Long trip tow vehicle maintenance

bpounds wrote:


I don't necessarily trust a shop just because it has an automakers sign out front. I know with Ford at least, the dealership often has a "Quick Lane" business, which is nothing more than another Jiffy Lube type business. You can't even be sure they are using their own brands. They use whatever is cheapest. But I can't speak for all brands or even all Ford dealerships.

Agreed....I assumed, when I got a maintenance package for free when I bought a new vehicle from a dealer, that they would use supplies with their own brand name. Like I said before, I was surprised to see the whole deal was sponsored by an outside company and they used off brand oil / filter. The ticket even had "Brand XXXXX (oil company) service package" kinda wording on it. I thought, "Oh, now I see why they give it away free -- junk oil and no-name filters that's all part of a special deal they get from the oil company." This is why any shop can do an oil change for free or less than the cost of even Napa oil / filters -- 2 things: volume discount on supplies and the supplies are the cheapest you can get......Not saying they all do this, but I definitely discuss what gets used in the work I have done occasionally by and independent shop I have some work done by.

I know this is kind of a tangent, but.....an example of why I don't like others touching my vehicles and how a lot of "maint. programs" are actually not a great idea:
The onsite maint. company I worked for way back when would use 8 dollar rear brake shoes on 3/4 ton trucks / delivery vans for the fleets we serviced. 8 dollars! How much would you trust your employees and the public's safety running around on that. And, they lasted about what you'd expect for 8 bucks -- I did the same delivery vans as often as once week, they failed with such regularity. But it was all on "contract pricing" and the customers kept paying for the same repairs - but it was good deal since a brake job never cost more than XXXX..... So much of that companies work was questionable / shoddy that I had to quit for my own conscience.