Dealers around here do it fairly reasonably as a way to get cars into the shop to upsell with other work. That $30 oil change can easily become a $$$ brake job!

I had an experience of taking a car to a dealer for a "free" oil change, getting home, and pulling the dipstick. Nothing. I had to put in two quarts to get a reading on the dipstick so there was less than two quarts in a four quart sump!

I called the dealer and asked them why they had grossly underfilled my car. They said "Oh, the dial on the dispenser slipped and we just fixed it." Apparently, they had been underfilling every car they serviced and didn't think it important enough to call their customers to correct the issue. How many customers drove hundreds or thousands of miles with only a couple of quarts in their sumps?

That experience caused me to decide to do my own. It uses less time, I know that the job is done properly, the correct oil and filter are used, and it's much better for my peace of mind.

As far as warranty is concerned, If you keep records of when you did the changes you are covered. There used to be a space in the manual to do this, but I found it more convenient to keep a separate notebook to record all service. You are under no obligation to have maintenance done at a dealer.

 

Also, our dealer will do a 15 point checkup and can find some potential problems before they become a real problems.

On our 2009 CR-V during an oil change the 15 point checkup caught that the original battery was showing problems in the CCA test. Batteries here in Texas are lucky to last even three years and the battery was 3.75 years old. Finding out early we were able to research for a good replacement (CR recommended 51R-4) which I did the installation of.

 

$70 lol, I did it myself in 15 mins and spent $23 for 0w20 mobil1 and an OEM filter.

 

Not only did they not take the time to call their customers, but the tech did not bother to check the dipstick after (supposedly) changing the oil.

Sounds like an excuse they came up with once they were caught. The fact they had that explanation "on hand", tells you it may have all been common knowledge with the service writers (hey, if we ever get caught, just claim the dial on the dispenser slipped, but that is fixed now).

As for that 23 point service check someone mentioned, I once took my Honda Odyssey in for an oil change before a long trip, and asked the service writer to check my left rear wheel, as it had been regularly leaking air, and I had spotted a nail in the tread. I needed the tire plugged and filled with air.

When I got the car back, the service writer said the tech could not find a nail, so no plug had been performed. I walked him back to the rear of the car, stooped down, and pointed to the nail head, which just happened to be aligned to the wheels current position, so it could be seen.

I learned something that day.

 

Oh geeze, the "15 (or 25, or 30) point checkup." Just fishing for repair work to do. Perhaps creating repair work to do. "This CV boot looks a bit worn, let's see if I can push on it hard enough to make it tear! Oh, look, it's torn!" "Sir, we found a problem with your front axle..."

No, I can't change oil in 10 minutes (well, I can on my aircooled VWs, but that's another story). What I can do is to do the job leisurely in an hour or so, carefully torquing the drain plug and installing the filter per instructions. I pour oil from bottles I purchased myself that is of the correct quality and grade.

I'm not the harried, bottom-of-the-pecking-order new hire with a half-dozen cars backed up and banging them out as quick as I can, slapping on the filters and trusting the dispenser that is gushing out whatever oil the jobber offered cheapest.

Only 3 years for a battery? That's way too short. Here in desert SoCal we have the same sort of temperatures and we're getting five for downsized Japanese batteries. The full-size Group 24 in my VW is nearly a decade old. I love full-sized batteries!

 

Yeah, and quite a few stealers will create a problem where there isn't one, in order to keep their lofty sales and service operation running in the black. Often a free oil change wil result in outright sabotage of your vehicle, especially if the car is outside of warranty and the "repair" will be out-of-pocket". The perfect victim is somebody who has no mechanical knowledge, or who is so naive as to think such things do not happen. One should at least demand to verify the problem with their own two eyes, and outright challenge a questionable repair or a questionable cost estimate.

My cars see the inside of a dealer service dept only for covered warranty work, or for out-of-warranty repairs that are outside the scope of my skills, tools, and time. Walking into a dealership makes me sick to my stomach, whether it's to buy or service a car. That will change the day I'm thrown into a crematorium for 12 hours at 1,200 degrees F. I hope that one day the Tesla business model puts all of the slimy dealers out of business forever.

 

No. No. Paying too much for an oil change is nothing like getting raped. Just sayin'.

Acter

 

I used to do a lot of my own car work, then I had to move to an aparment complex, and then cars turned into computers, and now that I have a driveway again, disposing of the old oil correctly, and arthritic hands just makes it not worth while or anywhere near as much fun.

