Our PCA region requires the brake fluid flushed at least every six months.

I would be pissed if they charged me for something they didn't do. I would be even more outraged for not doing the brake fluid since this is a vital maintenance item. They are putting your car and your well being at risk. You can't just look at the fluid and go "yeah that looks ok. Doesn't need to be changed."

 

Your dash cam evidence seems to me to be pretty darn conclusive. It really looks to me like you have proof they didn't do the flush, and that would make me pretty steamed. Whether oversight or negligence it's really unacceptable and should be brought to the attention of the manager.

 

FWIW - I have all my routine work done at an independent shop. While my car is still under CPO I hate to take it to the dealership where I am not allowed to go back into the garage. At my indie shop I not only get to go back into the garage but I climb around under the car (removing leaves and debre, etc.) while they are working on it.

General rule - avoid places, best you can, where you can't meet the person working on your car face-to-face.

 

Can I get a volunteer to put a second set of eyes on my video and let me know what you think before I call them and say I don't think they did it?

I can PM you the link. I made it unlisted on YouTube.

 

PM has been sent. I appreciate the help and am happy to keep it anonymous.

 

..

 

It looks like there's a 7 minute gap in my video. Normally this would mean that no activity was in the field of view so it didn't save the clip but in this case it's actually missing where the car lowers down on the lift, which doesn't make sense to me.

There's two things that could account for this. Either I missed a clip when I stitched it together to upload it to YouTube, or the camera shut down (as it does after a certain period of time) and then started back up when a door was opened or something after it was back on the ground.

If that 7 minutes is enough to do the brake flush, then I'll be feeling much better about the whole thing.

I'll check later tonight when I'm home to see whether I've got the missing clip or whether it's really missing.

 

You can't attach a bleeder, go around the car and bleed all four calipers, activate the ABS, remove the bleeder, top off and put the cap back on in 7 minutes.. If that was the case at $180 per hour for shop time you would owe them $21 labor and there would be one tech with "The Flash" on his name tag.

 

This seems to be the consensus. Which sucks. I hate having to deal with this sort of thing. I mean... if they didn't do it, while it may have been an innocent mistake it's actually a pretty serious safety issue considering why I had it done in the first place.

I'm gonna check tonight to see if I have any video of that missing 7 minutes and then I'm gonna call and ask them about it tomorrow.

I rather expect it's just a misunderstanding and that the tech probably thought it was just an oil change but that doesn't make it any less serious an issue.

I'm rather disappointed.

 

You also have to put all four wheels back on and then lower the car the rest of the way to the ground. Maybe Flash and Superman work there.

 

Did you watch the video in real time, or on fast forward? My understanding is fast-forwarding video results in skipped frames, as opposed to showing all frames at a faster speed) and that a surprising amount of things get missed.

Just a thought...

 

If they "thought it was just an oil change" then why remove the reservoir cap, and if they "forgot" wouldn't seeing the cap off and putting it back on kinda jar their memory???

 

Good point, i'm spoiled with my SPB with the turbo twist wheels, I can bleed/flush with the wheels on and the car on the ground!

 

you also can test the brake fluid for water content.
in the video, one of the techs did have a magic wand...that could explain everythingjust kidding.
I am local to Weasel and I found our recently, Porsche Canada is selling akibono brake pads in Porsche boxes for Cayennes at the dealer, so charging and not doing the fluid does not suprise me. Although not changing brake fluid can be dangerous especially at the track.
btw I used to alternate blue and gold fluid so I could see the new fluid coming out of the calipers bleeder. I heard gold is no longer avail.
BTW would love to hear what the dealership charges for the ATE brake fluid alone no labour...should be a good laugh.

 

Is CAN different than the US because here "blue" is no longer available?