The point is, you don't get into these situations where you feel like you're being had when you take ownership of the vehicle you're driving. Being informed on what regular maintenance is on the vehicle, getting it done, and using a trustworthy shop or dealer doesn't put you into these situations. Hack shops rely on low knowledge drivers to make thier money. It doesn't really matter if they quoted you 5 dollars or 5 million. Not knowing anything about it is going to put you in situations where you feel had. Whether you were or weren't.

It's all preventable.