Dealership car repair.

I took my car in today for its regular oil change. I get the oil changes at the dealership because I prepaid for them at a bargain price. I don't get any of my repairs and such there because I feel that they overcharge and I can usually find a better price. My experience with dealership repairs hasn't been wonderful. I just don't trust them.

Sooooooooooo.....
The last time I took my car in they told me it (supposedly) needed a couple of very expensive repairs. One of them was the u-joints, yet they couldn't explain why my tires weren't wearing unevenly. The other one I don't remember, but it was something that I was sure should be covered under the warranty, since I haven't reached 70,000 miles, yet. They also told me I needed a brake fluid flush. That struck me as really odd, since I had just had my brakes replaced less than a month before that visit.
I asked about the one repair because I was sure it should be covered under my warranty. Sure enough...it was a warranty item. "But", she told me, "you might as well do the u-joints at the same time, since it will be less labor than if you do it separately." She then quoted a price of $314.00 for the u-joints and 50 dollars for the warranty work. I told her I would check into that and check whether or not Tiny's had replaced my brake fluid and then I would get back to them.

Of course, I already knew that Tiny's had replaced my brake fluid. They are very thorough when they work on my car and, besides, I had an invoice stating that they had replaced it. They checked out my car and couldn't find anything wrong with the U-joints or any need for the other repair that Dodge had mentioned. They did all of this without any charge to me at all. I never even called my Dodge dealership back.

That being said, I have to say that I thought it was interesting today that there was no mention of my car needing anything at all. Those two expensive repair jobs were magically no longer needed. How is that possible? I would think if something needs repair, it still needs it a couple of months later, if it wasn't done. This is not the first time this has happened with them. The one repair that they told me I needed on my first van was never done the whole ten years I had it. Why? Because I couldn't get any other car repair place to tell me that the car needed it. haha.

So, please, if you are a woman taking your car for routine service and they tell you that your car is in need of repair...always get a second opinion and make sure you have a repair shop that you really trust.

There was one great thing about my appointment today. I mentioned to the girl that I wanted to leave time this morning to run to the car wash before I came in for the oil change, but because I forgot to put the clothes in the dryer last night, I had to wait for my jeans to dry. She mentioned that I could get a wash and vacuum there for 14.95. They HAND wash it, vacuum it, detail the tires, and wipe down the interior. That sounded like a bargain to me. I got back into my sparkling clean car and decided that from now on I will gladly pay them to do that each time I get an oil change. It was so nice to not have to vacuum it out myself! And since it is hand washed, there are no little spots that are missed like when I go to an automated car wash. It's between 8 and 10 bucks just to go to an automated car wash, not to mention the 2 bucks for vacuuming. 14.95 is not much more than that and I don't have to do a thing except sit in a waiting room. So nice!