But I just about neverr go to the dealer for an oil change.

 

You have a good reason to not do it yourself

 

Some of us do not have the time to check every single thing about our cars and welcome someone experienced to look for potential problems.

And just because the dealership points out potential problems does not mean that I (or others) flatly accept their advice.

The battery advice was spot on and allowed me to research and purchase a CR recommended battery that I installed myself.

Where exactly have you gone for service where the dealer purposely damages cars to generate business?

Do you buy cars from them?

My dealership seems to be straight forward. I had a $25 off coupon expiring soon and just yesterday I took the 2009 CR-V in for a brake flush (Honda recommends it be replaced every three years). It had been only 2 years and 2 months since the last flush but the car was going to be six years old this December. The first one I did a little late at 3 years 8 months.

The tech examined the fluid and his recommendation is that is perfectly fine and not needed to be changed. So there you have a counterpoint - a dealership that turned down business.

I will have the brakes flushed in December 2015 or 3 years 4 months since it last done and will then do it every three years there after.

 

You don't have time to look at every single thing, yet you have time to take the car back and forth to the dealer to do the oil changes. I prefer to be more aware of the condition of my vehicle than a single cursory look-around from a oil change guy every 7500+ miles


If you've never heard of this scam, you've lived a very sheltered life indeed! If they do it well, the customers never know.

Sometimes they just "help" parts that are in mid-life to fail a bit sooner, like CV boots. Sometimes they suggest that parts that are 2/3 through their lives, such as brake pads, should be replaced. People who are savvy see through this, but people who aren't will pay for unneeded work.

Of course, if a part has failed and you didn't inspect it right before taking the car in you don't really know when it failed.

These practices are usually discovered when a Bureau of Automotive Repair or similar agency takes a fully-documented car for service.

 

For me that is once every 10-12 months for oil changes. Doesn't seem to much of an inconvenience at all.

You seem to just repeat this over and over and I noticed that you did not answer the question where YOU personally experienced this scam.

This so called scam seems to another one of those "yea I heard that happened to someone" so it must be happening everywhere rumors.

 

I can't give you a quote on my 2015 Fit yet since I only have 1000 miles on it.

However our 2009 Honda CR-V EX that we bought new in December 2008 has had six oil changes done at two different dealerships. The CR-V uses 5W20 oil.

The prices shown are out-the-door prices and include all taxes and shop supplies. Some of these have had discounts because of dealer issued coupons.

As for "DIY being cheaper" as these prices show sometimes that is not true.

At the dealerships:

1st at 8000 miles, cost $0.00 - used $30 off coupon
2nd at 18000 miles, cost $16.75, used part of $30 off coupon also used on "B" service
5th at 40000 miles, cost $26.72, used $10 off coupon
6th at 48000 miles, cost $21.75, used $7.50 off coupon and part of $25 dealer gift card

The 3rd $22.50 (24000 miles) and 4th $34.60 (33000 miles) oil changes were done at Goodyear.

 

Thank you for the detailed reply, CIOWN! It's very useful info.

There's also some middle ground. Before I started having my wife take the truck to the dealership, I was buying four gallons of Rotella and Ford filter at Wal-Mart, and paying the guys at the local car wash/oil change place a bit to change it using my filter wrench. They would fill the filter with half a gallon and install it, then pour in three gallons, and finally top it off from the half remaining of the first gallon.

I could do that with four quarts and a Honda -01 OEM filter on the Fit if I wanted to be particular about what oil was used

 

i am torn reading this thread. i have 4 free oil changes with my fit, and i have NEVER had a dealer do an oil change. i am worried that the $6 an hour monkey will fugg the car up and i will be left with the remains. he could strip the bolt/pan threads/filter threads etc...

still unsure what i will do, but my fit has given me some grief, so i may let the dealer hack have at it, and hope for the best.

 

Seems like there are 1-2 people in this thread that just like to put down dealerships. not all are the same. Ive been in the service side of dealerships for over 15 years. In that time Ive seen and heard it all.
If you come for service at my dealership a car that uses 0W20 oil will cost $39.95 to do a oil change. Honda corporate requires a Multi Point Inspection to be offered to every customer that visits the service dept. I offer it to everyone and give them the option to opt out if they choose.
Anything that is recommended by a tech I can, and have, shown customers so there is no questions about the needed repairs. If your local come on by Id love to chat with a fellow Fit owner. I will even give you a free oil change and let you see how a mpi is performed.....

