This morning I took my Taurus back to the tire shop to have my tires balanced and rotated. The car seemed to be in the bay for a longer time than usual for such a simple routine.
The manager came in and said he needed to go over a couple of things with me.
Quote. "since the car has 108K miles on it, I would suggest that you have the throttle body, intake and injectors cleaned and have the fuel filter replaced. I can do this plus the spin balance for $229.96". The spin balance was $19.95 + tax.
I thought about it for just a second and said, NO, back it out and I'll settle up with the balancing only. .
I walked out and checked my wheels, tires and center caps and got really pissed. I walked back in the showroom and asked the manager how he came up with the conlusion that I need a full cleaning and fuel filter?
I asked him how he knew that my throttle body and intake was dirty.
His mechanic took the intake tube off and wiped his finger inside the throttle body and determined that the car needed service.
I asked him if he had my authorization to check under the hood and what did this have to do with balancing and rotating tires?
Now, under the car, he noticed that I have new brakes, new rotors, new ball joints and new tie rod ends and newer tires. The car is obviously meticulously maintained and all repairs are effected in a timely manner.
Needless to say, he didn't make squat off me today and never will again. I didn't consider his suggestions to be helpful or courteous in any way. I was actually very insulted.
Tim
__________________ SCPO United States Coast Guard Retired '04 Expedition XLT 4x2 '99 Taurus Wagon SE 24V '88 F-150 4x4 XLT Lariat 5.8L 5Spd
Rights of Passage: CPO Initiation, Submarine Qualified (SS), Golden Shellback, Blue Nose, Order of the Ditch
Good grief! Sounds like a lot of shops that try to sell you way too much crap you don't need. When I try to up sell, I generally stick with what they really need. I'd never go back there either!
Yea, sometimes places get a little carried away with the upselling. Every time i bring the taurus to the dealer for an oil change, they ALWAYS try and sell me a "power steering fush" for 150 bucks. Fluid looks fine to me.
A local shop here did a promotion, you buy this card for somewhere around $130, and you get five free oil changes, a free coolant flush (plus cost of coolant), transmission flush (same thing), and 10% off any major service.
My boss took two different trucks to this shop under this card plan, and they did some pretty shay moves. First, they said one had a really gunked up radiator (it did, dex-cool and green stuff), but they missed the massive intake gasket leak. The same truck they also said it needed wheel bearings, pitmann arm, and tie rod ends, but missed that the upper control arm was about to fall off due to the adjustment being loose, and the steering issue was the idler arm and drag link.
The other truck has a clunk I thought (and still think) is the lower control arm bushings, but they said it too needs wheel bearings, a transmission flush (it's clean), and claimed a leaky power steering gearbox, but there's no sign of a leak. You know that anyone who falls for the wheel bearings will get told they need brakes, or might as well do brakes, I'm sure there is more stuff they would "find" as well.
Local chamber of commerce knows about it now.
__________________
Jared
The government said all my vehicle were too old to be clunkers
The thing that irked me the most is that since he couldn't find anything wrong with the underside of the car, they took it upon themselves to remove items to find a problem or to plant a seed of doubt in my mind. I'm a maintanence freak, the car runs beautifully and has delivered me the same MPG's for ten years.
When it starts to shop signs that it requires something / anything, i'll take it to a shop that I trust.
Tim
__________________ SCPO United States Coast Guard Retired '04 Expedition XLT 4x2 '99 Taurus Wagon SE 24V '88 F-150 4x4 XLT Lariat 5.8L 5Spd
Rights of Passage: CPO Initiation, Submarine Qualified (SS), Golden Shellback, Blue Nose, Order of the Ditch
i took my crown vic in and told them "OIL CHANGE ONLY!!"
45 MINUTES LATER I GET THE BILL FOR OIL CHANGE, RAD FLUSH, TRANS FLUSH, CABIN AIR FILTER, ENGINE AIR FILTER AND TIRE ROTATION.
total bill was $375 and change.
i told the cashier " i will be rite back", and took the paperwork with oil change only written on the front in bold letters into the dealership owners office.
he walked back to the service desk with me, fired the service writer and mechanic, and made them take my car back into the shop, and replace the tires where i had them, cause i had just rotated the tires and put an air filter in the car the day before. i paid the $29.95 for the oil change, and got the rad service, trans service, antifreeze and trans fluid for free.
and the best part is, a crown vic does not have a cabin air filter. so how did they change it??
