I spent the week dealing with a Honda dealer and Valvoline Instant Oil Change. This is somewhat of a rant, so if you are not into that sort of thing, you may wish to tune out. Consider yourself warned.
A week ago Saturday, I received a notice from Honda that the Accord was being recalled for the airbag inflator. Great, this is the third vehicle out of the four in my signature that I have had to deal with in regard to airbags. I scheduled an appointment for Wednesday and took it in.
This dealer has serviced the car since it was new. Because of an advantageous location, they did all the service on the vehicle prior (and even after I retired) maintenance, brakes OC's etc. Pricing, even though it may have been slightly higher, was reasonable and they always did top notch work. I had been happy until this visit. They did the recall and then called me out to tell me that the ATF, and PS fluid were "Dirty" (Both had 5K on them), the battery was bad, the brake fluid was "Dirty" (this was the only thing that may be accurate, even though it was pronounced "Clean" 5K prior) and the driver side rear TPMS is leaking and will need to be rebuilt , to the tune of $70. The TPMS light went on that morning after a rapid change in temperature and the light came on that morning, and the car has done that exact same thing since I bought it new. He filled it full of air and it has been fine since. In addition, he declared the six month old NAPA wiper blades bad because he said that they were "Streaking." Funny, because I drove the car 20 miles in the rain to get to the appointment and they were streak free the whole way there.
On the way home, I stopped at AAP and had the battery (a 4yr. old AAP Gold ) tested and it passed with flying colors. It was so "Weak" that it started the car in one second.
After this event, which I can only refer to as an attempted "Wallet Flush", I have located a highly rated Honda/Acura specialist, who will be servicing the vehicle from now on. When I found out that the dealer's OC's went from $24.95 to $40,( I was going to have one done because of convenience) I should have sensed that things went south there.
Now about the VIOC. The Ranger was due for an OC. All my OC tools were in the rear shed, everything was packed away for winter, and it was cold and wet. So I decided that when I found a $19.99 coupon for an OC with VWB (which I have found to be a perfectly serviceable lubricant) I would save myself the trouble and turmoil of doing it myself. So I drove in, handed her the coupon, sat in the truck, and they went about their business. I was even impressed that they did not try to sell me an A/F, the tech even said that it was good for 2 or 3 more O/C's and showed me how to check the filters (even though I have done so many times.) Glad that I had the coupon, because that was $23. off of their $42.99 price for a O/C using VWB (wow!)
Since I did not upgrade to "High Mileage" or full (or even semi) synthetic, nor was it mentioned, I figured there had to some sort of verbal or written crack made along the way. I found it on the invoice in the form of "Customer opted out of manufacturer recommended oil for their vehicle."
If VWB is so "Inferior" that it should not be run in even a 15 yr old Ford 3.0, then why produce it? (I ask this rhetorically, BTW.)
Rant over.
A week ago Saturday, I received a notice from Honda that the Accord was being recalled for the airbag inflator. Great, this is the third vehicle out of the four in my signature that I have had to deal with in regard to airbags. I scheduled an appointment for Wednesday and took it in.
This dealer has serviced the car since it was new. Because of an advantageous location, they did all the service on the vehicle prior (and even after I retired) maintenance, brakes OC's etc. Pricing, even though it may have been slightly higher, was reasonable and they always did top notch work. I had been happy until this visit. They did the recall and then called me out to tell me that the ATF, and PS fluid were "Dirty" (Both had 5K on them), the battery was bad, the brake fluid was "Dirty" (this was the only thing that may be accurate, even though it was pronounced "Clean" 5K prior) and the driver side rear TPMS is leaking and will need to be rebuilt , to the tune of $70. The TPMS light went on that morning after a rapid change in temperature and the light came on that morning, and the car has done that exact same thing since I bought it new. He filled it full of air and it has been fine since. In addition, he declared the six month old NAPA wiper blades bad because he said that they were "Streaking." Funny, because I drove the car 20 miles in the rain to get to the appointment and they were streak free the whole way there.
On the way home, I stopped at AAP and had the battery (a 4yr. old AAP Gold ) tested and it passed with flying colors. It was so "Weak" that it started the car in one second.
After this event, which I can only refer to as an attempted "Wallet Flush", I have located a highly rated Honda/Acura specialist, who will be servicing the vehicle from now on. When I found out that the dealer's OC's went from $24.95 to $40,( I was going to have one done because of convenience) I should have sensed that things went south there.
Now about the VIOC. The Ranger was due for an OC. All my OC tools were in the rear shed, everything was packed away for winter, and it was cold and wet. So I decided that when I found a $19.99 coupon for an OC with VWB (which I have found to be a perfectly serviceable lubricant) I would save myself the trouble and turmoil of doing it myself. So I drove in, handed her the coupon, sat in the truck, and they went about their business. I was even impressed that they did not try to sell me an A/F, the tech even said that it was good for 2 or 3 more O/C's and showed me how to check the filters (even though I have done so many times.) Glad that I had the coupon, because that was $23. off of their $42.99 price for a O/C using VWB (wow!)
Since I did not upgrade to "High Mileage" or full (or even semi) synthetic, nor was it mentioned, I figured there had to some sort of verbal or written crack made along the way. I found it on the invoice in the form of "Customer opted out of manufacturer recommended oil for their vehicle."
If VWB is so "Inferior" that it should not be run in even a 15 yr old Ford 3.0, then why produce it? (I ask this rhetorically, BTW.)
Rant over.
