My story similar to all of the ones above. My daughter was driving from NY to LA in a 99 Taurus a couple years ago. The car had 120,000 miles at the time. I changed the struts, engine oil, trans fluid, belt and idler pulley, brakes, rotors, brake fluid, power steering fluid, radiator flush and a few other items a month before she left. My daughter took the car to "not so Pep Boys" for tires. She mentioned that she was driving cross country and the manager told her he would do a "safety inspection" for free. They told here the transmission fluid was cooked and it probably wouldn't make it the trip. They did notice the new brakes but told her that the brake fluid should be changed. Told her she should flush the radiator and do a injector clean out and that the fuel pump was a little noisy and should be changed before the trip just in case.

She told them thanks but no thanks and two years and 30,000 trouble free miles later she still has a healthy disrespect for repair shops.

I'd suggest inspecting and measuring the tires, just in case. I doubt the centers of the tires are worn, but maybe the fronts are wearing at the edges. Maybe the alignment wasn't done or done properly...

I'd find a good MINI place to work on the car and get a second opinion and probably to switch to.

That's the key to your good service.

I find dealer service depts. better than their sales depts., but avoid both whenever possible.

Agreed 100%

I'm more worried about dealer incompetence than dishonesty. Their techs are usually very young and right out of factory training. How anyone could think a dealer service record is better than an independent is beyond me. Most independents cut their teeth at dealerships before striking out on their own. And don't even get me started about the service advisors. Well, at least a few of them have recognized pretty quickly that I'm not a know-nothing about cars and any BS would be instantly detected and vocally discussed.

Speaking of Pep Boys...the one in my town just got closed down because they were dealing more than just car parts. I don't know if the cops did it, or Pep Boys corporate, but they tore down EVERYTHING, even the "Pep Boys" sign out front.

Yup. The local BMW indie of choice is a former award winning master tech. Fantastic guy who normally has a two week wait, though he typically will fit in emergency jobs quicker. Same deal with the Porsche indie, I heard stories of our local dealership throwing large amounts of money at him to lure him back but he didn't care for the BS.

You have to make sure the good Ind. guy supervises his employees well, though.

Wife was on the road and stopped for an oil change. "specialist" informed her the cost of the oil change was going to be higher than stated on the sign. Apparently they stated she was more than a quart low and they would have to charge for an extra two quarts of oil to make up for the missing oil. She, very loudly so all could hear, asked the guy to explain that really slowly. Then she demanded a discount off their list price AFTER verifying the car actually did have a new filter and fresh oil filled to spec.

I took my '83 Celica GTS in to have some service completed. Shop informed me I had to have a new timing belt and they had bolted her back up until I agreed. I asked them to verify they were talking to the right customer, yes your timing belt is bad, cracking, and could go at any time. I went into the shop and demanded they show me the timing belt. The mechanic informed the shop foreman that my car had a timing chain. He never missed a beat and stated he meant to say chain and that it had cracks in it. I verified they had never done any of the work, it was rather obvious though he swore they had, and drove off. Took time off from work and did the job myself. Timing chain replaced about 20K later.

I am missing the mechanic in Indiana! Very honest people and very good pricing. He was doing everything I could not such as A/C work and new tires. He did some other stuff for us that I just ran out of time for such as all bearings on the SC and fuel lines on the F250. We constantly sent him business!!! Still do! He has hired more mechanics and extended his hours. The local car dealers send him their vehicles they cannot fix themselves.

no one has mentioned a favorite dealer technique (trick) of telling people they need much more frequent service than the factory says in the owners manual

most people don't realize they don't need more than the factory spec. & don't even know it's in the manual

I'd bet that overall that is the worst ripoff in terms of total $$ and affecting the greatest number of people

Like $100 synthetic oil changes every 3 months/3000 miles?