I took our 2016 Mazda 3 into Whitten for an oil change and tire rotation due to Pearson not being able to perform the service for 2 weeks and I drive an awful lot. First the good, Nick was very courteous and the service was fast (about 40 min start to finish). Now to the bad, Nick brought me the air filter and cabin air filter showing me they both were dirty and needed to be replaced. The cost of replacing them was in the neighborhood of $90. I agreed they needed to be replaced but told Nick I would replace them myself. I bought both filters for under $45 tax and all and spent roughly 5 minutes replacing them. Nick also stated that my rear brakes were just beginning to be in the "yellow". I questioned him as to why my rear brakes would be worn more than my front brakes and like a good service adviser that does not know the answer he said let me ask the tech. Nick returns and tells me the tech states that the rears typically wear faster then the fronts. I have been in the auto repair business for over 35 years and I know for a fact that rear brakes do 30% of the stopping and front brakes do 70% of the stopping. I also know that typically you do 2 front brake jobs for every 1 rear brake job. My front brakes have never been replaced and according to the tech they are fine (8/32"). So I go to pay and my bill for a 4.8 quart synthetic oil change with oil filter and tire rotation is $96.75. I am blown away as when I have Pearson perform the same service it is about $65.00. I pay my bill and head to my car. The car had not been cleaned at all or vacuumed both of which Pearson do. The cleaning I can excuse since I did have a "quick lane" service but taking a minute or two to vacuum at least the front floorboards would have been nice seeing as I spent just shy of $100.00 for an oil change and tire rotation. I look at my invoice and see the oil is priced fairly at $6.00 per quart (naturally they charged me for 5 quarts not the 4.8 that they actually used). The labor was again reasonable, $17.00 for the oil change and $22.95 for the tire rotation. Then I look at the oil filter, $17.95, WOW. On my way home I called the Whitten parts department and was quoted $8.25 for the exact same filter. The last time I changed my oil I was working at an independent shop and bought the oil filter from Whitten through my shop and paid just under $5.00 for it. This tells me that Whitten's actual cost for this oil filter is $2.50 or less. Now I know that it costs a lot to cover the overhead of a repair facility but why is the exact same filter $9.80 more through the service department than through the same facility's parts department? Then I see shop supplies...$5.99 I was charged for shop supplies. Now please do not get me wrong shop supplies is a legitimate expense but for an oil change and tire rotation it is a very minimal expense. Looking at the vehicle check up list (free courtesy inspection) which by law they have to get your approval to perform and they did not ask but I would have agreed anyway I see that the tech noted the air and cabin air filter which was shown to me and did need replacing. The tech noted the rear brakes as "yellow" but then noted they were at 5/32 of an inch (anything over 2/32 passes state inspection). The tech noted NA (not applicable) for the transmission fluid (which has no dipstick) and for the power steering (which is electric). He noted that he "did not check" the brake fluid. Why would he not check the brake fluid when he was noting a brake issue and was within a foot of the master cylinder? Then I look at his tire tread depth measurements and he shows all 4 tires at 6/32". Two oil changes ago when Pearson performed my oil change they had noted the tires at 5/32" and 4/32" and this was 10,000 miles ago. I questioned the measurement at that time and found they were fairly accurate with the fronts being slightly above 5/32" and the rears being slightly below 5/32". When I measured them today after this service they are all almost at 3/32, I NEED TIRES and was told they have more than 50% tread remaining! I checked my tire pressures when I got home and found all 4 were low on air. The wiper blades were marked as good yet they streak bad enough to fail a state inspection, I had simply forgotten this but did buy new ones when I bought the filters. Back to the shop supplies, on an oil change and tire rotation about the only shop supplies that could be considered is windshield washer fluid (the tech did not add any at the time of service), other fluids that were topped off (no power steering fluid, no dipstick for the transmission, and did not check the brake fluid), silicone to treat the rubber moldings (which was not done), and lubricant for the door hinges and latches (which were not treated). Whitten made an additional $5.99 for doing NOTHING!
Bottom line is if you are going to charge a premium price for your service YOU MUST PROVIDE PREMIUM SERVICE which Whitten DID NOT DO! read more