To think main dealer service & repairs is not worth it for cars 5+ yrs old

[LifeExperimentation]

My car is now 5 years old. It's a Range Rover Evoque and has Land Rover service history apart from on 1 service (done by the dealer that I bought the car from). Just paid for a main dealer service - all fine except I'll need new brake pads (front and rear), which will cost £500. I'm not planning to change my car any time soon and annual mileage low.

AIBU just to use a non-main dealer for service/repairs from now on?

My car is 5 years old and for its service and MOT this year I took it to an independent garage. I bought it last year and I can see from the service history that the previous owner took it back to the dealer.

My brother is a mechanic (too far away for him to maintain my car, sadly!) and he advised me not to go the dealer. He told me to find a good local place and cultivate a lasting relationship - starting with cakes and biscuits

The place I went to was cheaper and they were really efficient. I was expecting them to find things I'd need to pay for but all they said when I picked my car up was that it needed a good blast on the motorway as it was a bit clogged from only doing short local journeys since March.

If you have a good local garage, they're worth their weight in gold.
So much cheaper than a main dealer and you can often drop your car off more easily as they're local whereas most dealers (for me) are a good 5 miles away.

I don't think I've every used a dealer for a service or MOT, the only time I've gone back to a dealership after buying a car is if there has been a recall and the work needs doing (which is always free then anyway!)