Take your ride to the dealer for recalls & warranty work. After that, find a good independent shop. Ask around, they are out there. I have two excellent independent shops to choose from, both donate time, money & their facilities to the community, so the dealer isn't special for doing that.

Sorry, I have nothing good to say about dealers, far too many problems at them.

Also avoid chain shops like Pep Boys, Midas, Mr Tire, Firestone. I worked at a Midas for a month, unreal how they ripped people off. It was criminal.

Another chain ripoff: My ex tells me that her 2 year old Hyundai, 40,000 miles, needed front rotors to pass the PA state safety inspection, they are worn too thin they tell her. They don't put new brakes on, just rotors. She thought that was odd, she's never had to replace rotors on anything she's owned. Cost her $300.00 she says she really didn't have, but it was the last day her inspection sticker was good, ( Dec 31) so she felt she had no choice. She felt uneasy about it, & that's why she mentioned it to me. She was smart enough to ask for the old rotors. She says there was absolutely no shake when applying the brake. Shop told her have anyone measure them, they will come up bad.

So, I see her a few days later, ask if she has the "bad" rotors in her car. She does, & I take them home. I'm curious. Rotors look great. I measure them with my Starrett micrometer calipers (3 different ones) Min spec is .842, stamped right on the rotor, thinnest rotor is .903. So, it looks like they ripped her off. All 3 micrometers measure the same, so I know its not my micrometers.

I look up new rotor spec for the car, its .903! So her rotors were like new! They told her the replace spec was .999, her car was dangerous to drive with worn parts like she had.

They (Mr Tire) had a lady with a car seat in the back, last day the state inspection was good, & figured they had a great one to rip off. I gave her a mic, showed her how to use it, & where to find the real specs for her rotors online, & told her to demand her money back. I don't know what ever happened, I'm done fighting battles for her.

So, be careful out there!

 

The best thing about the dealer is they have the latest tsb and revised info. On your vehicle.

Dealer training in my opinion is far better that aftermarket training.

The thing I think is most important is the computer up dates to fix little drivability problems that most places would just call normal.

The most important thing no matter where you go is find a tech that you like and trust. Make sure to ask for him to work on your car or at least over see the repair to your car.

A good auto tech makes all the difference in the quality of your repair.

 

The ONLY reason to prefer a Dealership shop is that they have access to the actual software and firmware in the computer.

 

Donbrew:

I'm aware that the owner's manual does not mention a 45,000 mile tranny fluid change for normal driving. My conditions are considered harsh, aka "taxi-like", and since I keep my vehicles a long time, and then sell them often in near-new condition, I consider changing the fluid/filter a possibly good insurance investment -- especially when it does not come at an exorbitant dealer cost.

 

this is a good reply about the dealers!

I think i would forget about the 2m more or less. Could be an innocent miss-call.
I had this happen to me a few times. They would say "next time you're in, you'll need brakes", and then the next time, another tech say "plenty of
brake left". Some probably didn't actually measure, and can't "eyeball so well".

 

Well I was a courier in some of the most brutal traffic in the country driving about 60,000 miles a year. 35 miles commute is routinely a 2 hour trip, plus city driving in between the commute. And high speed highway trips of 500-1000 miles interspersed.

Yes, when I got around to an ATF change at 150,000 miles the old fluid was black. I had no tranny problems and nothing changed after the change. That was the 2008.
The 2011 got a change at 96000, it was black, currently at 170,00 no tranny trouble yet. I am considering a change sometime in the next several months because of a gasket drip.

 

I worked a couple seasons as an RV tech- I refused to work flate rate. Those boys really know how to pad their repairs and the owner of that diesel pusher never knew that $500 of his bill was bogus gobbledygook.

 

This is exactly why I do 95% of my own work. I recently found a really good independent shop for the stuff I can't or no longer want to deal with.

Dealer is always going to be more expensive. Some dealers are worth, most are no better than independents. The one advantage to a dealer is factory original parts are usually used.

 

And service manuals/wiring schematics- also the service bulletins of known fubar issues- many of them are the result of untrained mechanics causing another problem, while they are trying to fix something else.
Many years ago- Chrysler got a very bad rap on minivan premature transmission failures. Would you believe that an oil analysis of the broken tranny back at the Kokomo transmission factory showed contamination from GM Dextron and other unapproved transmission oils? Apparently, as the story goes, quick lube shops were short sticking the oil filler dipstick and then putting in the wrong oil. It only took a few weeks for the transmission to start acting up. Of course, this would not have happened, if the owner had religiously had his service done at the dealership. Once the warranty was up, the tendency was to save a few bucks on service and that is when folks got hit with the $2000 transmission jobs- and they never knew that Joe Schmoe in the quickie lube shop did it to him, in order to sell the customer another quart of oil.
I am glad to see the HHR has no dipstick for the tranny, that's so much better for us in the long run.

 

EVERYONE has either Mitchell or AllData. That means they have access to every wiring diagram and TSB as well as almost all Factory Service Manuals.

All of the technicians went to the same trade schools. Most shops have a scantool (not Tech2).

Only difference is a dealership has access to proprietary software and firmware.