Wow..... Talk about a different approach! So what your saying is if a customer came into your shop for an oil change and two days later his brake sensor started touching the rotor, I'm sure he's going to return and ask: What did you do to my car?
He got the oil changed and now it's making a noise. Remember, the average consumer doesn't know much about cars and will suspect the shop did something wrong, and in the example you gave, you did. We go over EVERY CAR that comes into our shop. If I see drive belts starting to crack, I report it. If I see brake pads worn to within touching the sensor, I report on it. Even if the customer declines the repair, when that brake pad sensor starts squawking the next day, we can pull the file and remind the customer they were advised of the condition. Would you want a contractor coming to your house to hang sheet rock on rotting beams? Or would that be considered ripping off the customer too because your new sheet rock fell off of rotting beams that your weren't made aware of?
There's a difference between fixing cars and performing maintenance. Maintenance is being made aware you will need brakes within the next month as opposed to just bringing the car in for an oil change and having the "technican" miss the bad brakes. That's the QUICKEST way to loose a customer! That's when you have to "fix" the car with an angry and un-trusting consumer at your shop. IF they come back to your shop.
And as for a seasoned diag. tech swinging engines, well.... shop policy varies from place to place, as you pointed out.
