I brought my truck in on a Saturday morning to get an oil change and get a new fuse for part of my dashboard. The part by the driver's side window no longer lights up and the fuel gauge is stuck on F, which means I have to use the trip odometer and guesstimate. Googling this told me it was likely just a fuse that needed changing.
The schlub at Goodyear told me it could be a whole problem with my electrical system and wanted to give my vehicle a full diagnostic test. Said it would be $125 and would tell me whatever was wrong with my vehicle. Well, the old Explorer has a lot of miles and it gets this vibration when I brake with any force, not so bad that I can't drive, but hey, maybe I should see what is. $125 sounded steep for an estimate, but I was there anyway, maybe I should make sure the ride isn't dangerous. I didn't say anything to the guy about the vibration, though. I could see the rip-off wheels turning in his head, and didn't want to tip my hand.
The test took longer than he said it would. I sat in Goodyear's depressing little waiting area. Fake wood panelling, outdated furniture, an older tv showing lousy programming, institutional coffee maker. It looked like it had scarcely changed a bit since the late 70s had puked it back up. No, I take that back - there were magazines between a year and 5 years old. I could get caught up on what was happenening in the NBA 2 years ago or flip through an aggressively mindless womens magazine. Great. So I ran down the battery on my phone to pass the time.
Something about the guys at this place - they just exude that greasy, rip-off vibe. There was one front of the house guy who was older and really fat who I saw talking to a female college student who obviously didn't know shit about cars, saying she needed all this work done, and I could just tell he was screwing her. I have no physical evidence of this, but I could just tell. Something about the smug way he was eating a donut later.
Finally I get called out of the waiting area time forgot to the front desk. And boy, is my 3 page diagnostic report a doozy! $1147.62 worth of repairs. $579.85 just to replace HOSES! Hoses are cheap! The one I fixed with duct tape works just fine because the truck doesn't overheat anymore. And nothing on there looked remotely close to something that would cause a vibration when I brake. You ever see the Aqua Teen where Meatwad gets Carl's car from the kidney foundation, and he gets an estimate of $32,000 in repairs 2 Wicked needs cause the hobbit that turns the crankcase is depressed, the radiator needs a unicorn, the haunted air conditioner that's gonna involve Superman who has be shipped in from Krypton and the cow jumped over the moon? That's what this thing reminded me of. (And yes, I did take the time to break the whole thing down for you. I take my Aqua Teen Hunger Force seriously, thank you very much.) The only reasonable thing I saw was my truck needs an allignment. I already kind of knew that and just correct for how it likes to lazily veer to one side.
All I told the guy was "Well, I can't afford any of that today. Just the oil change." And that's all I was charged for. Just $30. I don't know if they just forgot to charge me for the diagnostic test, or if you don't have to pay if you refuse to have any of the repairs, but this is the only reason I don't feel resentful about my whole experience there.
When I got back in my truck I saw the dashlight was still out by the gas gauge. The report said nothing about that, nor was it mentioned to me, despite my having it brought up was what launched the whole diagnostic toilet paper I was handed. I was glad to be having to guesstimate my gas. I'll take incompetence over being ripped off. Goodyear will never see that $1117 or me again. read more