What happened to "just an oil change"?

MACKTEXAS said:
I take mine to the dealership where I bought it, and they advise me of anything it needs, but I don't necessarily follow all their recommendations - for example, a cabin filter - I usually pass on that.

But one time, I took it in for an oil change, and I told the service adviser to put in a new battery since mine was 3 years old. He came back in a few minutes and said the battery checked out fine, I should wait longer to replace it.
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That sounds a like like the place I go, which also is a dealership. They are very honest, even to the point of recommendations like that. I am so appreciative of them.

I think my father, and probably some of my friends, think I'm crazy to go to a dealership, but my car is 20 years old and there is NO room in my budget for a new one, so I am trying to take good care of it.
 
Took mine in for an oil change at one of those chain types. They came out and said
they noticed the air gauge on tires stayed on so they checked it and I had 2 air sensors
that had disintegrated so not showing properly.
I looked at them and said "Yes I know this and No I don't want them replaced as I do a
walk around before I drive it and can visually see if I have a tire that is low. So if you
charged me for labor on that, take it off please". They took it off.
 
I never have that problem at the repair shop in town. They're honest with me. I've been going there for years. One man owned and then passed it down to his son. I recently had to change my battery. It was new in 2023, but all of that below zero weather, finally killed it.
 
IrishEyes said:
Took mine in for an oil change at one of those chain types. They came out and said
they noticed the air gauge on tires stayed on so they checked it and I had 2 air sensors
that had disintegrated so not showing properly.
I looked at them and said "Yes I know this and No I don't want them replaced as I do a
walk around before I drive it and can visually see if I have a tire that is low. So if you
charged me for labor on that, take it off please". They took it off.
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I've had a tire sensor light on for nearly 2 years now. I haven't had it replaced because that's not a priority in my budget and, like you said, I can keep an eye on the tires myself.

I do have brake work that needs to be done, to the tune of about $600ā€“$700. They gave me a heads-up about it last fall, which was nice because usually these car expenses pop up out of the blue. I had complete brake failure on I-70 in Missouri one timeā€”the pedal just slapped down to the floor and nothing happened (!!)ā€”so I never put off any brake work.
 
IrishEyes said:
Took mine in for an oil change at one of those chain types. They came out and said
they noticed the air gauge on tires stayed on so they checked it and I had 2 air sensors
that had disintegrated so not showing properly.
I looked at them and said "Yes I know this and No I don't want them replaced as I do a
walk around before I drive it and can visually see if I have a tire that is low. So if you
charged me for labor on that, take it off please". They took it off.
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Those tire pressure sensors are not cheap to replace! But if you do it at the same time as new tires you get quite a discount at Tires Plus. Much cheaper than a dealer.
 
Thereā€™s a lifetime powertrain warranty on my car that I have no intention of voiding by going anywhere but the dealership. I appreciate the service manager who will tell me what needs to be taken care of that visit, but will also tell me whatā€™s actually urgent, what isnā€™t, and what me or Ron can do ourselves for a lesser cost (e.g. cabin filter)
 
Michael Z said:
Those tire pressure sensors are not cheap to replace! But if you do it at the same time as new tires you get quite a discount at Tires Plus. Much cheaper than a dealer.
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I have a tire gauge in my dash cubby and a portable air pump in my trunk. My car is not new and not worth much used, so I will pass on
getting new sensors. Two of the first four have disintegrated, be my luck two more are due for the same fate. Plus we have a station near
us that you can get "free" air. One day out of curiosity I clicked on the digital read out on my tires after I just gauged them. It read the right
front tire was 80 and the other 3 were 30. If I counted on that reading I would never go anywhere. My gauge said all 4 were 32 lbs.
 
One of the luxuries of retirement is the time to maintain my vehicles properly and find honest repair people. And having multiple older (15+ yr old) vehicles eliminates the urgency that can force you to use a shop that proves to be regrettable. And I do my own maintenance as well that is within my abilities. Also, I print out and attach my own maintenance stickers and attach to the inside top of my windshield for oil changes, new parts, transmission service, etc.
 
Michael Z said:
Those tire pressure sensors are not cheap to replace! But if you do it at the same time as new tires you get quite a discount at Tires Plus. Much cheaper than a dealer.
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This may be true at other tire dealers so it's good to know. So far, the only time my tire sensors have illuminated, the tires have been a little low.

Speaking of those tire sensor idiot lights, when mine first illuminated, neither my husband nor I had any clue what it meant. Who in the world decided that (!) should indicate a tire pressure problem?

I had to go to my owner's manual to learn what it meant. Good grief.
 
