[rmhpmi]

Sorry for the melodramatic thread title but I mean really, why can't a repair shop just do the service I ask for instead of telling me how "good" my fluids look?

Had my 08 due for a B13 service. Tires needed rotated and the place I bought them does service too so I figured I'd have them change the oil and trans fluid. Left the vehicle, went to kill some time at SAMS Club. When I got back the charge was only like $35 so I asked why. Hey, well your transmission fluid "looks real good" and we didn't change it. Grrrrrrrrr.

I know the dealership will charge me too much but at least they will actually perform the recommended maintenance and not ignore my request to do so.

OK, rant over. Thanks for listening.

 

[Wrascal]

My guess is this tire shop was not equipped to do a tranny service, and the chances of them having Honda fluids is unlikely. They did you a favor.

 

[cdepuydt]

Well, the thing is, these places think they know better than you do. I don’t know if it is because most folks don’t know the first thing about their vehicles, so they are used to treating everybody like idiots, and they think they know what is best for your vehicle or what the deal is. I think they assume, even if you ask for a particular service, that you don’t know the first thing about your vehicle, so you don’t know what you are asking for.

I have run into this numerous times at different garages. I would ask for a particular service, be an oil change, transmission fluid change, or whatever, and the guy writing up the ticket is like, “…ummm…are your sure…????” Of course, I respond that I am sure, and the only reason I am not doing the service myself is I don’t have the time or place to do it. Otherwise I would be doing it myself and they wouldn’t be able to charge me $90 an hour for the service.

I recently had an experience like this at a local Honda dealer. I won’t go into the whole story, but basically I had 3 different “service advisors” question me over getting a couple keys cut for my Ridgeline. I told them exactly what I wanted, exactly what I needed, and they still didn’t get it. They kept wanting me to make an appointment and/or pull my truck into the service bay. When I kept telling them that I didn’t need an appointment and I didn’t need to pull my truck in, they looked at me like I was an alien, and/or I was insulting their intelligence. Finally I went and talked with somebody in parts and service and they got me straightened away.

So, long story short, don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. Just about everybody who that knows anything about their vehicle have had this kinda experience.

 

[ridged]

Most of the time, they will try to sell services that you don't want or need. I have never had experience where they didn't perform a requested service.

 

[rmhpmi]

My guess is this tire shop was not equipped to do a tranny service, and the chances of them having Honda fluids is unlikely. They did you a favor.

I honestly suspect this is exactly the situation here man, but it would have been so much easier to just tell me that upfront. You are absolutely correct they did me a favor by not trying to service the trans with incorrect fluids. Guess I should count my blessings and move on.