How a half price coupon for a state inspection almost cost me $700 at Portsmouth Ford.

by Paul Tiemann | Apr 5, 2014 | Bargains

…or how the service department at Portsmouth Ford tried to get me to purchase unneeded services for over $700.
March is car tag and state inspection due month for my 2010 F150. Being thrifty, I looked online at Portsmouth Ford’s coupon specials and found a half price coupons for a state inspection and another for an oil change. Portsmouth Ford is conveniently just across the highway from my office so I dropped it off on Monday. They called a couple hours later to tell me the front shoes were “frozen” and had ruined the rotors and that the rear rotors were “rotted”. Of course it wouldn’t pass inspection until I paid over $700 for calipers and shoes all around. It didn’t sound right to me, I had my last oil change at Bill Dube Ford in Dover in September. I called them and they checked my records and said my front shoes were half worn at the time.

I decided to get a second opinion and called Steve’s Accurate Auto in Madbury. They were highly recommended by a good friend, and I had recently discovered that Jeff Sinon who we used a decade ago was one of their mechanics. Jeff and I put together a chicken coop a couple weeks ago for the PCA fund raising auction.

Steve’s checked it out and the rotors were fine and the pads pass as well.

I may file a complaint with the state.