I go in for tire repair and the man asks about my windshield wipers.... ???

[Hey-O]

Yep those kind of shops prey on the gals especially the moms. A local shop teaches their service writers to look for child seats in the back seat. Easy prey when they sell "dangerous to your family if we don't do it today" services. Frickin crooks! A gal I know went in for a free oil change she won in a raffle and spent almost $1000 before she got out the door. Same shop I mentioned.

Well said and my point exactly.

 

[Jesse6869]

Well, we all know these service writers get commission on what thy sell.

 

[toolmanmike]

Well, we all know these service writers get commission on what thy sell.

I did that for 12 years but we weren't a high profit shop and worked hard at providing good service and confidence for our customers. Buick and GMC

 

[Detective D]

The best part about the modern thirty dollar wiper blades is they contain 0% actual rubber.
This is why they fail so fast. Silicone, thermoplastic rubbers, they can be durable, but they all fail rapidly in UV. Turns out it is hard to prevent UV exposure on a vehicle completely. If it is parked outside, it is possible the blades will fail without ever being used as the sun will "eat" them up.

 

[Cranky]

A tale of two oil change places…
A few years ago we are up in Yellowknife. The relatively new Jeep wrangler is due for an oil change. Now understand, I am relentless about this stuff. My vehicles get regular oil changes, and thus last forever. I pull in to one of the big chain oil change places. Out comes an impeccably groomed guy in his mid thirties who promptly gives me a super hard sell to upgrade for everything. All I want is my engine oil changed. While they are doing that they pull every other plug to check the fluids. Apparently I should change tranny fluid and my differential oil is “disgusting”. Super hard sell to the point where I’m getting angry. This guy is relentless and obnoxious. We just get the oil change and leave, never to return.
Contrast this with a shop to my south, in Grande Prairie. Also a large national chain. Their prices are posted on the walls. Completely staffed by a bunch of guys in their late teens and early twenties. They all sound and act pretty much like Sean Penn’s character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. These are the least likely businessmen you could imagine, yet they cheerfully and efficiently change my oil, fill my wiper fluid for free, and check my tires and lights. They make polite small talk. They remove my air filter, blow it out, and show me that it is still pretty dirty. Do I want another one? I do. These guys now get 100% of my business. No hard sell to upgrade. Nice, polite guys that do a good job for a fair price. As it should be.

Years ago a took my 'project' pickup in for an alignment and left it there. Next I get a phone call that my rear brakes are getting thin. I told the guy exactly how much lining was still on the shoes but there's no reply. Ok, I said, what does the rear brakes have to do with a front end alignment? He said it's a customer service we perform. Me....please put my drums and wheels back and and do not over tighten the lugs as I will check them in the parking lot before I leave. The next time I did an alignment, I told them my brakes were fine and to not bother to check them or anything else please. "Well, what if we see something that needs attention?" Just told them they wouldn't so don't waste their time looking lol.

Last summer I had to go to a different place for state inspection and the guy starts checking everything including the 'moisture content' of the brake fluid with one of those electronic pencil looking things. Well, I've heard that they are pretty inaccurate. I've never flushed the fluid on my 95 beater so it probably has a high moisture content and looks dark but my nice 96 Dakota looks to have a new master ext and looks good. That one registered even higher content. Yup, they are all trying to make a buck but there are some that are concerned about our vehicles.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Wipers are easily over looked until you need them. In my work van I keep a new set for emergency. The quality has gotten so much better it i easy to ignore them till they fail. When I worked in the dealership I always checked wiper blades. Mainly because I hate poor blades. It’s always good to see where you are going. I also know after the Firestone/Explorer tire issues, we checked and noted tire pressure on every car that entered our shop. I know asking about wipers is an up sell but, you have the right to decline.

I did the same in my Peterbilt. Wiper failure with a big truck in bad weather is an unacceptable option, and they tend to fail when there's more junk hitting the windshield.

 

[68BabyBlue]

A tale of two oil change places…
A few years ago we are up in Yellowknife. The relatively new Jeep wrangler is due for an oil change. Now understand, I am relentless about this stuff. My vehicles get regular oil changes, and thus last forever. I pull in to one of the big chain oil change places. Out comes an impeccably groomed guy in his mid thirties who promptly gives me a super hard sell to upgrade for everything. All I want is my engine oil changed. While they are doing that they pull every other plug to check the fluids. Apparently I should change tranny fluid and my differential oil is “disgusting”. Super hard sell to the point where I’m getting angry. This guy is relentless and obnoxious. We just get the oil change and leave, never to return.
Contrast this with a shop to my south, in Grande Prairie. Also a large national chain. Their prices are posted on the walls. Completely staffed by a bunch of guys in their late teens and early twenties. They all sound and act pretty much like Sean Penn’s character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. These are the least likely businessmen you could imagine, yet they cheerfully and efficiently change my oil, fill my wiper fluid for free, and check my tires and lights. They make polite small talk. They remove my air filter, blow it out, and show me that it is still pretty dirty. Do I want another one? I do. These guys now get 100% of my business. No hard sell to upgrade. Nice, polite guys that do a good job for a fair price. As it should be.

