August was a month of car repairs for us. We got new shocks on the wagon (original factory shocks and struts on a vehicle with over 180k miles on it) and our 90k service on the sedan. We save for these things and it doesn’t hit our budget hard, but I always end up with some pet peeves around car service.

In this case, it was the 90k service on the sedan. When I made the appointment, they told me what the cost would be, and I liked that. I dropped the car off, went to work, and then came back to pick the car up at the end of the day. (The dealer is only a couple of blocks from my office.) I got the bill and noticed that it was about $5 more than they had quoted me. $5 is not a big deal, but I still wanted to know where it came from.

There on the bill was the service, at the amount they quoted me, and under that was a shop fee. I asked the girl what the shop fee was and she said it was an industry standard fee for disposal of hazardous waste (oil, anti-freeze, etc) and clean up. I paid the bill, but I wasn’t really happy about it.

Again, $5 is not a big deal. But if this is a standard fee, one you know you’re going to charge me (because a 90k service always comes with an oil change), why is this not included in my quote?  I would not have known the difference between a $126 quote and a $131 quote. But I did notice a difference between a $126 quote and a $131 bill.

Do add on “service fees” bother you? Do you prefer to see them separated on your bill, or would you be happier if it was all lumped together in your fee?