Look at your manual for recommended services.

 

Be wary of dealers who recommend stuff that's not consistent with the owner manual. You can service at any Jeep dealer you choose.

 

Seems to be quite pervasive in the industry.
The like to recommend services that aren’t due for 50k miles or more.

I had a tech bring out a dirty air filter one time to show me I needed a new one.

I had put a new one in that day. Walked him back to my truck, asked if they had drained it yet- told him to take it off the lift we’re done here.

My air box is wasn’t even open.

 

I bought a brand new 1998 Kia minivan because it was cheap, I made very little money at the time and it had a 100,000 mile warranty. At 30,000 miles I was forced to change all the spark plugs which I thought was totally stupid. There was nothing wrong with the spark plugs, but If I didn't change them then the 100k mile warranty would be void. The cost was in the hundreds of dollars to change them since they basically had to pull the engine half out of the vehicle to get to the back three plugs. Not covered under the warranty by the way. At the same time I had to change the transmission fluid. It was in fact burnt (there was no arguing that), but they would not cover it under the warranty. They called it routine wear and tear. A few months later (just over 30,000 miles), the engine threw a rod. They had to ship a new engine from Korea for it. This was covered under warranty. After waiting weeks to get my vehicle back, they finally installed the new engine but it had a rear main oil leak. They had the gall to ask me if they could just leave it like that since they didn't want to pull the engine again to fix the oil leak. I told them to pull the engine and fix it right. While it was still in the dealers shop, I walked across the street and traded it in for a new four door Chevy truck which my ex still drives to this day with well over 200,000 miles on it. So what did I learn?

1. Never buy a Kia.
2. Do the required maintenance to keep the warranty.
3. Don't trust car dealers.
4. Don't let your ex take your good truck in the divorce.

 

Yeah the service writers now days are marketeers, only interested in commissions. The last time I was in a large dealership it turned my stomach what they were telling the sheep in front of me. Unethical, if not criminal.

One time they said my engine oil was dirty and way overdue for an oil change, after they had changed it only a month previously. The pads they put on 25,000 miles ago were wore out to the point of failing the safety inspection. The brake shop says BS, they have over 50% of their life left. It seemed when I started questioning and they realized I was not one of the sheep, they became more reasonable... I'd run as fast as I can from that dealer.

But then with all the merging of dealerships into large multi brand conglomerates now days, it may be hard to find any differences. Its all money money money. Its starting to make practical sense to shop for a car where all services are included for 5-6 years and then replace.

Years ago you would find dealers go through phases like this, but usually you could find another, or wait out the cycle.

Follow the recommendations in the owners manual. Dealer service writers don't know technical crap. . If you routinely off road, ford streams, drive in dusty environments, make sure to use the severe duty schedules.

Yeah, my tech nephew that works in a Kia/Honda dealer says to never buy a Kia, unless you only want to drive it a year...

 

If you routinely off road, ford streams, drive in dusty environments, make sure to use the severe duty schedules.

That's what got me about my Kia transmission fluid. It was burnt at 30,000 miles. The dealer wouldn't cover it under warranty because he was using the "severe duty" schedule in the manual. I asked what was so severe about my use. I lived just outside of Portland Oregon at the time. My wife drove it to the grocery store and we drove the kids to church on Sunday with it. No towing, no dirt roads, nothing severe. His response was that we live in the Pacific Northwest with lots of hills so all vehicles here use the severe schedule. Total BS, but I didn't fight him too much on it. I just wanted it back and wanted to keep the warranty in place. In the end they ate a new motor including the labor to install it, twice. Then I got my money back out of it.

 

"marketeers" indeed, they're there to sell service. My 2008 has 16 spark plugs. They are changed at different mileage levels. When I told the service advisor, he didn't believe me about 16 plugs. I got the manual, and showed him. He said "i'll check w. the mechanic". Oh, and the " throttle body" was over due for maintenance... threw a code...needs service. I took it in for regular scheduled maintenance, and he's selling me bs. I said theres' nothing in the manual about throttle body maintenance. He says...for real..." they can't put everything in the manual"! Ha! I feel bad for people who don't have a clue.

 

My wife took her then fairly new JK Wrangler in for one of its free Jeep Wave oil changes. I had warned her to watch out for any service they might try to sell her because I felt that a lot of the free oil change deals were offered to get owners back to the dealer so they could make money off various services.

Sure enough, after her free oil change, she came home and showed me a list of over $900 worth of recommended services they told her that she should have done. She politely refused but we laughed about it.