Service At Dealership vs. Independent

Greetings all,
New to the board, thanks to those who run and moderate this forum. There seems to be lots of great info here.

On to my question. I have a 2004 Grand Cherokee V8 and its time for the 30k service. The local dealership wants $1100 to do the work. My local Firestone full service center will do it all for $500. Per the Firestone guy I spoke with, he said their service includes everything the dealership would do. He went on to say in fact his service computers essentially have access to Jeep's service schedule, and so he sees the same thing the dealership sees as far as the service schedules.

My question is, does this sound right to everyone here? Would a service center such as this truly have access to the same service info Jeep has? I've always heard don't take your vehicle to the dealership because they are expenseive, but that is a huge price difference. Would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

Yes that sounds right, typical dealership over charging.
Unless you like getting stiffed, take it to an independent.
Most shops have all the info they need on computers, with the possible exception of TSBs which you can find online or by asking the dealer.

it depends on you. I know of people who only go dealer because they only want genuine. I know of people that only go independant because of bad experiences at dealership and cost. ask alot of questions at the ind. shop and also ask dealer what kind of specials avail. I have worked at both and independants do have alot of access if they are willing. on the other hand some dealerships may not have fully competant techs also.....hmm

Beware of canned "maintenance programs". I had a "free inspection" when my '94 Jeep GC was only TWO YEARS OLD and they said I needed $1100 of work. I said "no thank you" and to this day (10 years later) have only done about $100 of what was on their original list (other than routine maintenance like oil changes and brake pads).

Accepting a "maintenance list" can be expensive because much of what they do is "inspect" items (for example, look at hoses, determine they're fine, and charge a fee). As far as the info on the service center's computer, they don't have access to the Dealer's info. They have access to the maintenance manual, which describes standard work that should be done at certain intervals.

I recommend you ask for the NECESSARY maintenance (you might need to pick & choose). Fluids and filters should be changed at certain intervals. Things like brakes should only be changed when they're worn out. The maintenance manual should specify that these should be "inspected", but not necessarily "replaced". A shop looking for business might swap the word "inspect" with "replace", and do work that doesn't need to be done.

Jeeps are good vehicles. Take care of the required maintenance, and just inspect items that might not need to be replaced yet.