The answer to your question is a resounding, Yes! You should be very concerned when you take your vehicle to any dealer and are given an estimate, only to have that estimate expanded by several hundred percent! Yes, be concerned. Be very concerned. Think about it. Factory Trained Mechanics give you an estimate and that estimate has not increased by 300% or more.
Mere parts swapping is one thing to be concerned about. However, the real big concern should be the planting of repairs in your vehicle down range - designed to "go off" at some point in the future. "Go Off" simply means the creation of a problem that you can't detect right now and won't detect until it grows worse over time. A repair time bomb of sorts. Simply loosening connectors and making them easily separable with normal vibration. Simply loosening bolts - not enough to cause immediate failure, but enough to cause a knock over time as you put more miles on the vehicle. A bolt that would otherwise never cause a serious problem, but that would be enough to bring you back complaining of a "knock" that suddenly developed. There are at least a billion reasons WHY you never want to leave your vehicle at a dealer overnight if at all possible.
Planting future repair bills is not uncommon in this industry, unfortunately. It does happen. And, it does happen a lot more than those who work in the industry are willing to admit. Work extra hard in finding a Trusted Mechanic locally for that point in the future when your vehicle is no longer under warranty. Then keep your enemies close and your allies even closer whenever you need to go in for "repairs." You don't want to go in with 1 repair that you know about and come out with 3 future repairs that you don't even know exist - until some point in the future.
It is a corrupt business. That's just a fact. There is plenty of evidence over the years to proof that. So, Trust in your Mechanic is of paramount importance. Finding one you can trust implicitly is often worse than trying to locate a needle in a haystack while blindfolded, gagged and both hands tied behind your back.
Trusted and Knowledgeable Mechanic. That's the key to piece of mind. Even if he or she lives 50 miles away.
