5 Service Scams Car Dealers don't want you to know

Comments · 654

• PR

  @proudMAGA1 · 2 years ago

  I have a 2014 Jeep Cherokee sport 4 cyl.   Quoted at a Jeep dealership $432.00 to change out 4 spark plugs because its a 2 hr job.  I went home, watched Youtube and did it myself.  Started at 7:45am and  was finished and cleaning up the tools 25 mins later.  Only cost me $34 for the 4 spark plugs

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• BR

  @brucebrown997 · 2 years ago

  finding a good mechanic is hard

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• MA

  @markbreitenstein8471 · 2 years ago

  For many people who do not keep a vehicle long term, your advice is okay. There are fluids you do want to change (forever or not) as they do get contaminated or degrade. For people that keep their cars, fluid changes are important. Better than buying a transmission or power steering unit (thousands of dollars). I look at the fluids that come out. Occasionally it provides strong evidence that it was 100% to my advantage.  Want your car to last 150, 000 to 300,000 miles? Change those fluids!

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• DA

  @dave1956 · 2 years ago

  I took my 2007 Hyundai Sonata to the dealership for an oil change. Since then I found a mechanic near my house. The dealership told me that I needed $2,500 worth of repairs. I laughed and said no thanks. When I later took the car to a local mechanic and asked him to look the car over. When I picked it up I asked him about the items that the dealership said that I needed 6 months earlier. I didn’t need any of them. I drove the car another 6 years and never had any of the items done. I worked in the automotive industry for 45 years and saw plenty.

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• MR

  @MR3D-Dev-Tutorials · 2 years ago

  Don&apos;t do flushes but there are fluids you definitely need to change, fluids are not forever and if you want your car to last over 100k miles you should. If you change transmission fluid every 60k miles you should be fine, if its over 100k dont do it. Coolant, also requires change cause that thing gets acidict with time and can destroy seals.<br>Notice I say change, not flush, 2 different things.

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• PU

  @PumaPete · 2 years ago

  I worked as a student tech at a ford dealership years ago. I found that there’s usually one or two technicians that really know what they’re doing. The rest kind of fly by the seat of their pants. I literally had a guy tell me to take something off someone’s car “to see what it does!”

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• GE

  @geetarist08873 · 2 years ago

  Don’t forget INTIMIDATION. Once, my Toyota dealer advertised &nbsp;a sale price of $300 for a timing belt replacement. &nbsp;During the repair I was phoned and told that there is a pulley that puts tension on the timing belt that appears is going to fail soon and should be replaced. &nbsp;I felt if I said “No” they’d whack it with a hammer and it would soon fail. &nbsp;Since they had removed the pulley, I expected to be charged for the part and no additional labor. &nbsp;Wrong. I was charged full labor as if I had brought my car in only for the pulley replacement. I said I wanted the old pulley and saw no sign of excess wear or impending failure.

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• RO

  @RobBob1004 · 2 years ago

  I stopped going to a dealership entirely when the Service Department hard sold a laundry list of fluid exchanges and cleaners to my wife. &nbsp;I had asked her to take in our &apos;21 Charger for its first oil change at 3500 miles. They had her convinced that she was going to invalidate the warranty for not performing &nbsp;$2500 worth of &quot;service.&quot;

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• MR

  @MrBigDeel · 2 years ago

  Definitely a YouTube mechanic. &quot;Valve cover is easy&quot; yes if you are working on a &apos;76 Nova.

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• CJ

  @Cj-yr3pq · 2 years ago

  Never buy a vehicle at a Buy here Pay here lot like this dealer. A car salesman should never be the most honest person you know.

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• RO

  @robertleylegian1765 · 1 year ago

  Thank you! I recently went to a Lexus dealer for an oil change. The service advisor informed me that my Lexus RC needed spark plugs, a cabin filter, wiper blades, and a brake fluid flush. The price would be $1,350, but the service provider told me he could perform the services for $1,300. &nbsp; Never mind, there are only 66,000 miles, and Iridium spark plugs with a life span of 100,000 miles.

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• TH

  @thecarguide4303 · 2 years ago

  The ironic part about posting that BG fuel service as an example is that General Motors now recommends that exact service to be done every 15,000 miles and has a corporate partnership with BG because that stuff works. Didnt this guy come from a Chevy store?<br>The reason why they did is because they were having massive issues with fuel injectors and carbon buildup, ultimately impacting customer retention. Now it’s recommended by General Motors and here this guy is saying they’re unnecessary. <br>I think I’m going to stick with the GM engineers on this one lol

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