Stealerships are liars, cheats, and thieves

[Satter]

Today I brought my mother’s Camry in for its annual oil change and state inspection. She doesn’t drive anymore. But I take it out once a month to keep everything oiled and charged. Got the oil changed. But it failed the inspection. They said the walls of the tires had a few cracks and offered to replace them. I said no thanks and drove to a garage that only does state inspections. It passed.

Now, I know what’s going on. The dealership will do everything and anything to sell you products and services you don’t need or want. They have huge overhead and quota to take care of. On the other hand the state inspection garage only does state inspections and might be lenient when I comes to old tires. It just pisses me off how dealerships always push to buy something, and overcharge for it. I really wish I would stop going. But, other than Scotty Kilmer who’s always booked up, I wouldn’t trust anyone else.

 

[brillo_76]

Dealerships are business. They also love the uninformed standard persons. Dry rotted tires are bad. However there is a difference between hairline cracks and dry rotted tires. Most people dont know that almost all automotive tires have mfg dates on them. So anyone can find out the mfg date of a tire

There is a rubber protectant out there called RU- Gylde is is like tire soap and may help you get a few more years out of your tire as it helps protect against uv breakdown. Give those tires a wipe down and see if it will slow it down. If they truly are dry rotted the inspection station should have caught that.

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[abp79]

I took my '08 in to replace fusible link, and them do limited 90k inspection and replace brakes as they had a deal. Called me and said water pump needed to be replaced for $5k. I declined, bought the parts for $400 and am still waiting to see any seeping.

 

[Dieselchessy]

Don’t know about 08, but third gens Toyota recommends water pump and timing belt at 90k. So maybe that’s the actual factory recommended interval.

The OP never did say how old his tires are or even if they are weather checked, just that some other place passed his rig.

Sounds to me like the dealerships probably gave recommendations based on actual recommended replacement intervals. That’s not cheating you, that’s informing you. Your free to choose what you do with that info.

 

[Devbot]

Funny enough just this very afternoon a friend of mine tried taking his (early '00) Expedition into a local Ford dealership for running really lean, and after maybe an hour or two they tried to say his car was misfiring and needed new coils and spark plugs.
The charge? $400 for spark plugs, $500 for the coil packs.
Needless to say he never experienced any sort of misfire or ignition issue, but magically the second it gets into the dealership's hands - "oh look, gremlins!"

 

[T4R2014]

I think service advisors are are liars, cheats, and thieves.

 

[pluton]

My local dealerships are no-go. Ludicrous overcharging and sometimes incompetence as well. They just want to service Priuses for rich people and suckers.

 

[RandyBobandy]

I took my '08 in to replace fusible link, and them do limited 90k inspection and replace brakes as they had a deal. Called me and said water pump needed to be replaced for $5k. I declined, bought the parts for $400 and am still waiting to see any seeping.

I don’t go to the dealer but I’d love to see a service advisor look at my dented up rusty 4runner and suggest with a straight face that I pay for $5k in repairs

 

[Bad Luck]

Funny enough just this very afternoon a friend of mine tried taking his (early '00) Expedition into a local Ford dealership for running really lean, and after maybe an hour or two they tried to say his car was misfiring and needed new coils and spark plugs.
The charge? $400 for spark plugs, $500 for the coil packs.
Needless to say he never experienced any sort of misfire or ignition issue, but magically the second it gets into the dealership's hands - "oh look, gremlins!"

Considering labor time for spark plugs on that is 3 hours plus diag, that's a fair price for anyone that doesn't work on their own vehicles. Coil packs aren't much labor, but they are an expensive part. I'm not saying that it was an accurate diagnosis, but if I pull a spark plug that's at the end of it's life then that's what I would recommend to start with. There's been several instances of our vehicles being fixed by just doing plugs and wires.

I love how several people are real quick to throw the dealership a bad reputation, but only give a part of the story. Devbot didn't say how the spark plugs looked. The OP didn't provide any pictures of the tires or a date code. Most states will fail a vehicle for tires that are 8 years or older regardless of how they look.

Feel free to say that I'm defending dealerships because I absolutely am. All evidence provided here is half or less of the story. Dealerships are like every other business. Some are better than others, some are much worse, and some can't find their heads from their behinds. At the end of the day they are generally the most knowledgeable and experienced people when it comes to their brands vehicles. They have better diagnostic equipment and access to better information than you or I or an independent mechanic does.

 

[nissanh]

Proper inspection will keep you safe. If you do find any cracks on tires, then they are not liars.

Recently, South Main Auto showed a video a car getting a passing inspection while it's ready to fall apart.
Going To This Shop Could Kill You! - YouTube

 

[Dieselchessy]

If you’ve never replaced spark plugs on a mid 00 Ford...... broken plugs, special tools to remove said broken plug.
Not to mention those Fords have a bit of a record of plug/coil issues and misfire issues.

If your thinking 3.4L Toyota plug job when they quote the Ford job, I could see how the unaware might think the price is steep. Half way through that mess and $400 would be nice.

 

[OrRunner]

Funny enough just this very afternoon a friend of mine tried taking his (early '00) Expedition into a local Ford dealership for running really lean, and after maybe an hour or two they tried to say his car was misfiring and needed new coils and spark plugs.
The charge? $400 for spark plugs, $500 for the coil packs.
Needless to say he never experienced any sort of misfire or ignition issue, but magically the second it gets into the dealership's hands - "oh look, gremlins!"

