Shawnee Mission Ford Inc Service Department Scam Shawnee, Kansas

I recently had a squealing noise in my engine, which I knew was either the serpentine belt or the idler bearing on my air conditioning compressor.  Since the belt was in need of replacing anyway, I bought a new, high quality one at an automotive parts dealer for around $30 and installed it.  After I did this, the noise was still present, so I inspected the compressor bearing closely and found it to be worn pretty bad.

I called several automotive repair shops in the area and received quotes from $700 to $1,200 for the repair.  The Shawnee Mission Ford service department was one of the lowest with a quote of $715.  Since they are a dealership shop, I figured the parts would be good quality, and took my truck to them on a Thursday morning, with assurances that the repairs would occur that day, or the following day at the latest.

I called the service department on Friday afternoon because I hadn't heard anything from them, and was told that my truck would not be finished until the following day (Saturday).  I called again late Saturday afternoon and was told that my truck was finished and available for pick up.  They were "going to call me earlier, but didn't have the chance".

When I got to Shawnee Mission Ford to pick up the truck, I was told that the repairs were going to "cost a little more than we had discussed", and was handed a bill for nearly $820.  This included replacement of my "badly stretched and worn" serpentine belt for $35.  I requested that they let me see the old belt, but was told that they had cut it off the truck and thrown it away. 

At that point, I refused to pay for the new belt they had installed and requested that they actually take $30 OFF the price to compensate me for cutting the less than two week old belt off my truck, and was promptly told that they couldn't do that.  When I inquired what they COULD do, they told me they would sell me the new belt at cost, minus labor.  This reduced the total bill by over $50 ($26 in parts and $24 in labor).

We negotiated the remainder of the "extra" charges, and I finally agreed to pay $725 for the repairs.

I know dealerships are notorius for overcharging, but since they were one of the lowest quotes I received, I thought I would give them a try.  After they lied to me and tried to charge me over $100 in excess of their quote, I've made up my mind to never do business with them again, and hope that anyone taking their vehicles to Shawnee Mission Ford for repairs is aware of their dishonest practices!