"its not just Belle Tire
that is ANY repair shop
and, they'll do it to everyone
I use Belle Tire all the time, and everytime, they will quote me for struts.
just like any brake shop will ALWAYS try for new calipers.
It partly to sell more good & services - but it also for liability. "
Not all repair shops are like this. I certainly would never allow this in my repair shop (not a Belle tire). If my mechanics cannot prove or show the customer that their repair or part is needed, we do not sell it to them. Selling a part or repair without proof is being dishonest. We also keep records of what items we have quoted and remove them from the list as the customer has the work performed, even if we didn't do the work. Maybe that is why you keep getting struts quoted, they are just reminding you of work they had already quoted that has not been performed. We are allowed by industry standards to recommend shocks and struts once a vehicle reaches 50,000 miles, but I tell my customers if they aren't feeling or seeing any symptoms of worn shocks or struts to not worry about them. I also have a poster explaining the signs of worn shocks or struts for the customers. The only time we would sell calipers is if the old ones are leaking, broken, will not retract, or need a rebuild. Unfortunately there are dishonest shops out there and these give the whole industry a bad name. Some shops will set sales quotas per repair order, I don't, because it will only put pressure on everyone to sell stuff the customer does not need. The bottom line is no one has to purchase anything they don't want and they cannot be forced to do so, unlike Obamacare.
Unfortunately this means that some vehicles that aren't very road worthy get released back on to the roads until their owners decide to fix them or can afford to do so. Not everybody can afford some of the repairs their vehicles need. I have even helped a few customers scrap their cars since the repairs were more that what their vehicles were worth. It most cases like this it does not make sense to do so.
