Dealer scam?

[joseph hollinger]

So a couple of months ago a friend of mine called and told me that her car dealer was going to charge her $500 to replace the rear brake pads on her car. I thought that was crazy especially because the parts can be purchased online for $120 or so. Unfortunately, by the time she called them back, they had already started on the job, and she basically got stuck with the bill.

So, live and learn. Anyway, I took my car in a couple of weeks ago (different type of car and a different dealer) and they told me that I needed new rear pads as well. So I told them I'd think about it. Of course what I really did was order the parts online so that I could do the job myself. When I removed the old pads, I was surprised to see that the friction material looked pretty healthy. In fact, it measured out at .19 inch thick which is pretty good considering that the new pads are only .4 inch thick. To my mind, that means that the pads are a little more than 50% used and since they've already gone 40,000 miles, I'd have to assume that they are good for at least another 20,000. And that's not at all like what the dealer described to me (he in fact warned me that the pads would last another couple of thousand and then I'd be in danger of wrecking the rotors).

Anyway, is this rear brake pad thing a common scam? I've always done all my own maintenance, except for recalls so I was pretty shocked.
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A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. -- Winston Churchill.

[Dan Haynes]

my mother just told me about her recent dealings with her dealership. she has a 2007 sebring that she bought new from this dealer. the car has about 17,000 miles on it. last time she took it in they told her it needed an air filter. she gave them the ok to replace it. $35 bill for that. she took it in again a few weeks ago (3000 miles later) and the service manager told her the mechanic said the air filter needed replaced (she only drives about 4 miles to work with no dirt roads anywhere). when she commented about them just changing she told the service manager that she wanted to talk to the mechanic. one comes up but says that he wasn't the one that worked on it as the other guy went to lunch. when she questioned him he showed here the filter. she said it didn't look bad and he told her that it did but he shook it out. she then reminded him that he said he wasn't the one that worked on it. he responded by saying that he was standing right there when the other mechanic did it. she questioned the whole thing and told them to leave it in there and told the service manager that either they lied last time and didn't change it or are lying this time by telling her it needed changed. so my step father went to Wal-Mart and bought a filter for it for $8. My mom was surprised that they basically charged $27 labor to replace it (it literally took about 15 seconds to change it).
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Blaise Haynes
#3 Arrow X1-CIK
TaG
Cook Racing Engines Parilla Leopard

[Michael Milanovich]

you guys would be suprised. i worked for a national chain auto shop in 2008 in the summer while classes were out. they would make us technicians pull cars completely apart during an oil change to find things for us to sell them. they werent too bad on parts if we had the parts in stock but if we had to get them from a carquest, pep boys, etc.. you were paying. there theory behind this was if they had to get a 50 dollar map sensor from carquest they would take that 50 and multiply it by 2.5. so now your 50 dollar part now costs $125. plus they would charge you 90 dollars an hour for labor. the worst part of it all is we were located on the outskirts of a major university so most of our customers were students who couldnt afford the major bill that they were getting. needless to say i made no money and watched a corporation attempt to rip off individuals. i lasted about 3 months before i said enough is enough and we had to part ways.

[Max Wood]

Joe,

My parents (70+ y/o), my wife and sisters are constantly being "taken". It's got to the point where they don't allow any work until they talk to me. I'm no professional mechanic, but I know enough to smell the bullcrap. The last time was a dealership that wanted $700 to replace a O2 sensor on my parents GM car to fix a check engine lean condition error. They didn't have the $$$ so they brought it by my house for me to take a look at. I found the intake tubing clamp was loose where it connects to the throttle body. I tightened that and problem was solved. I knew nothing about their car and was able to diagnose and fix the issue within 15 minutes with the help of a couple web search results.

Brakes seem to get used as an easy money maker, as it seems they call me yearly to check their brakes after getting a state inspection. One time was < 1 year since the brakes were replaced by me. They were perfectly fine, with most of the pad left, as my parents don't stress them much!

I'm surprised anyone can support the auto manufactures' race efforts when they can't trust their dealerships! (whew, that was a stretch!)

