Kandyman

I took the car in for a B2 service at 31k. I had printed out the B2 service items from the manual, because as I expected, the repair manager tried to sell me a 30k service for $4xx (four hunder & something bucks). After I politely pointed out that I'd rather just stick to the documented items - most of which are checks that may not even be needed, he smiled back at me and said "you're right. You could just keep changing the oil in this car and it will keep running...". So the $4xx estimate became a $1xx estimate. I had already replaced the cabin air filter myself, I did not need a tire rotation because I recently replaced the front tires, and I took in my oil & filter.

One hour later later, my car was ready. Total charge $99.00 - all labor. I asked why the engine air filter was not replaced and he told me that they took it out and looked at it, but it did not need replacement. This surprised me a bit because just two days earlier, I had taken out the filter myself while trying to replace it with a BECK/ARNLEY Part #0421590 (listed on Rock Auto for 04 TL - but does not fit) and although the filter was not horribly dirty, it had an area with black dust (soot I guess). The car has also not had a filter replacement since I purchased it CPO one year ago at 11k miles.

Even if the filter was replaced prior to CPO sale at 11k miles, isn't 20k miles on a filter (granted 80% highway driving) long enough to warrant replacement?

Ron A

So what was the $100 for? You should have just gotten an oil change for around $20, since you furnished the oil and filter. Even $20 is high but with those crooks it probably is reasonable.

The engine air filter should be changed, even if it was changed when you got it and it only has 20k miles on it. That is cheap insurance for the engine, and you can do it yourself easily, so the filter would cost about $28 at the dealer.

Kandyman

The $100 was essentially labor for the oil change and other B2 checks. I don't mind paying a nominal amount for such checks once a year because there may be an occasional problem which will immediately get taken care of before it gets worse. It also helps build a rapport with the service department - which may someday result in them doing something extra for me.

scrb09

IMHO $100 for "checks" and for oil change labor is outrageous...

trust me they already dont like you since you did not do their $400, 30 K service... so giving them $100 for nothing would not build you a rapport...

I see where you are coming from but I dont think they would say, oh, this guy spend x amount of money for no reason, let me do this for him...if there is an oppurtunity to make money, good-will goes out the window...