__________________
Tom
JOIN THE NEW JERSEY CHAPTER CLICK HERE
Lots of shops sell fear, plain and simple. I've had nothing but bad experiences with larger "chain" shops. One time I was working with this lady who had a newer Mitsubishi that had about 80K miles on it and she wanted to have the brakes redone. So far, so good, right? The local Les Shcwab (sp?) quoted her $429 and told her that newer cars had rotors and drums that were built so thin they could not be machined. I recommended a small local shop and they did it for her for under $150, parts included and they warranteed it for 12 months.
Were any of the mentioned services performed before? At about 100K miles you often DO need a throttle body cleaning, fuel filter and maybe an injector cleaning. Most dealers will do a quick inspection and recommend services that would be advisable, this is usually considered a courtesy. It is up to you to determine if you want to take his advice or tell them NO. No need to get bent out of shape unless you know they were pulling one on you.
These services are easy quick money for dealers so they do like to recommend them more frequently than needed, like 3,000 mile oil changes, but at 108K miles, you might have needed it. If you knew for a fact that you didn't need those services then you could politely tell them no, or if you want, tell them off.
If I am told by a dealer something that I know is wrong, like "blah blah replace timing belt" on a car with a chain, I politely tell them they are mistaken and DO NOT perform that service.
I avoid dealers for 90% of my service but know enough to determine if they are upselling or offering me something that is useful at that time.
I certainly don't disagree that many shops, especially chain shops, won't hesitate to sell you service or parts that you don't need.
But I have to agree with Jim.. there is no need to get bent out of shape because a shop recommends something. You always have the option of politely declining.
i was pointing out the fact i took my car in for a $30 oil change, and when they brought the car out tried to hit me with $345 in unauthorized, and on 2 items, undone repairs.
__________________
Tom
JOIN THE NEW JERSEY CHAPTER CLICK HERE
i was pointing out the fact i took my car in for a $30 oil change, and when they brought the car out tried to hit me with $345 in unauthorized, and on 2 items, undone repairs.
Which is certainly unethical and illegal in most, if not all, states.
And, I was simply pointing out the fact that they were unable to find anything wrong under the car as it is meticulously maintained so they decided to open the hood and start digging.
I have had these services performed at a shop that I trust. They acknowlegded that the underside of the car was very well cared for, what mould make them think that the rest of the car was neglected?
Perhaps I did get a little bent but I didn't consider it a courtesy as much as an attempt to fear monger a customer. This is a tire shop to boot.
I would have been impressed if he had just asked a few simple questions such as:
1. The car has a lot of miles on it, have you had an intake and injector cleaning within the last 50K miles?
2. Radiator service?
3. Tranny flush?
4. Fuel filter replacement?
etc, etc.
But no, he popped the hood and pulled off the intake tube and decided to inspect. I didn't authorize that.
Tim
__________________ SCPO United States Coast Guard Retired '04 Expedition XLT 4x2 '99 Taurus Wagon SE 24V '88 F-150 4x4 XLT Lariat 5.8L 5Spd
Rights of Passage: CPO Initiation, Submarine Qualified (SS), Golden Shellback, Blue Nose, Order of the Ditch
Just wondering, was this place perhaps a Precision Tune? Those are notorious for upselling stuff you do not need. I used to work for one about 13 years ago.
Just wondering, was this place perhaps a Precision Tune? Those are notorious for upselling stuff you do not need. I used to work for one about 13 years ago.
I wrote the operations manuals for those prigs in 1979 and it sure didn't call for things like that!!!
__________________ Bruce, Nevada Chapter (gone power mad!)
I was married by a judge, next time I'm getting a jury!
Just wondering, was this place perhaps a Precision Tune? Those are notorious for upselling stuff you do not need. I used to work for one about 13 years ago.
It was a Tread Quarters franchise. They have become part of a huge conglomerate of nationwide tires stores that also sell various mechanical services and state inspections.
Tim
__________________ SCPO United States Coast Guard Retired '04 Expedition XLT 4x2 '99 Taurus Wagon SE 24V '88 F-150 4x4 XLT Lariat 5.8L 5Spd
Rights of Passage: CPO Initiation, Submarine Qualified (SS), Golden Shellback, Blue Nose, Order of the Ditch
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