I thought I had learned all the gimmicks at the oil change places, but now that I am $50 poorer, I am sadly mistaken. Being married to a mechanic has been a real eye opener for me over the years. First it was the ""coolant flush"" for a hundred dollars, and now it is the ""power steering flush"" for fifty. Looking back, I wonder, why in the world didn't I just Google it on my smart phone? This approach would have only been after I couldn't reach my husband at the moment. How many times do we investigate things after the fact? I have since looked at my Honda service book, which states to CHECK the power steering fluid every 40,000 miles (never a word about change) and have yet to Google an auto website that recommends ever changing the fluid. What is even more troubling is the technician stating ""they recommend power steering fluid to be changed every 30,000 miles"". Really? Is that what they recommend? What about brake fluid? Does anyone ever change brake fluid? And brake fluid actually goes through heat cycles, unlike the cool running year around power steering fluid. Well, maybe my $50 lesson today will save you money in the future. The truth of the matter, is the feeling of having a dependable, honest, trustworthy and reliable auto oil changing station was nothing more than a mere feeling with no truth. My husband did address this at the Xpress Lube, but to my dismay, nothing was offered as a satisfaction guarantee. The most disturbing point I have to make is the manager explaining to my husband that they took the power steering line off to flush it. Keep in mind, my husband is a mechanic. He checked the lines to the power steering and to no surprise, not one line has been touched. The way I see it, by making that statement, he is responsible if something terrible happens to my power steering. He has tampered with it, so the best suggestion I could make to him is to keep that little lie in the closet. I haven't taken the time to figure up all the money in oil changes my husband and I will have done over the next years, but I hope the $50 power steering fluid flush will carry the Xpress Lube because they have just lost 2 very good customers.
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