Are maintenance packages from a mechanic good deals, or highway robbery?

ATLANTA — Are you being taken for a ride?

A new consumer report sheds some light on auto repair shops that severely overcharge for routine maintenance requests.

Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Justin Gray has some steps to avoid highway robbery.

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Earlier this year, undercover shoppers called 229 auto repair shops across the country with a simple question: “How much would it cost for routine 30,000-mile maintenance on a 2020 Toyota Camry?”

The responses were all over the map.

Kevin Brasler with the Boston Consumers’ Checkbook said maintenance for the Camry would be basic: replace the engine oil, replace the oil filter, replace the cabin and engine air filters, and rotate the tires.

“We were astonished at the price differences we were quoted,” Brasler said.

The results were staggering.

There were 47 shops that quoted prices less than $200, but 29 others priced the job at $400 or more.

Six of them said they’d charge more than $1,000 and two Toyota dealerships said it would cost $1,400.

“Well, some repair shops were doing what a lot of repair shops still do, which is just overcharge. They recommended services that we didn’t need,” Brasler said.

One Toyota dealer that originally quoted $740 as a package price later priced the work individually for just $244.

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Shop owner and mechanic Chris MacLeod says most drivers would be better off avoiding the package and paying for a regular oil change and tire rotation.

“Come in for your regular maintenance and we’re automatically checking all those tires, all those fluids, and giving a visual inspection while it’s on the lift”, MacLeod said. “Some of those prices are an extreme shock to me.”

While cars do break down, most new vehicles require very little maintenance outside of routine oil changes and inspections.

“I think this is a problem. I think a lot of shops are able to overcharge their customers for things like 30,000-mile maintenance or 60,000-mile maintenance because customers don’t know what the car needs and they assume it needs a lot done,” Brasler said.

Brasler also said drivers should watch out for shops that recommend unnecessary work, adding that many of the higher-priced shops they surveyed wanted to charge for maintenance that went far beyond Toyota’s recommendations for 30,000-mile service: things like flushing the radiator, replacing spark plugs, and performing wheel alignments.

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