Did the shop perform the work I paid for? Brake Flush and Oil Change with photos.

[rcs]

I always ask for full synthetic with my oil changes, so they have to take it out of the containers, I don't want the junk in a drum.
My dealership (fortunately I can watch also) will show me the containers also. I had a brake fluid change and when I inspected the reservoir, it was perfectly brand new. I think sometimes it is the luck of the draw.

 

[explorer2030]

To your point FSA has always puzzled me. It’s like nobody knows about it. A mysterious $3050. I know several people who tell me they make up their own receipts and never had a problem. To me, it’s not sensible to commit fraud over $976. But to those folks it’s shooting fish in a barrel. Don’t get me wrong $976 is a lot to me, just I wouldn’t do that. I’m the moron buying $950 prescription sunglasses first week of Dec and telling my wife to do the same

Yea I wouldn't do it either, but like you say it's shooting fish in a barrel for some people.

 

[explorer2030]

Being in the industry, having written thousands of claims, it happens. You don’t have to take my word for it. Just ask your service writer next time you go in.

If you are going through the hassle of maintaining your car, keep the receipts. It’s good practice and cheap insurance.

I have kept detailed maintenance logs with all my vehicles and currently do, although I can't say they have ever been useful. I will likely keep doing so just because as you say it's cheap insurance, but I have been considering only keeping track of the critical items going forward.

 

[AlphaOmega]

How is anybody going to be able to provide you with examples that aren't anecdotal if they haven't happened specifically to them?

Needing to show proper maintenance while asking for warranty consideration seems like common sense.

Hyundai dealer wouldn't replace engine without maintenance records.

https://nj.com/news/2022/09/do-you-save-your-oil-change-receipts-a-hyundai-owner-didnt-and-now-shes-fighting-over-a-warranty.html The picture of sludge she talks about makes me wonder. The car is in her driveway, why not take it to someone and have the valve cover removed and take a look?

bobistheoilguy.com

Warranty issues from lost oil receipts

Hey hey all! Grateful for all the wisdom here. Needing some right now. I have an extended warranty problem. I mix shop oil changes and do my own, usually all from a time capacity perspective. Two weeks ago my #4 cylinder blew and the warranty company is asking for receipts from when I purchased...

bobistheoilguy.com

Warranty claim with oil inspection performed

Has anyone on this website had this done to them personally or actually know someone that has filed a warranty claim and had an oil analysis done on their vehicle? I am not talking friend of a friend or I heard of this guy that had his warranty claim denied. But someone you actually know that...

bobistheoilguy.com

First case is a heavily sludged engine - that’s why they requested receipts for oil.

Second case, is a 4 year old engine blown. Also makes sense why they wanted to see if he changed oil. That he did his own positions and had engine trouble on 4th year is hilariously prophetic

3rd case, with the wanting to make sure he used correct viscosity oil is, I guess, representative of a large portion of buyer pool being of lower IQ and using wrong oil on a new car? (How is this even a thing?). Reminds of h anecdotal rumors about VW being strict with warranty enforcement on GTIs because mostly kids would lease them and trash them. But these exceptions just prove the rule: no one cares about maintenance records unless (and even then not always) it’s some extreme case

 

[camrydriver111]

To me it does look like the oil was changed. With Honda dealer service the oil always a little on the dark side to me.

Here are some things to look for the brake fluid:
-Resevoir cap dust will be disturbed
-Color of the fluid
-Pedal feel
-Inspect bleeder screws

Ok, let's say the cleaned it with some brake cleaner. You will see that it's cleaner than the rest of the caliper. You can even take a piece of paper, fold it up and stick it inside the bleeder screw. You will get some brake fluid on it. Nobody will clean inside bleeder screw.

If you have any concerns call the dealer back and say you think it wasn't changed because of x reasons.

 

[BMW Dom]

Just curious…
What benefits were acknowledged by your dad?

benefits of what? Sorry, I don't understand

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Was this at the dealer? That is pretty much fraud. I hope they refunded you.

That's my concern here, even if they didn't perform the flush I think the system would be fine but still, it's the principle of getting what you paid for.

Normally, from what I’ve seen for “good” flushes, the method is to use a pressurized tank that has a hose that connects to the reservoir cap threads, As the bleeder is cracked open, the tank pushes clean fluid thru the line, and you can see the clean fluid come out at the bleeder. You go all the way around the brake bleeders in the same fashion.

You can buy the pressure tanks with the reservoir cap adapter for about $70 if you want to be sure it’s done correctly!

 

[PontiacHO]

benefits of what? Sorry, I don't understand

Benefits of the brake fluid flush perceived by the now convinced Dad….

 

[BMW Dom]

Benefits of the brake fluid flush perceived by the now convinced Dad….

Ah. He said it "felt firmer" or something along the lines of that.

