[George Bieniaszek]

I scheduled an oil change for my Dodge Ram diesel at the local Dodge dealership near TV. The oil change was the expected price, BUT they recommended that I change some of the hi-pressure hoses that go to the oil cooler because they were leaking. Now they do leak, but maybe a small drop per day. They quoted a price of over $600 to replace them. I said no thank you and that I was driving back to CT the next day. That was in April. They were concerned that I may have a problem during my trip back. HA HA!! Made it back to CT and went to my regular mechanic. He laughed at the diagnosis and said that these hoses will eventually leak at the fitting but at 1 drop per day, no problem. Well, we were back in TV for 6 weeks in June/July and now back in CT, over 5000 miles from the initial diagnosis, and my truck is running fine and I have $600 still in my pocket. Yes, I will eventually need to replace the lines, but my mechanic said that he will do it for a whole lot less money.

On a side note, my wife has a Ford Escape and that went in for some service in CT and the service manager tried selling me rear shocks for a stupid amount of money, again I said no thanks. The car runs fine, no noises or bouncing, leaks, etc. As I picked up the keys to my car after the service was completed, he was on the phone with another customer telling them that their rear shocks needed to be replaced. This incident happened over 2 yrs ago and over 15,000 miles ago and I still have the same shocks on the car and the Escape rides fine.

Be careful Fellow Villagers and if in doubt, say no and get a second opinion!!