Mirak Chevrolet

I used to drive a '95 Infiniti G20. I always took it to the dealership to be serviced, etc. It was always pretty expensive too. Since I don't have a lot of knowledge about cars, and in spite of others reminding me dealerships over-charge, I figured that I'd be safer to stick with them. A few years ago I had to send my Infiniti off to the Boys & Girls Club in Arlington as a donation. It was worth about $500. in parts; what a great tax write-off. (sarcasm intended)

We opted to buy a Cheverolet Equinox from Mirak Chevrolet (on Mass. Ave. in Arlington) as our new family car. I had actually looked at the Honda CRV and the Toyota RAV4 as my options. But this particular Equinox was nice, loaded (more extras that I would have chosen/been able to afford in a new car) and used. It only had 17,000 miles on it. And, the dealership is right down the street. I like to give local places my business. We have taken it to the dealership for all of it's services up to this point. However, this past week I took it for it's first "out of dealership" experience. It had an oil change and then the big one: The alternator needed to be replaced. Palmer's Garage is a really great service station that we've taken our cars to ever since I married Brian. The guy there told us that this should be covered under warranty so he suggested we take it to the dealer (honest, nice guy).
So, to get to the point:
Today I took the Equinox back to the dealership to find out that our warranty ended in May, 2009. We purchased the car in 2007 and the warranty is typical, 36 months or 36,000 miles. It has 34,000 miles on it. I was so discouraged, but told the guy to go ahead with the work. It had to be done. I just got off the phone with Mirak and listen to this:
QUOTE: $950.00 ($850 for the alternator)
The guy said to me, "Prepare yourself for a cardiac arrest. This is going to cost $950. (Long pause as my heart sank into my stomach.) BUT, we are going to get the alternator for you and so your final cost will be around $150.00. I about passed out. I asked him, "What did I do to deserve this?" He said, "Well, you are a good customer. You have had all of your services done here and you are so close to the warranty running out. We wanted to help you out."

Now whenever anyone talks about dealerships "ripping you off" I'll have a story to share. Mirak Chevrolet has my business forever!