We are going to flush my mom's x3 brakes soon, as it's been 4 years

We bought the brake fluid last year, but we didn't get around to it, unfortunately.

I flushed my brakes when I bought the car, and it felt a bit better, but hard to say. The computer says it was overdue, and probably was.

It also showed oil change 9000 miles overdue, but they just didn't reset it.


We do the 2 person method for flushing the brakes, and we will try to do it every 2 years

I try to keep him up to maintenance on his and my mom's car.

He now has a Jeep grand Cherokee, but thankfully the previous owner had: front and rear brake pads and rotors, rear shocks, thermostat and coolant change, brake flush, air filter, wiper blades, transmission fluid change, differential and transfer case fluid changes, and an oil change done recently.

I just graduated high school, so I don't know everything, but I enjoy working on cars and other things

 

[PontiacHO]

If the brake fluid was ever opened you would be best to discard it and get fresh. Around here the big dealerships groups look for talent graduating from high school and help them with automotive tech school. Not a bad deal if you want a career in the automotive industry.

 

[twouvakind]

"Anyone had lug nuts coming loose after visiting the tire shop"? No, but recently had the opposite experience. Never again, Blacks Tire.

 

[Revving2Redline]

Visited my Honda dealer to have the engine oil / filter, rear differential fluid, and brake flush (required by Honda every 3 years and not a DIY service for me) on a 2020 CRV with 10k miles for a family member. The vehicle was in the service bay for an hour based on the dashcam footage and can see the hood was popped but nothing else. Can a tech perform all 3 service items in an hour?

For the differential I think I see an oily spot under the diff which leads me to believe the service was completed.

I can't tell if the brake flush was done though. I looked at the brake bleeders and caps and I do not see any traces of brake fluid around them or that they were disturbed. I am not familiar with the equipment used to flush the brakes by Honda but it is apparently a machine that mounts onto the brake reservoir and pushes fluid through the system to some attachment on the bleeders. Is it possible it was completed without having any oil drip off or around the bleeders? I didn't remove the wheels to check but they were rotated, from front to rear and not in an X pattern though.

Naturally I checked the oil after the service and it looked a little dark, like maybe all the oil wasn't drained or the filter was skipped? It was also a little high, overfilled? Should I worry with the 1.5 Turbo? The shop confirmed they replace filters for all oil changes. I tried to get under the vehicle to see if the filter was changed but the under engine shields made it difficult. I think I saw some dust on the can and maybe what was a dried wet spot possibly from the AC condensate and road dust, but after 10 miles I'm not sure if it should accumulate anything.

When I change my oil its completely clear on the dipstick, not here:

This is one of the reasons I do 90% of my own work as I know it was done and a tech didn't just bring it in the shop, reset the maintenance minder, get the interior oily, and return the car. I'm leaning towards the work being done but don't like how the brake fluid and engine oil cannot be 100% verified. I'm tempted to change the oil out of an abundance of caution to perform a UOA and inspect the filter next time I visit family. These are older people that don't drive the vehicle a lot but I want to make sure I am getting what was paid for.

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throw the oil cap back on and take some compressed air like the computer nerds do and go around the oil cap should suffice.

 

[cb_13]

A 3rd party warranty company is a completely different case because they are well known to look for any way to deny coverage. I'd like to see documented examples of factory warranty coverage being denied by a dealership due to not producing maintenance records.

As a tech I had a Ford Taurus with an engine knock. No oil on dipstick, no oil change receipts and FoMoCo filter still installed at 35k miles. I pulled it straight outside and said I wasn’t wasting anymore of my time on it, needs a reman engine. You guys can figure out who’s paying for it. Pay me my diag time.

The end result was Ford not paying for her an engine. Me not getting paid any diag time and her buying an oil change “to get by”. I’d say she tried to get it to another dealer with the new oil in it before my paperwork hit Fords system or maybe it never got entered in the system because they told her to take to another dealer and that’s why I didn’t get flagged the time. Who knows with how that particular service manager operated.

I’ve only seen Ford call for oil samples not maintenance records personally but I wouldn’t say it doesn’t happen just hasn’t been my experience.

 

[cb_13]

I can say as an insurance adjuster who also had to deal with mechanical breakdown coverage and being to hundreds, if not thousands of dealerships and working with service writers and techs, this is likely and happens.

The Moss-Magnuson Act allows dealers to deny such claims. We even had a case here where a warranty company denied an engine repair because the owner did not rotate their tires, insane, that is an extreme example though. Never buy a 3rd party warranty.

Third party warranty companies are wild. I’ve seen engine work denied coverage due to a leveling kit and once for lack of transmission service.

It’s not about causing the problem it’s about following the wording of the contract. If you don’t hold up your end they can deny it whether it has anything to do with the problem or not!