Hooray, another Minnesotan! Flushing the brakes is something you and a friend could do on a weekend. Same with the air filter and oil. That's money I didn't want to spend at 17 (now 19) and learned not to. You could also do rotors since they're rotor-over-hub, if you can remove the 2 bolts holding the caliper on.

I live east of the Cities in Woodbury/Stillwater and if I HAD to take my car in I would go to L&R Automotive in Forest Lake/Centerville or to Stillwater Auto Clinic in Stillwater. I'm friends with both owners so I would probably only trust them not to rip me off. I would say a good rule of thumb in choosing a shop would either be a Honda dealer or a full-service mom&pop shop, not one of the chain specialty shops (Midas, Jiffylube, Tire Proz, Fred's Tire, etc. I know Lakeville and Prior Lake is pretty far away from the shops I listed, but if you post the name of the shop you're thinking about going to and I might know something about them.

 

thats tight man. i was thinking about tires plus. i really like their service. and jiffy lube. good year. vavoline.

 

Those are one-stop shops and probably can't perform anything major. I absolutely hate Tires Plus. Short story: I hit a curb winter 06-07 and took it there to get an alignment for $85. Lowered my car took it to L&R, where they pointed out a clearly bent lower control arm charged me half price ($35) for the alignment and took it back and they charged me the second half ($35) when I got it fixed. If you want an honest, quality shop take it there. Like I said, full service shop, not the chain store garbage like Tires Plus, Valvoline, Jiffy, Goodyear. If you want overpriced labor, lies, and unnecessary parts, by all means, go there. I haven't been to any store like that where they haven't treated me like a complete idiot and tried to sell me BS. I shouldn't be smarter than the people servicing my car. Blinker fluid is half off at Jiffy Lube right now!

 

well does anyone know anyshops like that around prior lake?

 

Look into these kinds of shops:
Air Lake Automotive
Mainstreet Automotive
Hometown Auto Service

 

thanks for the shop listings but which one would u recommend tho.

 

I can't give you a definite answer, I've never been to any of those shops. Airlake Automotive's techs are mostly GM trained, with some Chrysler, so I don't know how good they will be with a Honda. Airlake has 5 service bays, compared to Mainstreet's 4, that should give you an idea of their volume of customers and different types of lifts and equipment. A smaller shop that has been in service for quite some time is a good bet because they don't get an automatic reputation like dealers or Sears, they actually have to earn it, so that's where get your honest work. Talk to some adults you know and see where they take their car. No one is going to praise a shop that ripped them off and never fixed the problem.

 

thankyou very much for finding the shops for me!!