FYI: I almost got 'bit' by Carr Chevrolet

[RVNvet]

My 2007 Chevy Colorado recently became hard to start, and the 'Check Engine' light came on. I'm a disabled veteran and rarely drive, so it only has 14,300 actual miles on it; but it's been over five years since we bought it, so is out of warranty. Early last week I took it to the Beaverton Carr Chevrolet service department, since we had bought the vehicle new there, and left it overnight. Mechanic 'Fernando' called the next morning and said the 'scope diagnosis' (cost: $106.00) showed it needed about $630.00 worth of work. I told him to not do anything, then went to the dealership and picked up my vehicle. I immediately took it to another service place, and the mechanic there diagnosed it and laughed; he said all I needed was a new air filter...I leave my pickup outside, and our wet winter had caused a lot of mold to grow between the pleats of the filter. We put in a new ($18.00) air filter. It has started and run fine ever since, and the 'Check Engine' light has not come on again.

Max

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[IheartGUNS]

Dealers are straight up crooked, never trust them. Awhile back I went to oil can Henry's with a friend with his brand new 6 month old gmc yukon just for an oil change. They told him he needed to change his diff oil. We both looked at each other and laughed and told the guy " you're joking right?" Then I look at my friend and said " might as well wait till tomorrow when we replace the driveshaft coolant reservoir and we can change the diff oil at the same time". The guy was not happy...

 

[01rednavigator]

I was told by Skyline Ford in Salem that my 2001 Lincoln Navigator's ball joints were bad and needed to be replaced and would cost about $1000 to replace them. I took it to Les Schwab today and they told me my ball joints are perfecly fine.

Also when I first bought my Navigator (used) and took it to Skyline Ford to get the oil changed they told me the seal between my transfercase and transmission was shot and would need to be replaced and would cost about $500 plus to fix cause they had to drop the transfercase. I took it to Salem Transmission service cause they do great work and they have worked on my dad's cars and my other cars for years, the seal was bad and only cost me about $300 to have it fixed, so the next time I took it to Skyline to have the oil changed they said the seal was still bad and needed to be fixed.
I called them on the lie and they looked at it again and said oh yeah it is fixed, needles to say I change my oil my self now.

 

[teflon6string]

A San Diego Jeep dealer tried that with a rattle I had. Told me it was the catalytic converter and it would cost me something exorbitant. I didn't have the money, so I didn't do it.

A week later, I was having something else really minor done at the local garage, and the mech there told me it was a loose tailpipe bracket that he tightened up with a hoseclamp. No charge. Silence after that.

I called the service manager at the dealership to express my disgust with his service writer. No apology or even acknowledgement. They regard me as "the one that got away."

 

[Redcap]

I feel sorry for all the non-car people that get soaked by those bubblegums.

 

[PDXSparky]

Only warrantee work gets done at the dealer for me. I take my Hondas to a local independent honda/acura service guy.

 

[Burt Gummer]

I've done data networking and telecom work for a few local dealerships. They openly share stories about who bagged the dumbest sucker that week.

Not just the Chevy and Ford lots either. Some of the higher end car dealerships are the worst. If you buy a $100k 4x4 you don't expect the same dealer to try to rip you off down the road, but they do.

Strippers give their clientele more respect.

Makes me want to gouge them back on the services my company provided, however it is not in my nature.

Not ALL dealerships are this way, but the vast majority are.

 

[Mark W.]

Saturn in Salem told us the hard shift lever action was due to the syncros going out in the tranny and that we would have to replace it. They found a used one for $1300.00 with 600.00 labor. I told them thanks but no thanks. We drove the car another 90K miles before trading it in. It was still a little hard to get into reverse or first but it sure wasn't the transmission. It was the worn out linkage.

 

[John H]

It is just not dealerships. And it is not always they are out to screw you. Some in this field are just plain stupid.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Yes, you can't fix stupid.

Vic Alfonso Cadillac wanted to charge me $1,100 to fix my door locks, stating it was an integrated computer module that failed. My buddy, a backyard mechanic, found a blown fuse under the back seat. $50, including his time, and all fixed.

 

[01rednavigator]

Another thing I forgot about Skyline Ford, a couple of months ago my battery would go dead every few days so I took it to skyline cause I still had some warranty left on the Motorcraft battery and I wanted to get another Motorcraft battery cause I have always had good luck with them.

Anyways I asked if they would test the battery so I knew if it was a bad battery or if my alternator was going out and they wanted to charge me just for a simple battery test! I took it to Autozone and had it tested for free!

I am a Ford nut and I do not blame any of this on Ford.

 

[Botte Hork]

Had a Lincoln which had a sudden overheating issue. I went to a mechanic shop that looked suspiciously clean but was well reviewed. They quoted me about $4500 on blown headgasket, including 26 hours of work at $120 each and subcontracted pretty much everything, plus $90 for their "investigation". All part prices were at least double of what my 10 second google-fu skills would bring up. Then I went to a local shop that's always busy, which was recommended by my colleague who had been going there for >10 years. $185 for a new thermostat and them keeping the car 2 days extra to run it and make sure it wouldn't give issues. I was a loyal customer until I moved here. This guy is literally the only thing I really miss from CA.

I'm not a car guy and you can tell me many things, but I am also an inquisitive engineer who doesn't mind investigating a little by himself and call BS when needed.

 

[TAD]

This guy is literally the only thing I really miss from CA.

Really? Not even the mexican food or bikinis?

 

[Botte Hork]

Well, it's easy to pop over to get good sushi, mexican (not very much into that though) or peek at bikinis, but the car is a bit of a hassle as a carry-on item.

 

[clearconscience]

Almost every dealership charges between $50 and $100 for a diagnostic. You can go to almost any auto parts store and have it done for free.
Or just buy a reader for $150 or so.

I learned a lot working for AAA. Dealerships make most of their money on the car service centers than they do selling cars.

I would never fo to a dealership unless my vehicle is under warranty.

 

[clearconscience]

And not driving a car is so much worse than most people think. It kills batteries. Keep it on a trickle charger.

I can't tell you how many times I've gone on calls for dead batteries because someone went on a 2week vacation.

Just read up on the $100k Telsa electric cars.

 

[John H]

Almost every dealership charges between $50 and $100 for a diagnostic. You can go to almost any auto parts store and have it done for free.
Or just buy a reader for $150 or so.

I learned a lot working for AAA. .

Well you didn't learn much, those cheap readers can't touch what a factory tool can do.

Sometimes they don't even read the code correctly.

Auto parts store don't diag anything, they just scan it and sale you a part that might be related to a code. Just cause a code is set doesn't mean anything.

 

[CatCow]

And this is why I prefer old vehicles and a toolbox...

 

[Steve06]

And it's been this way forever with automobile dealerships.

 

[MrNiceGuy]

Well you didn't learn much, those cheap readers can't touch what a factory tool can do.

Sometimes they don't even read the code correctly.

Auto parts store don't diag anything, they just scan it and sale you a part that might be related to a code. Just cause a code is set doesn't mean anything.

Quoted for posterity.

They can't even touch what a high quality non-factory reader can do. There's a reason that the Modis costs thousands of dollars compared to the autozone special... and it isn't the snapons cool color.
<broken link removed>

I worked for knechts briefly out of high school and performed many "free scans" myself. I can tell you they are worth exactly what you paid for them, minus the fuel and time costs of course.