Real Agent Cases

Check a dealership's maintenance list for upsells with Gemini

Posted
by Delip Rao (@deliprao)
Last checked
Method:
How we verify

Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.

Outcome

At his car dealership for regular maintenance, a poster asked Gemini which of the suggested items were really necessary. He says 5 of the 6 items were unnecessary routine upsells or significantly overpriced, Gemini suggested where to go for the overpriced ones, and he only went with the ACV1 service, saving $2000.

Agent

Gemini

Prompt Original prompt

Exact prompt as published in the source.

I am at our car dealership for my regular car maintenance. This is their suggested list. Can you check what is really necessary?
Optional stronger version

Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.

Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to.

Goal: Check my dealership's suggested maintenance list against what my car actually needs right now.

Fill in before running:
- Make, model, year and mileage: [DETAILS]
- The dealer's suggested list with prices: [PHOTO OR LIST]
- Last service date and what was done: [DETAILS]

Safety first: anything touching brakes, steering, airbags, fuel lines or lifting the car is a job for a qualified mechanic unless I confirm I have the tools and experience. Say so clearly.

Rules:
- Compare each item with the manufacturer's maintenance schedule for my mileage.
- Mark each item: needed now, can wait, or likely upsell, and say why.
- Flag prices that look high and suggest cheaper places to get the same work done.
- Say which items affect safety or warranty so I don't skip those.
- If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me.
- Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything.
- Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify.
- Before I decline anything, check whether skipping it could affect my warranty.

Output: A table: item, verdict, reason, fair price range, where else to get it.

You'll know it worked when: I approve only the work my car needs and know what to say about the rest.

Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.

Source

https://x.com/deliprao/status/2089732047300444377

  • In an interview summary, a truck owner told he'd been quoted $930 at the dealership for spark plug replacement. Before approving it, he uploaded his warranty and maintenance PDFs, the estimate and a screenshot and asked AI, 'Is any of this already covered under my warranty?' It found the work was already included in his prepaid maintenance package, saving $930. The interviewee's own post names Grok as the tool.

    Grok · Personal · Source date:

  • When his car warranty expired, a driver was quoted $22,600 by the dealership for a five-year, 60,000-mile extension. He says ChatGPT told him that was far too high; the dealer dropped the same warranty to $11,800 within five minutes. Still told it was too much, he called another dealership and was offered $7,400 for seven years and 90,000 miles.

    ChatGPT · Personal · Source date:

  • A driver whose new 2025 Elantra's head unit failed (no CarPlay, broken navigation and Bluetooth) ran his whole lemon-law fight through Grok. After three dealer visits, the last a refusal to touch the car, Gemini advised waiting before sending the lemon-law letter; Grok said to lock the mileage, film the refusal, mail the letter and file with the state AG the same day, and he followed Grok. When the AG and Hyundai turned him down, Grok pushed him to file with BBB AUTO LINE and wrote a line-by-line rebuttal. He says the arbitrator ordered a repurchase in August and his loan was paid off to $0.00 in September.

    Grok, Gemini · Personal · Source date: