Sorry to say it...but we are coming to an age when dealers/mechanic shops are trying to take more advantage of people. It seems that they are trying to force money out of you thinking you don't know anything about cars. I was told a few things when I took my truck in for an oil change last time.

When I took it in they were "forcing me" to buy synthetic oil. I would have put it in anyways, but they were saying you must put synthetic in because its a new vehicle over 20k kms, you void your warranty without it...They too tried to tell me that I needed to do a transmission flush, and new fluids in the diff. Also to replace the air filter...
Well my truck had 21k kms on it, there is no way the fluid had to be flushed or that it was bad. Not to mention I run a K&N filter, so all that needs to be done is cleaned.
I was soo disgusted with this dealer I will never go back. I refused all the fluids (besides the oil) they too demanded I put it in or I void the warranty. So I took it to another dealer, they said everything was fine and that they would note that on the VIN.

As far as I know with tuners and aftermarket parts, it only voids the warranty if they can prove that specific part caused the problem. I have asked around many!! times to all different dealers and that is what they told me. I had an 07 that was tuned, I brought it in to the dealers and they asked me how I like it. They were more interested in how it does in the truck, then how it void the warranty. I also did an intake, and an aftermarket exhaust. The only thing that would void the warranty is if those specific parts 100% caused the problem.

NOW I am pretty sure when it comes to warranty work they would deny that. But I do know the good dealers in the city would do the work. Most of them run brand new tuned vehicles at the dealer anyways so...

 

No, I take off the tune before I go to the dealer so it doesn't get overwritten. And like the guy above said, they'd have to prove the tune caused the specific problem to deny warranty coverage, they could not just deny all warranty coverage because of it.

And I don't think the dealers are out to void warranties for things like tuners, they are out to make money by scaring you into getting fluid changes when you don't really need them.

 

Just go to another dealer if they pull any bs on you. Follow the maintenance schedule in the owners manual, some will always try and sell the 'dealer recommended' stuff. No reason to even deal with this if they persist. Roast them on the customer satisfaction survey ( if they even do it ). Tell the owner his service dept is pathetic and you have already warned friends and family members to stay clear of them for sales and service. They lose, not you.

There are plenty of dealers that are good, honest, and employ knowledgeable techs. Some do not even care if you use a tuner. Not everyone that has a tuner beats on their truck. I sold my SCT XCAL2 to a Ford tech. I know this because I have friends as service managers, techs, finance manager, and a general manager at area Dodge and Ford dealerships.

Just let them change your oil and get outta there.

 

Don't forget as well, some of these service writers receive small incentives for up-selling extra services, regardless of what the maintenance manual may suggest.

Stick to the service maintenance manuel, unless your vehicle is used for heavy offroading or extreme recreational purposes.

 

Independent shops do the same thing.

 

X2 I stick to my previous statement now that I see the actual fluid in question.

 

There all the same.

 

It is the same thing with these quick oil change shops. They pull the oil dipstick, and say, "Oh! Your oils is dirty you have a sludge build up in your engine you need to have the engine flushed"

Well heck yes, it should be a little dirty, it is doing its job, it has 5k miles on it, it is a detergent oil, a gas combustion engine it is suppose to be dirty, now stop wasting my time.

 

Even my daughter is trained to know better than to fall for this type of bull$hit streaming from service shops. It's pretty funny to hear her come home and complain "and they wanted me to do X, Y, and Z to my car... I told them that was ridiculous because I just did it recently and just do the service I asked for"! The last time was when she was calling around to find out how much various places would charge for a trans fluid/filter replace and Tires Minus started adding everything they could think of to the estimate. When they told her it would be $395 and "would you like to make an appointment for later today?" she told them she'd buy the stuff for $85 and do it herself before she'd take it to them. And she would have, if she had time.

Rob

 

Yeah, I'm pretty used to getting the 'upsale' from the service guys, but to threaten my warranty over it was way outta line.