From the Makers of Cars...

[terrastardroid]

I am not a car person.

In fact, the things strike me as an amazing money-sink. A sort of society-induced punishment for not living in a large city.

Specifically, I hate car maintenance. I have never taken a car in for an oil/filter change and not have the mechanic find at least $300 more work that needed to be done. Ever. I have also never been

Comments

[amystall]

I've never had that happen to me, but I do have a very specific place I take mine to.

[terrastardroid]

I do, too. The problem is that most, if not all, of the shops in town are staffed by douches. If you have tits, you're considered a mark.

[angels_ls]

I take mine to the Honda dealer for oil changes because it's the same service and price as my independent mechanic(and i don't have to make an appointment). My tires are done through fire stone. Whenever Honda tells me I need something I ask to make note on the paper work of what's recomended. If it seems important I bring up with my mechanic. Once Honda makes the notation they tend to stop bugging me about it. If they're bugging me about tires I tell them my next stop is FireStone, even if it isn't. It seems to shut them down so that they don't mention it again.

[angels_ls]

I also tend to make myself scarce when they're working (There's a strip mall across the way with a dunkin donuts and a couple other things, including the fire stone). Occasionally they call me to ask something. But if they know I'm not going to be there until later they go over everything that needs to be done first before I leave. It lets me assert what I want done and what I am ignoring from the get go.

[terrastardroid]

I also go to the Honda dealership for general service. They push the up-sell too much, but they keep accurate records and actually do the job they say they will...unlike *some* places in town.

In warmer weather I always make myself scarce. There's a Panera down the street that's a good place to hidehang out until they're finished. It's too far to walk to this time of year though.

[digitallyfanged]

I've been assholishly lied to twice so far.

A tire place and Honda.
I'm unsure about the tire place because it might have been an honest mistake (Honda fits apparently have a weird sized tire, and they misquoted me the price, but then the manager must have given me the price we agreed, so I dunno)

Honda though... I broke my headlight, and asked them to replace it. They gave me a spiel on how Fits have to have their bumpers removed to replace the light, which would cost a lot. Took it home, ordered the part, found it it fits in with two screws u.u

[terrastardroid]

Sometimes you wonder if a mechanic is at all listening to what they're saying. "Remove the bumpers to replace the light" doesn't even make sense. What? Were they high when they designed this car?

I've had mechanics balk at me for saying I'll just replace something as simple as the windshield wipers. As if the idea thoroughly bemused them...

Good that it was so easy to fix your tail light. Out of curiosity, where did you buy your part from?

[digitallyfanged]

Honda has a parts website. You can order specific parts there and they're delivered to the dealer

[angels_ls]

Just watch that website. They have some serious price gouging sometimes. I got my sister an accessory organizer for her trunk, they would have charged me over $20 in shipping costs. I found the same item, for even less the original price, with significantly less shipping via Amazon. If it's something you are going to fix on your own I would almost cross reference the part number on Amazon and see if someone has the same part in new condition for less.

[drneko]

Even I had some problem recently at my last oil change. The last dealership was skimming parts when my father went for maintenance for his car. He decided to marked a part that was suppose to be replaced, only to bring the guy back after it was suppose to be replaced, and said, "You charged me to change this part, then why is it still there?" *changed, paid bill, left*

I decided to go to another dealer after that incident, and already I'm having some doubts. After waiting for a few minutes, already a problem was found: "You need a new ac belt and the power steering fluid needs to be flushed." Ok, the power steering fluid does look like it needs to be changed. The ac belt...what's the quote: $100 for the part, $200 for labor. o.0 *sips coffee* Let's just change the oil for now, and I'll think about the ac belt. *goes online for certified part* Found the exact same belt for...$17. *goes to local mechanic* How much do you charge to change the belts? *peaks under hood* $30.