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Running Board Install Cost by Dealer(s)

27K views 21 replies 16 participants last post by  LX316 
#1 ·
I looked into having my Honda dealer install the OEM running boards. They charge $204.70 to do this. I searched around on eStore.Honda.com and looked at 3 other Honda dealers install costs. They were $99, $135, and $180.I was amazed to find such a large difference between 4 dealers that were within 50 miles of one another. When I asked my dealer if he could match any of the others he said "no way".
 
#2 ·
Get a good friend to assist and put them on yourself. Believe it or not IMHO they are very easy to put on. I put my wife's Element side steps on, which were a bit harder than the ridge, myself. Why waste a couple hundred?
 
#4 ·
I don't have the OEM running boards, but I was told by someone whose running boards I was going to buy that the rivnuts were unnecessary. There are plenty of places to bolt on, just like if you were putting on an aftermarket accessory. Perhaps some others can chime in with how essential they feel the rivnuts to be.
 
#9 ·
Hard to believe dealerships charge that kinda jack to do easy installs like this. They have the people to do it, they have the right tools, they have the know-how and would be very easy for them to do the install...throw the truck on the lift, lift it up, put the running boards on, and that's it. It should take a knowlegable "service tech" about 15-20 to put them on....and about 1/2 of that time would be taking them out of the box...!

Anyway, as noted above this is an easy install. I guess you can decide if the rivet nuts are needed or not. I used the $1.87 rivet nut tool and installed mine myself. I would say the hardest thing was to get those rivet nut things to expand and seat right. It takes a little elbow grease and a little patience. Other than that...it's nothing but lining up holes, putting the bolts through, and tightening the nuts. Definitely not worth paying $200+ for somebody else to do it. Even at $99...IMHO that is still expensive...unless you don't want to do it yourself...which then it would probably be reasonable...I dunno.

I installed my own hitch and harness too...and the running board install was much easier...not that the hitch/harness install was all that hard either....
 
#13 ·
I'm from MD and only had one service done at the dealer. I 'bout fell out of my chair when the bill came. I checked a private auto shop later and found their price would've been about half what the dealer charged.

RIDGE4ME2 -- Do you mind saying which one was the highest? Sooner or later I will probably need a dealer for something, but I'll avoid that one!
 
#14 ·
I've noticed the same variance in pricing. It makes no sense. The dealer I bought my Ridgeline from had an awesome price on the boards but want through the roof for install (like $280). On the other hand, the dealer closer to where I live wanted $200+ more for the boards but install was only $105. Everyone is quoting from the same manual - you'd think they'd all be in the same ballpark for everything
 
#16 ·
That's where I found out about the rivnut tool! Since I'm on the East Coast and H and A is on the West Coast the price of the running boards with shipping doesn't make sense for me but I will use the instructions at H and A. I can get them from a local Honda dealership for less.
 
#17 ·
I work at a Honda dealer; The cost for an install is one hour`s labour. However, being an `07 model, with some miles, the threaded holes have slight corrosion, so each hole has to be "chased out" witha tap, to clean out the threads. That took and extra hour. I also had them swipe each bolt with some silicone grease for anti-corrosion reasons. Now this whole procedure took two hours from start to finish. Canadian winters corrode those threaded areas, even underneath the plastic plugs!
 
#18 ·
That's exactly what I had to go through because mine is a '07. I took mine to "Van & Truck World", as all they do is sales & installs! :act035:
 
#20 ·
There are different labor rates and some dealerships charge the same rate for everything, some dealers charge different rates for jobs that require different levels of expertise. You may end up paying the same hourly rate for someone to install running boards as you pay for someone to do a ring job if they do not have different rates per job.
 
#21 ·
I just did mine this weekend, I purchased them from another ROC member who only had them on for a few months. Since they were already installed I did not use the rivnuts and they are rock solid with (10) M8 bolts holding each one in place. Since my truck is a '08 I did find some corrosion in the holes so I just ran an M8x1.25 tap in each hole. Still with doing that took me about 20 minutes to install them by myself. $60 seems reasonable if you don't want to do the work, but some of those install costs are crazy.
 
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