I had recently been in for my scheduled motor oil change. When the service was done and as I was getting ready to pay, the technician mentioned that I should have my transmission fluid changed out. I thought I was going to avoid the usual upselling this time, but no such luck!
As I declined the offer, he pulled out a small jar of used oil that was underneath the counter and said this oil sample was taken from my vehicle and it was showing that my transmission fluid needed to be urgently changed. I'm betting that same 'small jar of used oil' has been viewed by many customers!
When I declined again, he seemed a little agitated and insisted I should not leave without changing my transmission fluid. After explaining that I was in a hurry and I appreciated his concern, he again insisted that I have it changed and he would give me a discount but it was only good for that day. If I left, no discount. Well, I guess not!
I then told him that my transmission fluid had been changed about a year ago and in reality it probably had less than 10,000 km on it. He said it didn't matter, oil can go bad if it's been sitting in a vehicle too long. I've also heard that about oil breaking down but that wasn't the case with my vehicle. I thanked him for his concern but I declined his offer once again.
The technician seemed a little put off when he knew I wasn't going to give in and he finally let me pay for the oil change that I originally came in for. When I was leaving, he was nice and thanked me for coming in.
I've also had a issue with them in the past regarding the fact they didn't fill my power steering fluid back up properly after convincing me to change it out. On that day, after leaving Mobil 1, I had noticed my steering was quite stiff when turning corners, so I checked the fluid level when I got home and it was so low that it didn't even register on the dipstick! Fortunately, I had some extra power steering fluid in my garage.
I'm sure they would have topped it up if I had returned but it was late in the day and I was just happy to get out of there.
But, this is probably the final straw. Besides, it was costing me a lot of money when a routine oil change for $80.00 jumped up to $300-$400 when I use to agree to some of the other services offered to me in the past. Yes, I believe in proper routine maintenance but not at the intervals that Mobil 1 suggests.
If anything, make sure you know the maintenance schedule for your vehicle before agreeing to any of the services that are suggested you have done. read more