Auto-Repair
Naturally, if you go to the "Dealership" they want to charge you more than independent shops, but nearly 3x the amount? My car had burnt a valve, needed the valve replaced, the head resurfaced, and it was about time to change the timing belt, water pump, and other belts. For that, the dealership shop wanted $3500 USD. Given the bad news, I really wasn't about to put that much, at one time, in a car that has 95K miles on it. To their credit, the dealership was offering (in light of the estimated needed repair costs) a generous $5500 trade-in value. I'm not one to make an impulse buy - and luckily I didn't. After some shopping around, an independent shop estimated the work at $1200. Done.

Conspiracy?
My suspicious mind has a hard time avoiding the spectre of consiracy. Did the dealership see potential sale? A 3 year old car with high mileage and a need of some serious work. Did they believe that with some inflated numbers, they could convince me to trade-in on the spot. They get a sale and a car that (needs some work) but not cost them nearly as much to get it "sale ready"

Hmmmm... -5500 (trade-in value), +12000 (sale of vehicle), -1500 (to fix / prep for sale), +12000 (sell used car) = +17000 for the dealership.

If I were a suspicious fellow, I'd think they were conspiring to make a sale at the end of the year.