Walmart latest Auto repair rip-off servicer?

[SvilleKid]

Let me start this with a general RANT!

You would think, with the internet, consumer watch groups, undercover journalism and word of mouth, that auto repair/service facilities that try and rip off consumers for unneeded repairs would have gone the way of the dinosaur! Not so. It is alive, and is full health. ESPECIALLY if the driver is a woman!

A few examples: Almost every time (realistically, at least 85%) that my wife or daughter takes their vehicle in for an oil change, they are told that the serpentine belt is severely cracked, and needs replacement. My wife and daughter both know the standard answer is "My husband/father does the car repairs, I'll mention it to him." Anyone that has examined a few belts knows that the grooved side of the belts have small notches formed into the ridges that allow the grooved sides to bend "backwards" around pulleys (allows needed stretching). These notches are the "cracks" that my wife and daughter are being shown!!!!!! My daughter and wife have both been told their belts were about to fail, with my ladies knowing I had changed the accused belts less than a week before!!!!!

The second biggie is air filters. Being in the know, ALL my vehicles are equipped with K & N air filters. This brand of performance filters is not replaced, It is cleaned and reconditioned (about once a year in the non-dusty conditions we live in). Never-the-less, they are often told the filter needs replacing. My wife even had an Express Oil place in Las Vegas show her a bogus filter (a cheap paper filter), and tell her it was clogged, and needed replacement! And the K & N in place was 2 months old!

Now, Walmart appears to be leading the pack! Prior to Jeremy's wedding in October, my daughter took her Pathfinder in to her local Walmart to get a tire re-balanced. She even knew which tire, because I had told her which it was. She was told that the tires were all "dry-rotted" and required replacement, and that Walmart could not balance the tires due to the dangerous condition of dry-rot. Of course, she called her chief mechanic. She immediately brought the Pathfinder to me. One tire was better than 75% tread, two tires had better than 50% tread remaining, one was within 5000 miles of what I would replace (since replaced). The most worn tire indeed had tiny cracks on it, but NOT on the sidewall, where dry-rot shows up. The cracks were on the very outside edge of the treads, where that tire has been run against a curb a time or two. Not "dry-rot", simply rubber stress on the outside edge of the tread due to the curbs! I took the Pathfinder into my local Walmart, said nothing except that there was a tire out of balance, on the front. They examined the tires, fixed a slow leak, balanced the two front tires, and rotated them front to back. No mention of dry-rot or any other problem. But of course, I was driving it!

My wife is in Ft. Lauderdale, finishing up a contract. She has a tire with a slow leak, and it is also out of balance (probably threw a weight off with the deflating and re-inflating that has been going on.) She is coming home in a week or so, and also needed the oil changed. So, she went to the Walmart in Margate this afternoon. Guess what? Her tires are dry-rotted, and they can't work on them! They can replace them, however! Now, I was down in Ft. Lauderdale a little over a month ago for more than a week. I knew then the tires would need replacing shortly (because it's a truck, trucks are "light on their feet", so to speak, and need decent treads to be stable. Knowing this, I paid particular attention to the tires a month ago. No dry-rot then, so I know they haven't fallen to pieces in the last 4 weeks!

Needless to say, the truck is now at a tire store to get the leak fixed, and re-balanced. They were not told what Walmart said. And amazingly, the tire store did not find any issue with the tires, except they told her they should be replaced in the next 5000 miles or so (which is correct assessment).

So, I guess the lesson here is "Don't let your ladies take their vehicles to Walmart for repairs. Also, make sure that they know, anytime a semi-repair facility (what I term "quickoil-change" joints) tells them about an un-anticipated repair need, that they find someone trustworthy to verify the repair need before letting Walmart or a quick-oil-change sell them a bill of goods!!!

Rant over.