I had an interesting experience at the car dealership this week. I have a 2010 Chevy Cobalt for which there have been several parts recalls in the past months. I finally got around taking the car in for service. The dealer replaced the recalled parts and then also wrote up $900 of suggested repairs for the vehicle. They claimed that the transmission lines were leaking, the control arm bushings were separated, and a couple of other little things. Since the car appeared to be running fine and was not leaving any leaks behind after being parked, I was a bit surprised. I declined the repairs and took the car (along with their recommended repair list) to our local mechanic, who we have worked with for years and know to be honest. He looked the car over and informed me that none of the suggested repairs needed to be done. The control arm bushings had a few surface cracks, but were not separating. He stated that they "might need to be replaced in a few years, or might not." The transmission lines were not leaking, either. Clearly this mechanic is trustworthy -- I had given him the go-ahead to do the work, and he actually called me in the middle of the day to tell me it didn't actually need any repairs, rather than just doing them.
So, this has me wondering... do dealers automatically hand customers a list of recommended (usually unneeded) repairs when they bring vehicles in for recalls? What percent of people just let the dealer do the recommended work without checking into it further? I bet dealers make a ton of money whenever there is a recall because they "repair" problems that never would have been "caught" (never would have "existed") had the owner not brought the car in for the recalled parts. If they recommend $900 worth of repairs to everyone and about half of people take them up on the offer, that means they bring in an average of $450 per recalled car...wow. I know one other person with a Cobalt who has had a similar experience -- she was also estimated about $900 in repairs and knew to take it somewhere else for a second opinion. She needed a little work, but nothing close to what the dealer was recommending. Anyone else out there have a similar experience?