How to stop dealership service upsells you don't need
Dealership service departments frequently push unauthorized additives like oil fortifiers and unverified maintenance additions during routine visits. These unnecessary recommendations inflate repair bills and force vehicle owners to waste time deciphering which services are actually required by the manufacturer.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Challenging the service writer
- 2Comparing the maintenance package point by point with the owner's manual
- 3Finding another service center
- 4Getting multiple quotes and asking for line-item pricing on equipment versus labor
- 5Learning how to service and repair units independently using online resources and purchased tools
- 6Avoiding companies that offer subscription maintenance plans
- 7Getting a second opinion or second quote
- 8Refusing the service on the spot
- 9Checking the owner's manual to see if the service is actually required
- 10Ignoring the dealership recommendations
- 11Taking the car to a small independent mechanic instead
- 12Performing the maintenance work yourself to save money
- 13Saying no to recommended upsells and only getting the basic oil change and tire rotation
- 14Checking the owner's manual for actual required maintenance schedules
- 15Buying parts like cabin air filters online and replacing them independently
- 16Taking the vehicle to an independent shop instead of a dealership
- 17Getting multiple quotes or second opinions from trusted local companies recommended by friends and family
- 18Dismissing the technician and kicking them out of the house when red flags appear
- 19Relying on standalone filter units, vacuuming, and targeted cleaning instead of full system overhauls or costly duct cleaning
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Technician says that bacterial matter is building up because UV light installed is an "incorrect" model that isn't rated for limiting bacterial spread and is instead only rated for dust, this explanation doesn't really pass the smell test for me.”source ↗
“He quoted 1) an $11K full installation or 2) a $3k installation of new UV light, cleaning of coils and cleaning of vents.”source ↗
“How often do I really need to get a professional in for routine maintenance for HVAC? Companies around me always want me to get some sort of subscription to have them come by every x amount of months but it’s so obvious it’s an excuse to charge for repairs whether they exist or not.”source ↗
“Buddy I love the advice and my blood is still boiling from a bad tech experience. Three months after buying our house unit was tripping out, called a “reputable” top rated big company. $850 later I had it charged. Dude said they can leak test for a thousand or just charge it, they weren’t sure how bad a leak could be since we just bought. I opted for just charging it. He also was upselling big time claiming the 7 year old trane starts having a “lot of problems” around that age and we should consider replacement. The upselling disgusts me.”source ↗
“I tend to not let people know when they've triggered my bullshit alarm and just get them out of the house as soon as possible”source ↗
“The problem with HVAC contractors in my area is they jack up the prices to pocket any govt rebates.”source ↗
“The dealership is trying to include something called a "BG oil fortifier" in the maintenance package.”source ↗
“He quoted me $1500 when saying he’d replace them and then walked back to $1100 when I said no. Is any of this true and if so is this a fair price for this work?”source ↗
“He was very pushy in me having it done immediately even when I told him 4 times that even if I wanted to do it I simply do not have time today.”source ↗
“Can I do it myself to save money or do yall recommend the car dealership doing it?”source ↗
“Recommended services for when I get oil change”source ↗
“Look up cabin air filter replacement on YouTube and get mad about how much they were about to charge you for it.”source ↗
“And them recommending service for rear differential that is not equipped on your car. It's very telling about how this dealership operates.”source ↗
“Okay so now I feel dumb because my car is AWD I just found out😭 would you still not do the flush?”source ↗
“Former mechanic. They're just trying to upsell you.”source ↗
“I’m not sure 🥹🥹🥹🥹 Google says according to the 2024 Honda crv manual I don’t need both”source ↗
Where this came up
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