Jeffrey D
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2018
- Messages
- 5,227
- Real Name
- Jeffrey D Hanawalt
Yes I let the dealership take care of mechanical issues, and I feel I have not been gouged/taken over unnecessary repairs. I do have a tire shop near my house that fixes me up (getting all 4 tires replaced right now- will cost $850, soup to nuts).I’ve gotten in the habit of replacing my batteries during routine maintenance whenever the dealership recommends it. I’ve learned the service departments at both the Toyota and Honda dealerships here are pretty trustworthy and don’t try to upsell you on things you don’t need. My Civic is a 2018 with almost 160,000 miles on it and this is the first time they’ve recommended a battery replacement because it was testing below (I think) 60%. My wife’s RAV4 is a 2015 with 86,000 miles and is just now on its 3rd battery.
When I was younger, I used to be that guy who scoffed at the service advisor and told them that their prices were too high and I’d take care of my own battery and wiper blades, thank you very much. Then I’d forget and end up not being able to see in a rain storm or, worse yet, having a car that won’t start in said rain storm. Finally, I reached a point in my life where spending an extra $30-$40 for the dealership to replace the battery or wiper blades during routine maintenance was more important than my manly pride of spending valuable time in Auto Zone trying to find the right battery and blades, and changing them myself to save a few bucks, and my life suddenly got a bit easier.
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