Not to kiss their ass too much, but next time you go in for anything, bring in a box of donuts and coffee for the service manager and his crew. It couldn't hurt.
Definitely recommend this. I’d be surprised if they actually damaged the boots, and likely they know they didn’t but decided to fix it for you to keep you as a customer. I’ve done tons of those manifolds and you’d really have to be a monkey to mess up the ball joint boot.
As a tech I’ve been on the other side of your issue many times, get accused of damaging something when in reality the work I did was nowhere near what they’re talking about. Few months ago a customer blamed me for their radiator leaking after I replaced a downstream O2 sensor. I’ve noticed people get worried bringing their vehicles into the shop and can become hyper aware of anything and will notice things they never noticed before. Happens a lot.
Looks like your dealer is a good one.