Ronni said:
Thereā€™s a lifetime powertrain warranty on my car that I have no intention of voiding by going anywhere but the dealership. I appreciate the service manager who will tell me what needs to be taken care of that visit, but will also tell me whatā€™s actually urgent, what isnā€™t, and what me or Ron can do ourselves for a lesser cost (e.g. cabin filter)
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My 7 year warranty will expire next year. At that point DH & I will decide whether to continue using the dealer or look elsewhere. Unfortunately, the wonderful, honest mechanic we've used for many years doesn't work on hybrids.
 
Many years ago I was my father's designated helper when he did auto repairs/maintenance, I hated it. He told me when I got older and owned vehicles I would be appreciative/grateful. Boy, was that an understatement.

I do all my own auto/motorcycle repairs and work, mechanics today are glorified computer technicians that need a diagnostic machine to attempt to fix anything.

I passed my skills/knowledge on to my son who does all his own auto/motorcycle work.

My daughter knows how to maintain her car, fluids, belts, tire pressure, oil change, and how to use a code reader/OBD2 scanner.
I got her a compact tool kit which she keeps in the trunk.

I understand not everyone is able or wants to wrench on a vehicle. But to keep from being taken advantage of, one should definitely learn common automotive knowledge which is much easier to learn than one realizes.
 
The place where I took it for the oil change is under new management and have different mechanics than who I was used to dealing with. It seems the new owner charges for everything, even checking tire pressure and battery strength, which used to be a complimentary services.
Now they've implemented this 12-point inspection when you have the oil changed which, of course, adds to the price.
 
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Rae said:
It seems every time we take our car for service, they always find something wrong and it is usually quite expensive. We have discount coupons for some service. It almost makes us wonder about trading for another car.
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If you get your oil change done at a dealership, I bet they'd love you to trade in your car. Maybe they're hoping that.
 
A strong consideration in our purchase of our current car (2017 Ford Edge Sport) was the dealership, in addition to the car itself. One reason we stopped buying the Honda/Acura line was that those dealers in our region are notorious for poor work and high costs. We used an independent who only worked on Hondas/Acuras, but after a decade or so, he moved out of state so we haven't owned one since.

Sadly, the dealership who sold us the Ford eventually decided to focus exclusively on Subarus, which are good cars but not a brand I care for. I detest CVT transmissions, plus Subaru (like most of the Japanese cars) has a terrible infotainment system, even to this day.

We switched to a dealership which is a bit of a drive to reach, but has outstanding service and staff. Now that the car is out of extended full-service warranty (well worth it), we did find an independent service shop that we are happy with, and will use them for standard maintenance.

For certain items, however, the dealership service is still necessary - we need to have the GPS map updated and a 'grab handle' repaired.

Do we know a good amount about the workings of a car? Yes. Are we interested, at our ages, at doing the work (especially considering we don't have the tools and with osteoarthritis of the hip, find kneeling and then getting up REALLY painful)? Absolutely not. We have better and more enjoyable things to do with our time.

I think it's great that there are still so many who enjoy working on their cars. One of my friends loves it so much, he's a multi-millionaire but his hobby is to buy a dilapidated classic roadster and restore it. Then he sells it and finds another for a new project.

Different strokes for different folks, a saying that will always be true!
 
Last year I stopped to have them look at my door chime (it dings if you open the door with the headlights on or leave the keys in the ignition). A mechanic came out and fished around for the wire and only succeeded in having it fall down inside the car frame. I left. The next time I went there, I got a lecture about leaving without paying. I said, "Pay for what? He didn't fix it." The person at the desk said , "A mechanic spent 20 minutes of his time on your car." I said, "He made it worse and it wasn't 20 minutes - more like 5." All I got was a scowl.
 
I guess so. My trip to the garage yesterday cost me just under $145. And I spent $250 for a new battery this morning.

I tried to make an online appointment with a Honda dealership garage to look at the brake line, but for some reason, it wouldn't accept my input.
 
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The first time I had to get my breaks fixed in 2020 they wanted to charge me $1400.00. I didn't have that much money.

The mechanic called me back and offered just to put new brake lines in for 900.00. So I had them do it.
Mainly because I couldn't go anywhere else with holes in the lines. After all, my breaks had gone out in the parking lot where I live!

I had to have it towed. I think you should get the break lines fixed right away. Maybe even think about getting it towed to the garage you want to go to. I'd hate to see you get in an accident. Good luck šŸ¤ž
 
Michael Z said:
I appreciate the inspection, provided it is a trustworthy garage that is not inventing problems for the sake of fake repairs. And there some bad apples that will do this.
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Yea me too. I have been dealing with Honda dealerships exclusively for 20 years (only 2 cars) and I am glad that they find the problems that need attention before it is too late (more expensive). So my 12 year old Honda Odyssey chugs along just great!
 
Mechanics/shops make a killing on brake work. Replacing rotors and pads can be as cheap as $150 in parts for all four wheels. Brake lines are dirt cheap too. The labor hours are low, they must be charging $250 - $400 plus per hour for shop labor.

When I'm too old to fix my own car, I'm done with driving ;)
 
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