Give me a list of vehicles you'd be interested in and with what options and I'll keep an eye out. I see sweet deals around here all the time. I'll even stop and check them out for you.

Your first mistake was taking it to a dealer...They try and assfuck you for all they can.

I went in to the dealer WITH THE diagnosis of my truck and they STILL charged me 65 Dollars...when they called me to tell me what was wrong with it they spat back exactly what I told them when I dropped it off...Shit imagine that someone who knows what there looking at.

They gave me the estimate which was well over 2k I told them to fuck off and I fixed it myself for about 2/3 of the price they wanted.

I like the truck with the Rubi wheels...ashame they caused so much issues.

Sounds like you went into the dealer saying can you check out my car for "whatever", but I think "whatever: is the problem. So they wrote on the R.O. to check for "whatever" and you paid for them to check for "whatever".

I don't see a problem unless you specifically told them to replace a part and they charged you 65 dollars in diagnostic time.

Wait until gas crosses $4/gal. You'll have a much wider selection of vehicles to buy - both new and used...

Yeah that's the plan now.

I went to the dealer and told them I hear the rear-end roaring louder than normal, and a popping and jerking upon slow reverse turns. I asked them to look at the rear-end and confirm that the clutch packs were toast and to see if there was concernable wear on the ring & pinion, as well as to check the wheel bearings at all 4 corners.

I was very specific.

Afterwards I insisted on speaking to the tech that worked on it outside away from the service writers. He then confirmed that the ONLY work I NEEDED was the front wheel bearing.

Most of this I suspected going into it…but just needed confirmation on the rear-end issue from the dealership.

My Vette that I've had since 2002 and neither of the two bikes that I've had since 2007 have ever been back to the dealership. The Jeep has but is under full warranty and the little SRT was taken there when under full warranty but no more.

It seems more dealerships are charging for diagnostics rather than just doing what the owner tells them to. A couple, but far from all, around here will at least credit the diagnostic fee toward any repair that is done.

My guess is the policy is a result of idiot car owners coming in, telling the service writer what the problem is (because someone on a forum, their dad, or whoever told them so), only to have the repairs made and the problem still remains. The idiot car owner is pissed and blames the dealership even though it is the idiot car owner's fault.:shrug:

i think the diag charge comes from people who go to the dealer to get something diagnosed and then they do the work themselves or have someone else do it.

i am not one to defend dealers at all but if your going to take thier time to tell you something you should pay for it.

Having worked at a dealership, these two nailed it on the head.
You tell me what to fix/replace, I fix it and the "problem" still exsists... not my problem.
You want me to take my time to check it out and tell you what wrong for free, so you can go fix it yourself? Not so much.