Originally Posted by
big john
It's great if you can find someone you trust. A lot of the bad things you hear about the auto service industry are true but there are good people out there, even at new car dealers. I worked at one dealer for 5 years and it was family owned. They watched things closely and if there was anything shady going on, people got fired. I thought that was how dealers were until I worked at another one which was like the Wild West. No management to speak of, no solid customer base, and tons of warranty fraud. Just stupid.
I still have a shock sitting in my garage, for a car I no longer own, because a shady place (shoutout to Mavis!) told me I needed two new rear shocks, that they were leaking badly. Once I told them I wouldn't be doing the work there, they suddenly finished inspecting my wife's car real quick and didn't find anything.
I checked, they were dirty, I don't really know what a leaking shock looks like (I do a lot of my own work, but suspension I usually leave to others) so I ordered the parts and took it to a reputable place, who told me they were dry as a bone and shouldn't be changed. I later did need 1 changed, but the other didn't leak and was still find when I sold the car like 4 years later.
Another tried to fail my wife's car for a leaking engine mount. I took it home, checked the PA regulations, and motor mounts aren't included in the inspection requirements, so I told them to pass it, and they did. Car is still fine, I never got around to replacing it. It's a hydraulic mount but it works fine without the hydraulics, just very slightly increased NVH.
I now go to a place that replaced a burned out bulb for free during my inspection, even though I tried to pay them. They'll also rotate the tires for free during, since they have half of them off anyway.