[Wayne ONeil]

One of my managers took her car in to Jiffy Lube once, and they told her that her transmission fluid needed to be flushed. They showed her the readout on the electronic tester. After it was done, she asked them to test it again. They tried to test it from the clean pail, but she made them test the fluid in the car.

It failed the test. They tried to BS her with an answer about how there is some residue in the car, but it's not that bad, etc, etc. She asked them what's to stop her from coming in tomorrow, and testing bad again? They said that they don't check every time, but when mileage says it's needed. She got mad and said "What the f*** is the test good for then?" and made them flush it 3 times until the meter came out clean.
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[Dan Haynes]

have to add this one also. back in about 1988 i bought a 1985 chevy S10 blazer (from the dealer) with about 27,000 miles on it. i was about 19 years old at the time and was already drag racing and building my own engines. shortly after i bought it it developed a misfire. i took it in for them to fix. they called at the end of the day to tell me it was done. i went in to pick it up and asked what was wrong. they said they couldn't find any problem but admitted the misfire was there. then they handed me a bill for about $40 (just under that i think). i asked what they had done to test it. their answer was that they drove it around the block, opened the hood and sprayed water on the engine. thats all they did. i argued with the service manager and refused to pay the bill. i guess they figured i was some young kid that didn't know any better.
they never did fix it and i never went back there for anything.
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Blaise Haynes
#3 Arrow X1-CIK
TaG
Cook Racing Engines Parilla Leopard

[Chad Stapleton]

The common rip off attempt locally, is for the dealer to advise that the rotors are worn below minimum recommended thickness and need replacement ( with new pads of course !).
As most cars are company /lease owned and few driver owners rarely question the expertise of a dealer ( ), then big $$$'s can be made by the dealer /shop.
My wife's (company paid) car got dealt this way ...twice in 3 years!
$2000 + each time ( All 4 rotors and pads on an import)

Another dealer tried a similar scam on my own car ,( $800 quote) but i ignored the advice, changed the pads myself ( $100 ) and that car ran fine for another 4 years.
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Chad
"Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do !!"

[Barry Hastings]

Company vans were being taken to one of those brakes for less places. They said that 2 vans needed rotors, (they actually did) but also needed calipers, because they had to be replaced as a pair. I asked a good friend of mine who runs the service department in a large chevrolet dealership how many calipers they changed a year... 3 was the answer. only 3 out of all chevys going thru there. And an odd number at that.

And just yesterday, my firend took her car to the dealership to clear off the check engine light. paid for the diagosis. The guy came back with and estimate for 1400 dollars and said that the plugs and wires needed to be changed. Funny thing is, we had just replaced them 3 days before. Now when she called to ask me if she should trust them... i asked what they had said, she relayed the story and i told her dont spend any more money with them. IF they had come back and said that it needed the cover over the spark plugs would have spent money with him. They also recomend changing the air in the tires with nitrogen... For $80...

my mom took her car to jiffy lube and was listening to them go thru the "check" list. One guy called out Battery, the other guy called out check.... so my mom knowing what car she had interupted them and asked ok, where did you check the battery and the tech pointed to something under the hood. My mom having a mazda Miata informed the guy the battery was in the trunk... so the guy ripped the keys out of the car and stomped to the trunk, opened it and looked at the jelcell battery, and the guy said it was a jellcell, and said there was no way to check that. and my mom then told the tech, i could have told you that too...

folks in the service industry can be very shady, well any industry can be. Would be nicer if you didnt have to watch them so closely. Its a shame there cant be humorous stories about good dealership experiances.

[Curt Smock]

I don't know if there's many of these left but I've been going to an owner operated shop for years. I've saved a bundle with the guy. Last week he wanted $200 to replace a U-joint. I told him I was surprised he wanted to charge so much when he knew I could do it in my driveway for $50. He agreed it was a BS quote and said he'd do it for $100.

