Or perhaps those that really needed services or repairs were unlucky? Based on my observations- most people treat their cars poorly and don’t even do the recommended service to them. How many cars out of the total built actually need major repairs in their lifetime because they skipped the recommended services? The statistics might be on the side of the “lucky ones”… the silent majority that are never heard from…
I don’t get cavities. Does that mean I should advise everyone else to never go to the dentist?
If you bring your car to me for maintenance, and I tell you that I regularly see differential bearing failure at 70-80,000 miles, would you want to change the fluid every 30,000 miles to help prevent that repair?
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That would certainly scare many people into doing it. But it’s like the heart surgeon. He mostly sees people having some kind of issues. He doesn’t see that vast majority of people walking around without issues even though they don’t have a particularly healthy lifestyle. So he says- you know how many people come through this door with heart problems?? I’m betting most of them- that’s why they come here 
Why does it have to be scary? It’s just information. The flip side of that is the dealer doesn’t say anything about changing diff fluid and when the customer is on the hook for a $2K repair at 75,000 miles and asks if there was anything that could have been done to prevent it…well why didn’t you recommend clean fluid every 30K miles?
Well I’m glad I saw the cardiologist before the coroner! 
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Maybe try a different example. Just buried a friend with a healthy life style. Heart attack riding his bike. If someone injected something into the differential, failure might be premature. I’ll skip the rest.
May I plagarize that line at my next cardiologist visit?
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Well, you’re the one telling them it has a good chance of blowing up if they don’t do it 
Fear of the unknown and fear of crippling repair bills motivates many people. They are not clinical in their assessment of the situation.
Let’s make it clear- I am not saying you shouldn’t make recommendations based on your experience. That’s your primary responsibility as the expert.
I am just toying with the notion that the people who do not do every service by the book are somehow “lucky” if nothing bad happens. And some designs are indeed prone to failure in certain areas. It would be foolish not to address those known issues…
Those are outliers. They exist in every data set. My friend died in his sleep at 35 the day after he went on a 15 mile hike. Turns out he had a viral infection in his heart that affected his valves. They are the exception, not the rule…
That’s classic!
+1
The infamous Black Plague of the 14th Century killed (depending on the European country) anywhere between 40%-70% of the population. I wonder if any of the survivors claimed–after the fact–that the pandemic wasn’t very deadly.
Ergo, there are always outliers.
10 years is now, has the coolant been replaced before? The coolant may appear to be good but recommended replacement is after 10 years, then every 5 years thereafter.
Corolla has port fuel injection. With this type of fuel injection, carbon deposits generally aren’t a problem.
Many of my young coworkers often recommend fuel system/induction cleaning, differential services, power steering flush, wheel alignment etc. on every vehicle that these may apply. Without income from these services, they wouldn’t be able to make adequate pay.
If they know the service is not likely needed, isn’t that theft? I’d like more money too. Should I lie to someone to get it?
Honest people like to deal with honest businesses and can easily spot the ones that are not. Greedy people fall for free stuff.
If the mechanic believes there is a benefit in those services, is he being dishonest?
Most of these young mechanics are selling preventative maintenance for a problem that doesn’t exist.
For example, differential services. The 2003-2005 Lexus GX470 (V8 SUV) required differential gear oil change every 45,000 miles. The Lexus sedans do not require differential oil changes but for the last few years, the new hired techs are upselling differential oil changes on AWD/RWD sedans every 30,000 miles. In my 15 years of employment in that shop, I have never seen a differential failure.
During the last few years, the service department lost half of their customers, we ran out of work just after lunch each day. Perhaps it is the change in economy, the tool salesmen told me all the shops have less work, the loss in business began in 2022.
Most of these scare stories are probably from people who either abused their cars or don’t repair them when obviously something is wrong or never maintained them.
I take care of my cars. The shop I go to doesn’t tell me to do ship that doesn’t need to be done. One time I needed to go to the dealer for a minor recall. Thought I’d get the oil changed while there.
Dealer came back and recommended new plugs, new shocks old ones supposedly leaking, new brakes, and new filters.
New filters were bull. I had just changed them a few weeks ago myself. Shocks were fine. Crawled under car with a flashlight. No leaks. Nothing loose. All mountings tight.
Brakes had been done about 10k before. I looked nonetheless. Plenty of pads left.
I took auto mechanics school. I do maintenance by the manual and know when something is wrong.
Lastly Ford issued a letter to dealers to stop selling unnecessary maintenance. Here’s the memo.
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/attachments/ford-position-statement-flushes-pdf.539401/
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Other manufactures have issued bulletins like that one. Based on the comments on this forum regarding maintenance intervals, fluid color, additives, flushes, etc., very few believe manufactures’ advice.
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