Checklist fiction- Where
- The technician's own notes on Line C.
- How
- This car has no spare tire. Its trim ships with a tire sealant kit instead — the very kit this same invoice replaced under recall in Line A, on this same morning.
- Why
- An inspection report that certifies work on a part that isn't on the vehicle is copy-paste, not inspection. It puts a fair question over every other box on that checklist.
Line D — Rear diff service (dealer opcode: "JBDDIFF")
Labor77.75
1 · "GOT/12 M/T & diff service"48.88
Ripoff #4 · A $48.88 additive Honda never asked for
$48.88 disputed- Where
- Line D, billed as a "part," on top of the fluid, the washers, and $77.75 in labor.
- How
- "GOT-12" is a Justice Brothers gear-oil additive — and the dealer's own opcode says the quiet part out loud: "JBDDIFF." JB. Justice Brothers.
- Why
- Honda specifies exactly one fluid for this differential — genuine DPSF-II, with no additives listed anywhere in its documentation — in a drivetrain still under factory warranty. An aftermarket chemical was put in (or at least billed) without a request and without disclosure of what it was.
3 · 08200-9007A fluid, AWD (DPSF-II) @ 13.6240.86
Ripoff #5 · Three quarts billed into a 1.32-quart differential
$13.62 disputed- Where
- Line D: three bottles of dual-pump fluid billed.
- How
- Honda's spec for this rear differential's fluid change: 1.32 US quarts. Opening a second bottle is legitimate — the diff holds more than one quart. A third bottle has physically nowhere to go.
- Why
- One entire quart — $13.62 — billed beyond the capacity of the component being filled.
1 · 90471-PX4-000 washer, drain (18mm)8.17
Ripoff #6 · The $8.17 crush washer
~5.5× its sibling- Where
- Line D — a small aluminum sealing washer.
- How
- Fourteen lines up, this same invoice sells the nearly identical 14mm crush washer for $1.48. This one: $8.17.
- Why
- Same category of part, same job, same page — 5.5× the price. Small dollars, perfect specimen.
1 · 94109-20000 washer, drain (20mm)3.34
Parts 101.25 · Labor 77.75 · Total line D179.00
✔ Fair is fair: the diff service itself was due — Honda's Maintenance Minder typically calls the first change around 15k miles, and this car was at 13.2k. It's the padding inside the line, not the line, that's the problem.
Line E — multi-point inspection
0.00✔ Free — though see the spare-tire note above for how much inspecting occurred.
Totals box
Labor amount216.88
Parts amount175.07
Misc. charges45.07
Ripoff #7 · The invisible 11.5% fee
$45.07 disputed- Where
- The totals box only. It corresponds to no part, no labor operation, and no supply itemized anywhere on either page.
- How
- Do the math: $45.07 ÷ $391.95 of actual work = exactly 11.5%. That's not a supplies bill. That's a formula.
- Why
- A percentage-based surcharge scales with the size of your invoice, not with any rags or solvent used on your car. A fee that can't be itemized can't be verified — which is the point of it.
Total charges437.02
Sales tax (8.25% — correctly on parts only) ✔14.44
Please pay this amount451.46
Written estimate at drop-off: 414.90 → final: 451.46 (+$36.56)
Covered by pre-printed boilerplate: "I acknowledge notice and oral approval of an increase in the original estimated price." Plus a standing 2% surcharge policy for paying by card. Paid cash.
Customer copy Audited
The tally — how 32% is computed
Every disputed dollar, added up. Conservative on purpose: it counts only charges that fail against Honda's own published specs or that were never requested.
| # | Item | Why it doesn't survive | Disputed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | "GOT/12" Justice Brothers additive | Non-Honda chemical; Honda specs DPSF-II only; never requested | $48.88 |
| 7 | Misc. charges | Exactly 11.5% of the work subtotal; itemized nowhere | $45.07 |
| 3 | Fuel injection cleaner | In no Honda maintenance schedule; unrequested; car has 13k miles | $18.99 |
| 5 | 3rd quart of diff fluid | Differential change capacity: 1.32 qt; 3 qt billed | $13.62 |
| 2 | 1.8 extra quarts of oil | Engine change capacity: 4.2 qt w/ filter; 6 qt billed | $10.64 |
| Sales tax on the disputed parts | 8.25% × $92.13 of disputed parts | $7.60 | |
| Total that couldn't survive the audit | $144.80 | ||
$144.80 ÷ $451.46 paid = 32.07% — the Absolute Ripoff Rate.
Not even counted, to keep this conservative: the $8.17 washer markup (#6), the full-price B1 labor with no rotation (#1), and the $36.56 ride past the written estimate. Count those and the rate climbs toward 40%.
Products sold that Honda never recommended
Two chemicals on this invoice appear in no Honda maintenance schedule for this vehicle. Both were added without being requested. Together, with tax: $73.47 — half the entire disputed total.
"GOT/12" gear-oil additive (Justice Brothers)
$48.88 · billed as a "part" in the diff service
Honda's specGenuine DPSF-II dual-pump fluid, and only that. No additive of any kind appears in Honda's documentation for this differential.
What was soldAn aftermarket additive at $48.88 — more than the price of all three bottles of the actual Honda fluid — under an opcode ("JBDDIFF") that names the additive brand, in a drivetrain under factory warranty.
"IC/15P" fuel injection cleaner
$18.99 · added to a routine oil change
Honda's specThe Maintenance Minder schedule for this vehicle calls for fuel-system cleaner at no mileage, no interval, no condition.
What was soldA pour-in additive on a 13,000-mile engine, unrequested — the single most common line-item pad in the quick-service business.
Fine print & fiction — the practices around the prices
- Released with an open safety recall. Two hours on the dealer's own lift; the free PGM-FI software safety fix was documented, apologized for, and deferred to "please call and schedule."
- Inspection notes certify a part the car doesn't have. "Set spare tire pressure" — on a vehicle whose spare-tire substitute (the sealant kit) was replaced under recall on the same invoice.
- Estimate creep, pre-forgiven. $414.90 in writing at 10:12 became $451.46 by noon, absorbed by boilerplate "oral approval of an increase" language you sign before the work happens.
- A 2% surcharge for using a credit card — disclosed at the bottom, in the smallest type on the page.
What checked out — because a fair audit says so
This isn't a hit piece; the green ink matters too. Which is exactly why the red ink is damning.
- The tire-kit recall was handled free, as Honda requires (Line A).
- The rear diff service was actually due. First change typically lands around 15k miles per the Maintenance Minder; this car was at 13.2k. The $179 line total is normal dealer pricing — the padding is what's hidden inside it.
- Sales tax was computed correctly — 8.25%, on parts only, as Texas requires.
- The multi-point inspection was billed at $0.00 — priced exactly at the credibility of its spare-tire note.