FYI

[yakfisher]

At my most recent service at Luther Hopkins Honda, they recommended I have my front brakes replaced and rotors grinded. They also noted that my left and right front inner CV boots were leaking and recommended I have them serviced as well. The price? 1100 bones!

I politely declined those services and decided get a second opinion, like a good patient should. I dropped it off at a local shop the other day. I was suprised to find out that this mechanic felt that the leaking from the CV boots in this area wasn't unusual and I probably had 300,000-400,000 miles of grease left at this point. On top of that, upon closer inspection my brakes were fine but there was rust and a grove in my rotors that obscured my pad but would require rotor replacement down the road. His suggestion was to drive em till I grind em then have the work done. His estimate on the brakes is another 14,000 miles. $39 dollars later I was happy I saved $1100 but upset I had to take time and money to find that out.

I'm irritated that in this day and age dealers still pull this carp. However, I suppose I should just take the remainder and spend it hunting. I'm glad I had it looked at elsewhere.

[aanderud]

You'll get the typical spiel from several folks here about how great dealers are, but the fact is they gouge on service, and their business model depends on it. You know darn well that when they sell you a car they're counting on XYZ dollars in service profits from you down the road. I can't claim to be an expert on automobile financing, but I'll conjecture that part of the reason they have to jack the prices so much on service is that they're partially using those profits to offset the fact that they have millions of dollars in inventory sitting in the lot.

On the other hand, a shop that only does service, and doesn't have to worry about the multimillion dollar lot full of cars can charge reasonable amounts for the time they're actually spending on your car. The hard part is finding that local mechanic that's both reasonably priced and competent/reliable. Once you do that, the rest is gravy.

[delcecchi]

The last major service I had done was brakes. Got a quote from dealer, went to local independent repair shop down the block from me... And their quote was higher... They did agree to match the dealer after I told them.

Dealers do sometimes try to do stuff a little prematurely. Who knows when you will be back?

[Tom7227]

Maybe the advice is designed in part to be sort of a risk management effort. If the dealer waited to recommend something until it reached the 'critical' stage they would have an increase in lawsuits from folks complaining they weren't told it needed to be done at X miles. Doesn't take much to get people complaining and suing these days.

[CAMAN]

I took my truck into Lupient Chevy in Bloomington a few years ago for an oil change, they did the service (took almost 2 hours BTW) and came back saying the rear pads in my drum brakes were worn out and should be replaced. Told them thanks I'll look into it. I try to do most of the work on my vehicles so I went to NAPA and picked up a new set of pads. Pulled the drum off, looked at the pads and they looked almost like new! Compared them to the brand new NAPA pads and they actually had slightly more material on them then the new ones!

Needless to say that is the first and last time I ever go to a Lupient dealership.

[Down2Earth]

I have found that most times when you can save money taking it to a dealer is when it's a possibility of a labor intensive job. Their computer is going to say it's going to take X amount of time/hours to get job Y done. It doesn't matter if it ends up taking them 2 hours longer because of unforeseen circumstances you still pay the amount of hours the computer says it should take for that job.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I have found that most times when you can save money taking it to a dealer is when it's a possibility of a labor intensive job. Their computer is going to say it's going to take X amount of time/hours to get job Y done. It doesn't matter if it ends up taking them 2 hours longer because of unforeseen circumstances you still pay the amount of hours the computer says it should take for that job.

How are you saving money if they charge you the same rate whether it takes them 2 hours longer or not? Labor times are pretty standard. The only way you save money is if you find a place that quotes you less labor than the other shops.

[Macgyver55]

I think he is comparing if you are being charged flat rate or simply by the hour. (actual time)