[ghostguy6]

One thing you have to remember at places like this they usually have kids and in some cases apprentices do the tires and leave the technical repairs to mechanics. Quite often these kids see a minor issue like a sweating seal and think leak without it ever being confirmed by the mechanics. The "bounce test" for suspension might reveal a squeak but they cant confirm exactly where it came. There also could be a problem between the tire tech and the guy working the counter. Since the guy working the counter's job is to sell the services often they will play up a minor issue hoping you will not know better so you will fix it immediately. Often little things resulted in "false reports", something like the owner changed the thermostat a few days ago but missed cleaning the spilled antifreeze from the oil pan. This would result in the kid looking for cooling system leak that wasn't really there. Most shops wont start that procedure until the customer approves it because it cost them time and money but the poor kid can only write "suspected leak" on the work order. Another factor could be the vehicle specs themselves. Brakes pads for example come in different thickness for different vehicles but shops use a generic go - no go (green, yellow, red) gauge for quick reference. My truck for example reads in the yellow range for new pads. This meant lots of false reports for worn brakes because we werent allowed to spend the time to look up the actual spec. Once the customer approves then the vehicle gets kicked up to the mechanic who finds out nothing is really wrong.
Another train of thought is the shop could be held liable if they don't report the suspected issue and something goes wrong so they are telling you to cover their own asses.
Since you specifically mentioned the check engine light, that is a separate service now, they charge to scan you engine so unless it is a complaint when the tech is handed the sheet they wont scan it unless its a new issue caused by the repairs.