 

Since you insist, I have. I replaced both serpentine belts on my father's Toyota as they had 60K miles on them. A few months later he took it to the dealer for an oil change. They told him that their "inspection" had found that both belts were cut part-way through and needed to be replaced. My father was stuck so he had them do the work but he saved the old belts.

He showed them to me and asked me what was odd about the damage. He had to prompt me but I finally figured out that both belts were cut on the left side as installed in the car. If a foreign object had caused the damage to both belts it would have been on the left edge of one belt and the right edge of the other. Apparently a right-handed person had cut both belts as he was facing them. The cuts were also very fresh and the rubber in the cuts wasn't oxidized at all.

Not enough evidence there to raise a legal fuss, but what are the chances of two new belts of different sizes experiencing the same damage without something getting between them? It's probable that every car that comes in with over 50K miles gets the same treatment to prompt belt replacement jobs, the difference being that I had already done the job and the belts had enough miles on them that it wasn't obvious to the mechanic doing the "inspection."

We learned our lesson and he avoided that dealer in the future. Most other customers who aren't as savvy as my Dad would have actually thought that the dealer did them a favor by finding the "problem!"

I do my own changes as I'd rather spend an hour doing it correctly myself than have to drive across town to the dealer and spend even more time sitting in a waiting room while someone else fiddles with my car.

 

Gotta agree. In fact, let me go one step further and say that the majority of mfgs. dealers are on the up and up. No one stays in business too long if shoddy workmanship and devious mechanical diagnosis are the "rule of thumb". In addition, Service depts and Sales depts. are evaluated separately, by the manufacturer, quarterly if not more. Its unlikely, dealer principals will allow their departments to have bad ratings as this will affect the profit margins at the end of the year.



Here's my take.

With the dealer's free oil changes, you gotta use those.

Mistakes do happen, even for us DIY'rs, therefore a small amount of risk is always involved no matter who does the work. Just make sure you check that they actually changed both the oil and the filter. Look at the dipstick and mark the oil filter with a marking pen and check the "before and after".

Do note that dealers mostly use "bulk" oil. Its usually decent but you'd be the wiser if you ask the service manager exactly what brand and viscousity was put in. Insist they state it in the work order.

My dealer made profit on the full MSRP. However, got charged nothing else (no doc. fees or the like) except licensing and taxes. They gave me nothing free except for carpet mats which every single US buyer gets anyways.

Having done oil changes in all my cars for decades, its a ritual I enjoy. For the GK will be using Mobil 1 0W-20 ($23 for 5 quart jug) and Purolator 14610 ($3.80). Totalling - $27

Knowing what goes in, plus, having the components reinstalled and torqued properly, gives "peace of mind" us DIY'rs cherish.

 

after almost 30 years in the automotive industry, i have seen most of it as well. i was in service and was told by my superiors to do things i was not comfortable with. so much so, i found another job(s) and left.

you are correct, not all dealers are bad. but a good amount of them cut corners, do the upsell etc. perhaps this is not intentionally done, but it happens enough that dealers have a bad reputation.

i remember one old school guy, Bert. he never rushed his jobs, making sure it was done properly. he even torqued wheels when he was done, never using the torque sticks that were hanging right there on the lift. he never had a come back and only recommended jobs that were actually needed. service writers hated him because they never made sales. the poor guy never made much more then his 40 hours, not the 80+ hours his shop mates made. after 5 years of this, he left and started driving trucks. it was sad.

 

I do agree with you that not all dealerships are the same. When I was purchasing Volvo's, I was so in love with the original dealership in Louisville that we purchased our 1995 Volvo 850 from, that I used to drive from Nashville to Louisville after we moved to Nashville, for our car service.

Here in Nashville, I dislike the Honda dealership we purchased our 2007 Honda Odyssey from so much (for a variety of reasons), not only did we purchase our new Honda Fit from an out of town Honda dealership, we switched to another Nashville Honda dealer for any warranty work we might need on my daughters 2015 Fit (example, the radio camera issue, last weekend).

So, it can work both ways. I do think sometimes dealerships think they are the only game in town, and treat you accordingly. Not a good idea in a city with no less than 4 Honda dealerships, with several more within 150 miles.

15BlkPrl, after reading many of your posts, I can honestly say that if I lived near your neck of the woods, I would enjoy taking my car in for you to inspect and have serviced. However, that is not the case, so unless your moving to Tennessee, I am afraid that won't be happening.