I need feedback on something that happened to me. I was there to translate for somebody who doesn't speak English. Was he being ripped off or was it legit?
He took the car into a dealership (same dealership as the car.) The car's still under warranty. He thought maybe there was an issue with the steering. They checked and said steering is ok but needs tire rotation and balance, and alignment. Quoted $200+tax. He declined since it's bullshit because the car had a rotation and balance done last week at one of those quick lube places. So we go to pick it up and they had a $50+ diagnostic charge.
If the car's under warranty, any diagnostic done by the dealership (whether the work itself is done or not) should fall under the warranty, no? I understand the work itself may not be covered, but the act of checking should be covered. The guy I was with declined to pay it saying it was a bullshit charge, so we had a Mexican standoff for a few minutes until the service manager angrily gave back the keys and said just go.
As we are walking out, a couple of the "service" advisors made some derogatory comments (I heard one say "you guys are ridiculous"... I was just translating
). We split up, I went to my car and he went to get his. And one of them even followed the guy I was translating for outside and kept yelling at him. Real classy organization. Was this "diagnostic charge" legit or bullshit?