I am a retired GM Master tech of 50 years doing alignments. After doing alignments in a dealership, I will tell you that most (90%) did not need an alignment, they needed the tires aired up. [Video]

While many car owners know that one of the most significant hazards of car ownership is having to go to a dealership for maintenance and repairs of their vehicle because of the unsavory business practices many service centers use to inflate their maintenance and repair bills, what is less known is the fact that mechanics are often pressured into being dishonest.

Not so sure of that fact? Consider this study.

Study Finds That Mechanics Do Cheat Customers and Possibly Why

At least one interesting study examined whether car mechanics were more prone to cheat customers than non-mechanic test subjects under the same job role during a carefully crafted experiment.

This test, however, is not just for mechanics. It has applications in other professions as well, with the one most similar to mechanics, including care given to patients by physicians.

The study describes the cheating problem with both mechanics and physicians as follows:

“In particular, credence goods markets typically suffer from the following types of cheating on …