A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from Honda saying that a free software upgrade was…read moreavailable. I knew Criswell's bad reputation; but, that was where I bought my car from years ago, and this was a free upgrade. I thought I would be safe. As no surprise to me, given their reputation, I received a call from my service person, Juan. He read a long list of concerns that they found that needed to be repaired. I wrote them down and told him that I would have my mechanic check it out. He also told me that they found a nail in a tire and could fix it for $35. While I didn't really trust him, I said to go ahead and patch that tire. An hour or more later I received another call from Juan. Surprise, they found another nail that needed patching. I told him to go ahead, all the while wondering whether they were patching anything and, if so, did they put the nail(s) into the tires. I arrived to pick up my car, ready to pay the $70. Lo and behold, additional charges were added for paperwork ($3) and materials used (rubber gloves, grease, etc.-$10). After arguing these add-ons, I told Juan that I was backed into a corner having to pay this because they had my car. He had a small smile on his face. I then complained to the cashier, who sent me to speak with Leslie. I told Leslie that I did not direct Criswell to do the inspection and should not be expected to pay for any part of it. She responded that I should have told them not to do so. When I said that I was not given that option, as I hadn't been told an inspection would happen, she responded that I would have known if I brought my car there more often! Ultimately, she took off the $10 charge.
My mechanic checked out the car today. I am going to list the items Criswell said needing fixing, along with their costs. Those listed in capital letters were the ones that my mechanic confirmed as needing work: replace both rear tires ($672), ALIGNMENT ($150), balance both front tires ($50), brake flush ($250), transmission service ($360), spark plug replacement ($525), coolant flush ($270), and drive belt replacement ($380.40). More than $2000 worth of made up costs for a free upgrade. Ironically, the mechanic said that I did need an oil change. Had Criswell actually done an inspection instead of creating a fantasy list, that would have been a legitimate service that they could have provided. Lessons learned, even free isn't free at Criswell and don't trust anything the service department tells you.