I had the same experience in my area. Used to use a quick change chain that sent me discount coupons when I was running a zillion miles on my car for business, and needed a quick service when I could grab it on the run. I was more feisty in that era, and no problem fighting off the up selling efforts of the staff. When I went back on the truck, and could schedule service dates for the car, I switched to the local Midas franchise I had used for PA state inspections. No up selling of any kind, and they do an oil change for less than I can buy oil and filter at any of the local auto parts places.

A fringe benefit is the owner is an old Mopar guy, and when I bring the GTX in, he lets me on the shop floor, and we work together while the car is on the lift.

 

[BB BELLA]

that's upselling and a good pitch is what makes them money!

little johny looking for a job ,goes into local store and the owner thinks maybe I could use another sales person! He tells johny watch me!
a guy walks in looking for grass seed, the owner says yes we have lots! maybe i could interest you in a new lawn mower to cut all that new grass! the guy buys a lawn mower and the seed!
the owner says to johny see that's how it's done!
next customer walks in and the owner tells johny you try this one!
the guy asks johny where the tampons are. johny shows him, there right here, maybe you'd like a new lawn mower to go with those, you can cut the grass because you won't be doing anything else this week!!

 

[Sahara]

I think what angered me the most about the first place I mentioned, besides the high pressure, was that this guy kept throwing in key buzzwords. There were several. You know when he got the franchise they must have schooled him on upselling, and this guy must have really paid attention and took notes. The one that bothered me most, and that he used the most, was “my oil is disgusting.”
Rosie O’Donnell and Whoopie Goldberg are disgusting. Oil is just messy.

 

[kiwigtx]

The thing that really helps kill wiper blades in being left on the glass,

Another big killer of wiper blades is ice.

So many people run the wipers over a frosty or iced-up windscreen. The rubber cuts easily and then later on the tiny cuts will leave streaks on the screen when you're trying to wash bugs off while driving. I hate that.

 

[Hey-O]

Another big killer of wiper blades is ice.

So many people run the wipers over a frosty or iced-up windscreen. The rubber cuts easily and then later on the tiny cuts will leave streaks on the screen when you're trying to wash bugs off while driving. I hate that.

No doubt about it, it's probably the biggest of all in colder weather areas. I had a rep from a leading wiper company tell me about the wooden block idea, I wasn't smart enough to think of it on my own. LOL

 

[Scott Engelhardt]

Yep those kind of shops prey on the gals especially the moms. A local shop teaches their service writers to look for child seats in the back seat. Easy prey when they sell "dangerous to your family if we don't do it today" services. Frickin crooks! A gal I know went in for a free oil change she won in a raffle and spent almost $1000 before she got out the door. Same shop I mentioned.

That is so wrong. When I take my car in I expect them to perform some kind of vehicle inspection, but I do not want to be raped.
On the other end of the spectrum. When my daughter went off to college, I made sure she took her car to one shop. That way they had records of what was done and her car was maintained properly. After she got married I assumed she was still taking it to the same shop. She came home one evening and I noticed steel belts showing on one tire. I asked her why Greg had not told me she needed tires. Well her husband liked to go to a 10 minute oil change place. I am very lucky I am great friends with the local tire dealer. I got a set of tires and I aligned it on Sunday morning. I was so mad. So I checked over my son in laws car. It was a mess. They have moved now but I have found them a reputable shop in the area.

 

[33 IMP]

I get my new blades from Costco. Michelins, around $12, if I remember right, better than that when they are on special.
And yeah, blades don't last near as long as they used to. Three times the money, one third the life.....

 

[Sahara]

The cold, coupled with the ice kills them here. We go through probably two sets per vehicle per year. Two vehicles, more then twenty bucks a blade.

 

[Kern Dog]

The Honda just got a new set a few weeks ago. The old ones were put in 2017.
My truck? Maybe 3 years ago.

 

[kiwigtx]

My diesel van needs the rear wiper cleaned periodically otherwise I get an oily film from the exhaust on the window. Washing even with the Wurth fluid in the water just makes a smeary mess.
Pays to keep the windows clean with a rag, window cleaner and a ton of elbow grease.

 

[Hey-O]

I get my new blades from Costco. Michelins, around $12, if I remember right, better than that when they are on special.
And yeah, blades don't last near as long as they used to. Three times the money, one third the life.....

That's where I buy mine, around 12 dollars a piece.

 

[33 IMP]

The Honda just got a new set a few weeks ago. The old ones were put in 2017.
My truck? Maybe 3 years ago.

I wish I got that kind of life from mine. The Arizona sun and heat kills mine. I am gonna try the wood block trick. I may not use the wipers for six or eight months at a stretch.
Has anybody got any proof that the $30 wipers last longer/wipe better than the $12 ones?

 

[oldkimmer]

My wipers from the Chrysler dealers last about 2 years. Costco and Walmart last less than a year. Kim

 

[Hey-O]

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