What happened to "just an oil change"?

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
I took my car to a local garage today for an oil change. They used to do just that, but now they include what they term a "12-point inspection and tire rotation." I told them I just had it inspected and the tires rotated. It's almost like they do this to look for things to fix. I managed to talk them out of rotating the tires, but they did find a bad air filter (the mechanic said it looked like a mouse nest) and replaced that ($46).

They also said my battery was very bad and that the brake line on the rear driver's side was all rotted away. The battery started the car even through the coldest part of the winter here. But I do believe it about the brake line - another garage mentioned this to me a few years ago. Today's garage said they couldn't help me with that, I'd have to go to a Honda garage.

Looks like it's going to be an expensive year for car maintenance.
 
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.
 
@debodun you said “today’s garage”. Don’t you use the same garage all the time? Especially for just an oil change, which there are plenty of quick stops who only do oil changes; at least there are where I live.

Finding and using the same garage, consistently, would eliminate constant upsell tactics, although it does sound as if your car does need some work done on it.

After husband passed and I had to start all over again, finding good mechanics, etc., I had to ask around but it was knowing who to ask that was key, as we all know opinions are like a—holes ——— everybody has one.

My car is a 2002, only has 79K miles on it, and no payment. There is no way I am going in debt for a car that AI is going to tell me how to drive it.
 
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.
 
debodun said:
They also said my battery was very bad and that the brake line on the rear driver's side was all rotted away. The battery started the car even through the coldest part of the winter here. But I do believe it about the brake line - another garage mentioned this to me a few years ago.
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Why on earth are you taking a chance on brake failure!?!?
Hopefully your procrastination won't result in some innocent person's death...
 
debodun said:
I took my car to a local garage today for an oil change. They used to do just that, but now they include what they term a "12-point inspection and tire rotation." I told them I just had it inspected and the tires rotated. It's almost like they do this to look for things to fix. I managed to talk them out of rotating the tires, but they did find a bad air filter (the mechanic said it looked like a mouse nest) and replaced that ($46).

They also said my battery was very bad and that the brake line on the rear driver's side was all rotted away. The battery started the car even through the coldest part of the winter here. But I do believe it about the brake line - another garage mentioned this to me a few years ago. Today's garage said they couldn't help me with that, I'd have to go to a Honda garage.

Looks like it's going to be an expensive year for car maintenance.
Click to expand...
I view these things they do as a form of upselling. Our car is relatively new and low mileage. I recently took it in for tire rotation, that is included with the purchase of the tires. The young man inspected my car and before entering the work order started questioning me about my windshield wipers, when my struts and brakes had been checked, and alignment of the vehicle. While my tires were re-balanced and rotated I watched as this occurred with every customer. I looked at their online price list and found that they had some prices that I view as inflated. I wonder how many uninformed customers end up with a sizable bill when requesting a basic service.
 
oldman said:
I used to do most of my vehicles’ maintenance. Oil changes and lubes were easy. Many of today’s vehicles do not have any grease fittings, which means, they don’t need lubricated. My wife’s Mercedes has 00 fittings. The front suspension and steering parts are all sealed.
Makes my life easier.
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The key words there are "today's vehicles". My car is 24 years old.
 
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