I'm a Ford service advisor with 5 years experience. Your buddy doesn't know what he's talking about, period. I 100% guarantee if they recommended plugs and coils it's because he's got a serious misfire. The truck almost certainly has a 5.4 3v engine which is a very difficult spark plug replacement (3 hours is book time as mentioned above) and is notorious for coils going out. $500 would not replace all 8 coils, so I expect they did their due diligence and identified 4 bad coils.

Your diagnosis of "running really lean" is the kind of thing I hear every day from people who have no idea what they're talking about- I think it's bad gas, I think it needs a fuel filter, I think it's the transmission. People are absurdly quick to throw out their wildly incorrect guess when they obviously weren't able to figure out the issue themselves and that's why they're talking to me.

There is a nugget of truth at the core of the stealership trope- in the past there were many unethical dealerships. That is by and large no longer true although there will always be a few bad apples. In age of yelp, google, facebook etc you can't run a business deceptively and expect to last.

Is it expensive? Yes
Can you save money by doing it yourself? Yes

If it's your priority to have the vehicle diagnosed and fixed correctly and you can't do it yourself then the dealership is the best option.

 

[WeakSauz]

I'm a Ford service advisor with 5 years experience. Your buddy doesn't know what he's talking about, period. I 100% guarantee if they recommended plugs and coils it's because he's got a serious misfire. The truck almost certainly has a 5.4 3v engine which is a very difficult spark plug replacement (3 hours is book time as mentioned above) and is notorious for coils going out. $500 would not replace all 8 coils, so I expect they did their due diligence and identified 4 bad coils.

Your diagnosis of "running really lean" is the kind of thing I hear every day from people who have no idea what they're talking about- I think it's bad gas, I think it needs a fuel filter, I think it's the transmission. People are absurdly quick to throw out their wildly incorrect guess when they obviously weren't able to figure out the issue themselves and that's why they're talking to me.

There is a nugget of truth at the core of the stealership trope- in the past there were many unethical dealerships. That is by and large no longer true although there will always be a few bad apples. In age of yelp, google, facebook etc you can't run a business deceptively and expect to last.

Is it expensive? Yes
Can you save money by doing it yourself? Yes

If it's your priority to have the vehicle diagnosed and fixed correctly and you can't do it yourself then the dealership is the best option.

Amen to all of this. Those 5.4 3v plugs are horrible. That 2pc design.. them breaking.. hours and hours.

 

[Satter]

A quick follow up.

I took my mom’s Camry to NTB. Everyone here should know that NTB is notorious for pressuring customers to have their tires replaced. Even when some don’t need to be. I had them look at the tires, fully expecting them to tell me I needed at least one or two replaced. Nope. All four tires had adequate tread, and looked to be in good working order.

 

[phattyduck]

Amen to all of this. Those 5.4 3v plugs are horrible. That 2pc design.. them breaking.. hours and hours.

And misfires will lead the O2 sensors to think the engine is running lean. The story actually fits.

(and I helped a friend with a 5.4 3V plugs one time... never again! unless there is extra beer involved.)

-Charlie

 

[Ron Burgandy]

My local toyota dealer farms out most of the work outside of oil changes and tire rotations.


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[Kanoe]

They are not all bad. I happen to like my local dealership.

Mind, I have never had a vehicle there but I find them great to deal with for parts. A little expensive but a great bunch of guys. I wouldn't hesitate to take a vehicle there if need be. Other than tires and alignment I have been lucky enough to do everything myself.

 

[mtbtim]

If you have the space, time and interest in auto mechanics, do you're own work. At least when you screw up, you can only blame yourself. Why pay big money for others to screw up your rig? For most jobs, if you have the right information, right tools, and right level of patience, you can do your own work. There are some specialty jobs like rebuilding engines and transmissions or setting up differential gears that are probably better left to the experts, but why pay some shop big money for work that might not be all that good. In my opinion, the best man for the job for any of my vehicles is me, unless it's one of the specialty type things I mentioned. I haven't got off my ass yet to learn how to weld either, so I still pay for that service.

Timmy The Toolman - YouTube

 

[ads2539]

A quick follow up.

I took my mom’s Camry to NTB. Everyone here should know that NTB is notorious for pressuring customers to have their tires replaced. Even when some don’t need to be. I had them look at the tires, fully expecting them to tell me I needed at least one or two replaced. Nope. All four tires had adequate tread, and looked to be in good working order.

Do you know the DOT date code on the sidewall of the tires? If it’s not 4 digits, it’s on the other side of the tire. For example, 3215 would be the 32nd week of 2015.

I’m just wondering if the tires are old enough that the dealer said they were no good based on their age alone. I’m surprised NTB said they were fine, considering what you said about them.

 

[thezentree]

Lying would be like the marine mechanic who I paid to vacuum the fuel tank in my boat. They ended up in the fuel injection system for an extra unauthorized $900 and then told me the fuel sending unit was bad. It wasn’t when I took it there and I was already pissed about the extra work they’d done, so I declined to have them replace it for $300. When I got the $30 part in and went to replace it myself, I discovered that they had cut the wires.