It's a nice little earner - tell someone their brakes are 80% worn when they're nothing like that bad. Don't bother changing them, and charge them again when they really do need doing.

Most of us have been ripped off over something when having our cars serviced. Main dealers can be the worst. I could tell a few stories!

Reminds me of the first Pug 306 I owned, back around 1998 I guess. Took it to the nearest dealer for (I guess) its first MoT. They assured me it needed both front suspension arms replacing, and showed me the worn ones after the work was done. I doubted that the arms were worn at only 20K miles, and suspected that they wanted to use up some of the stock of spares. Later experience confirms that theory as I have never had any mention of worn arms on any 306, including the 25-year-old one I recently got.

Most of us have been ripped off over something when having our cars serviced.

I havn't, but probably only because I don't

First car (auction-bought Triumph 1300) we took it in for a "Free Safety Check" (Big shiny garage in Hunslett Grange, Leeds. Can't remember the name, unfortunately.)

Long List later we asked for it back, but bought some oil off them.

Took a 15 foot scaffolding pole to get the wheels off, but subsequent investigation showed the Long List to be a Long Lie.

A valuable lesson.

Reminds me of the time in 2018 when at a main Ford dealer I was charged for 4 spark plugs at a service. The service manager was a little lost for words when I asked him where the fourth one went on a three cylinder engine. In the end he refunded me and blamed it on the new apprentice!! Needless to say have never used that garage since.

Nearly a decade ago I took my car to a newly setup independent. It did not start well as when I prebooked they said they would supply a loan car but it was not available! Some hours later they rang and said we needed to discuss the issues. When I got there I was presented with the longest fail and advisory list I had ever seen. I paid what I owed and took the car away. Before scrapping it I decided to try elsewhere. After one minor repair I had an MOT with two advisories. The following year it sailed through.

Edited by RaineMan on 27/01/2020 at 09:27

Once it goes on the computer it stays on there. So if it recorded a fail and was entered on it will stay there even if immediately corrected with a pass.

Only ever had one car serviced by anyone other than me, that was the Hilux we bought new.

On the 2nd (major) service the Toyota dealer recommended leaving the brake fluid flush due to the low mileage at the time, so i've only seen the opposite to upselling, they were also happy for me to supply my own bulk bought engine oil for services, since changed hands so will be interesting to see what happens if i take it in.

In my kerbside cowboy days i would let people know how much life (judging by their normal usage as i had regulars) was left in friction parts, so they could make the decision if it was debatable, nine times out of ten they told me to do as i saw fit.

A proper mechanic doesn't just measure friction material left, the pads have to come out and any drums off, to inspect the pads or shoes properly, so whilst there might be 4mm pad remaining you won't know how firmly it is still bonded, or if the pad is showing signs of cracking up on its surface, until its removed.

Some garages are crooks.

Years ago when still a new driver, my car was misfiring and I took it to the local breakdown co on the way to work.

They looked at it for about 2 minutes and said it would be £200 odd to fix. That was pretty much a months wages and worth more than the car!!!

In desperation, I limped it to a guy I saw operating out of his garage with a sign saying "car repairs".

The job cost £2. A wire had come loose in the distributor. The first garage had had the cap off and must have seen the same issue.

Crooks!