Getting Wise

My job requires me to put a lot of miles on my car. In the past two days, I have put 480 miles on my car. I depend on my car to get me where I need to go, and I don’t want to be stranded on the side of the road in the dark morning hours by myself with a broken down car. It had been awhile since I had my car to the dealer for an oil change–I have taken to oil change places for the last four changes– so I made an appointment to take it to the dealer.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Baker. It is nice to see you back again. I’m Chris. I will be taking care of you today. Let’s get you checked in.” As he says all of this, he begins to enter my car’s serial number into his computer.

“Ms. Baker, it looks like you are overdue for some services on your vehicle to keep it running in top shape. Not only do you need an oil change, but according to our records, you need a transmission flush, a new air filter, an engine performance restoration, a fuel-air induction service, a brake fluid service, a coolant service, and a new fuel tank air filter. Would you like us to do those for you today as well?”

I can’t hear anything but cash register bells ringing up sales in my head. “Umm…no. I can’t do all of that today. That would cost a fortune! I want the oil change. Of all those things you just listed, which one is the most important?”

“Ma’am, they are all important. I understand about it being expensive. I just had to have all of this done to my own vehicle. It is expensive, but you want to keep your car running well. I do happen to have a coupon here for 15% off up to $100. We could use it to bring the cost down a bit. I know you like to take care of your car. I can see from your records that you make sure to have it serviced regularly.”

The cash register bells are still peeling away in my head. “I’m not doing them all. Which one is the MOST important?”

“Well, let’s see which one was done the longest time ago.”  He thumbs through my maintenance log I have put on the counter. I keep meticulous records of EVERYTHING that has been done to my car.  “Transmission flush was done the farthest back. Would you like to do that one.”

“Ok, that sounds good.”

About an hour later he comes to the waiting room and asks me to follow him back out to his desk and computer in the garage bay.

“Ma’am, are you aware you have two tires that need to be replaced and two tires that will need to be replaced soon after? I printed up some quotes for tires for you. We also would recommend an alignment with those new tires. I have these tires in stock. I could get them on your car for you right now while the guys are working on your car.”

There’s that cash register bell going off again. Except this time it sounds more liek a gong. “Uhhh… no. I don’t think so. I can’t buy tires today. I will add that to the list of things the car needs. But no, no new tires. Not today.”

Two hours later, I finally leave. One afternoon shot with the car. UGH!

I have been thinking about all the things he recommended since I heard the list. This afternoon, I decided to look up when Hyundai actually recommends those procedures be done in my handy dandy little maintenance log. Guess what! Hyundai doesn’t actually recommend those procedures be done to my car! Those procedures are recommended for inspecting, but NOT replacing! Just to be safe, I googled each of the terms and read what different mechanics said about each of the procedures. Most mechanics agreed that those procedures are a waste of money. I must have “SUCKER” written on my forehead. Well, this “sucker” just got wise. I will NOT be taking my car back to the “cheater dealers”!