[Scott Heavin]

Many years ago, I took my Grand Cherokee into a quick lube place for an oil change. After a few minutes, one of the techs comes in the waiting room carrying this filthy paper air filter and tells me how bad it is and they really need to replace it for $60, etc. I said 'Let's go look at my truck'. Of course he didn't want to - insurance reasons-y'know? I go over to the window and look and they hadn't started anything yet so I got my keys, went out into the 'no customer zone' (AKA rip-off central), shut the hood and left.

...

I had a K&N panel filter in the truck. Dumbs*its didn't even open the airbox cover to check - just came in and showed me an old paper filter they'd pulled from another car. Last time I ever went there, and I'll bet I told a few hundred people not to go there anymore.
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Spec TaG Masters @ NCMP / #23

[Doug Welch]

These tight times are bring out the worst in many businesses. Auto repair shops, dealer in particular, have been really hard hit. In many areas of the country, people just aren't spending money, so when a potential sucker comes through the door, the sharks go after them. I second the small family owned shop. I have one and they treat you right. They fix what needs to be fixed.

Building inspectors are that way now. Since building permits are way down, inspectors are milking the re-inspection fee. They are looking for anything they can, even if they have to make it up.
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Doug

[Jeffory Mott]

Finding a trustworth local mechanic is one of the most important things you can do. My wife has the oil changed on her VW diesel at one of the tire shop chains and every time they tell her she needs front and rear bads as well as rotors. This has been going on for 2 years. I changed the front pads myself and checked the back ones (they are still fine). When she tells them I already did the brakes they say I must have used cheap pads as they are worn out. LOL. What a bunch of morons. Protect yourself is all I can say.

[Mike Martz]

A few years ago, a major US car manufacturer opened a large dealership in our small town. The service department came complete with an army of ‘service managers’ that try to sell you all kinds of unwanted and unneeded services. I could share stories I have experienced but that isn’t what this is about. Our other dealership was a Chevrolet dealership that had been family owned for 85 years. I knew everyone in the service department and grew up with the owner and grandson of the founder. They always fully explained what they found, options for the repair and did occasionally have a suggestion. I never left feeling that I didn’t understand what they did and why they did it. The dealership also had one of the highest customer approval ratings in the country. Their reward? They got closed by GM. The owner told me that he understood that GM had the right to make that business decision but after 85 years of faithful business, he felt that he deserved to be treated with some degree of respect which also didn’t happen. I know the lounge is closed and this is getting a little too close so I will shut up. All I will say is when you find someone who provides good service at a fair price, support them!
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Mike Martz
Kevin Martz - Driver of the #199 Safety-Kleen, Bell Helmets, Rapid Racing Top Kart / Leopard
www.motorsportsliquidators.com
Rapid Racing - www.rapidracing.com

[Michael Taksa]

That's what they are there for, to make money. Dealership recommended service is 4-5 times more aggressive then manufacturers recomended service, and most people fall for it. Most new cars require oil change every 5-7K miles, maybe air and cabin filter at 30K miles. Look at what the dealer recommended service is 5K, 10K, 15K, 20K, etc. I tried to take my wife's new honda to dealership every 5K to change oil for the first 3 years/36K miles, just to be sure they would honor warranty, but the BS they tried to sell me was really bad. On top of it all their $350 10K recommended service comes out to be about $150 if you pay for all the things they include in there separately. I could not wait until warranty expired, so I did not have to deal with that BS anymore.

[Bob Baldwin jr]

The last few years these issues seem to be popping up faster than crab grass I try to do as much repair myself as possible . Brakes ,Tuneups, Oil changes , filters. etc, I would ABSOLUTELY NEVER take a vehicle to a new car dealership that had an ABSENTEE OWNER.I have always found the best prices and service at the Mom and POP auto shops. I even avoid the Goodyear and Firestone tire shops .When I had an accident recently the car needed both body work and mechanical work . The insurence Co adjuster referred me to my local Mechanical shop . Even though there was a DODGE dealer 2 miles from the house ,they would NOT allow them to do the body work.

The biggest personal issue I have is the Freaking IDIOT lights .So much is dependent on the DAMM Computer.
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