I did not see the fluid. The service people did not see the fluid until they changed it. The suggestion for change was done without inspection.
I left something out of the story.
The service advisor told me that when they were taking my car to the service bay (after I stupidly approved the rear differential oil change), they heard a noise coming from the rear of my car. They checked and there were three bolts missing from my drive train. They mentioned that I had my transmission replaced (a month and a half after I bought the car), and that they would have to charge me for a repair if they performed it because it was a "workmanship issue" with the other dealership.
When did they inform me of this problem?
Let's back up. I called the dealership about 15 minutes after I dropped of my car and told them I wanted them to not do the rear differential fluid change, because I had done some research, I couldn't find anything suggesting it was necessary or "recommended" by Chrysler, and I felt like I was being scammed. I was put on hold for 10 minutes or so. I was put on hold for at least 10 minutes before I was finally connected with the service department. The person there (the mechanic?) informed me that the rear differential fluid change had already been performed, and I proceeded to tell him I thought I was scammed and, if they did charge me for that portion of my service, I'd share my displeasure. I didn't raise my voice, but I certainly wasn't warm and fuzzy.
An hour or so later, my service advisor called me to tell me my car was ready, and I repeated my complaint. The line went dead. A few minutes later, he called me back and informed me of the issue with the missing bolts on the drive train.
Flash forward to my return to the dealership. He tells me what I owe them. They don't say that they're not charging me for the rear differential fluid change, but they're clearly not. I say tell them to fix the bolts on my drive train. I was going to ask them if it was safe to drive with three missing bolts, then wait for them to tell me I needed to take it to the other dealership if I wanted this problem fixed free of charge. But, by this point, I'm a bit relieved, but still very tense and I just want to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible.
When they're finally done, they say they only have to charge me for one bolt (I'm thinking they shouldn't be charging me for any bolt), because the guys in the shop found two bolts they already had. I asked them how many bolts the drive train uses. They say six. I'm thinking, I had three of the six bolts missing? Really? If it was making noise, it wasn't that much. But, once again, I just want to get the hell out of there. So I do.
But now, a few hours later, I'm thinking the missing bolts on the drive train was an act of service department retribution -- like maybe I had one bolt missing and the made it three.
How do you think a drive train would be performing with three missing bolts? Do you think I was being punished for standing up to the scam?