A Texas woman says a mechanic quoted her $7,500 for an auto part; her dad called back and was told $2,500. How to hold out for a fair repair

Ashlee grew up around cars. Her father, she recalled, owned car dealerships and she spent her childhood working around vehicles, including helping rebuild the engine of a 1973 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray when she was 12.

The price seemed unusually high, so she consulted her father. He called the dealership and spoke with a different service advisor. He was quoted $2,500 for the same part.

When she confronted the dealership, it honored the lower price. She said she later spoke with the general manager about the huge difference in the quotes and was told, “Sweetie, why don’t you call your daddy, and he can explain to you how cars work.”

Brandon Starling, an attorney representing the Land Rover dealership, told Moneywise that the dealership takes allegations of discrimination seriously and has fully investigated the matter.

“Based on interviews with personnel who may have knowledge of the alleged events, as well as the dealership's review of the matter, the dealership found no evidence to substantiate the allegations that any employee engaged in gender-based pricing or made the statement attributed to dealership management,” he wrote in an email. “Land Rover Austin does not discriminate on the basis of gender and rejects any suggestion to the contrary. It has no further comment at this time.”

Ashlee said Land Rover’s corporate parent provided her with a $1,000 dealership credit following the incident.

From bad to worse

Things got worse when she used that credit in 2024 for a new set of tires at the same dealership, she said.

Recently, her SUV began to shake violently while she was driving, so she took it to a tire shop for inspection.