Rant: Car Dealer Service Shops

[T2T]

Am I alone in how I dislike the service shops that car dealerships run?

I have a vehicle that is almost going to run out of warranty, so I took my car to the shop to get a few things fixed under warranty. Fortunately, this time, they didn't give me the "hard sell" for any extra work.

However, what did bother me is that for such things such as our fuel door frequently will not open when we push the button until we've pushed it 10 times or so - no parts will be replaced by the shop under warranty unless they see the failure. It's an intermittent problem and more-than-likely, it won't be failing when it's in the shop. But, I was informed that if I wanted the switches replaced, they would do it, but I'd have to pay for the parts and labor.

I can't take the car to the shop every week the fuel door fails - and hopefully, it would also fail for them. Plus, rental cars run about $45 a day, which we need each time the car is in the shop.

To top it off, the rate of labor posted on the board is $85.00 per hour.

OK, I'm done venting. I'm just happy that I've found some great "mom n pop" repair shops that have been great to deal with, provide realistic prices and are wonderful to work with. Plus, I feel that I'm providing support for someone's business to grow and prosper ... not lining the pockets of some manager at the dealership.

Finally, when I was at the dealership, I was watching the communication between the various service advisors and their customers. Clearly, those relationships that had the best rapport had to be the folks that opted for all of the recommendations from the service advisor, whether their needed the work or not.

 

[Takeereasy]

Car dealers are hit and miss IMO. There are companies that are a joy to deal with and companies that I can't wish enough bad things upon. My original car was bought used through a dealer. I overpaid but in the end nothing major went wrong with the car for 3yrs. In fact the worst thing to go wrong was the serpentine belt needed to be replaced. Cost to me? $15 and a 6 pack for my friend (certified mechanic).

However after 3 yrs of bliss I started noticing trouble when shifting. Checked out the fluid (my clutch is hydraulic) and sure enough the resevoir was empty. I refilled it but the next day there was a nice puddle on my driveway. I took it in to GM dealer right next to my house. They asked me what I though it was. I said I thought the clutch line was leaking or had let go at one end. I also made it clear that I know nothing about fixing cars beyong oil/brakes/thermostat changing (I do know the price of most internal components or can look them up at work because I work for an appraisal company). The technician agreed that I was probably right and told me it would be $210 to replace the lines and do some diagnostics. I called around and the cheapest I could find was $160 but I would have needed a tow and it would take 2 to 3 days (garage speak for a week) meaning I'd rather do it here. I got the car back and it worked great, for 3 days. Then the same problem with the clutch leaking. I took the vehicle in for what I was sure would be a routine repiar that would be covered by warranty. Guess what? This time they gave me a technician that took a look for about 5 minutes, came back and said my entire transmission was blown and that the shop wanted $1600 to replace it. I told them that the last tech had replaced the lines and said that that should do the job fine. He said that I had ordered the work done and that there had never been a diagnostic done to the car. I asked why I'd been billed for one and was told he didn't know. Then I asked if the $210 from the lines would be applied to the job. I was told no, and they'd need to be replaced again, but not to worry, they come with the transmission. I knew there was no way I was going to pay $1600 for the job but when I told him that he told me I'd be billed $80 for the diagnostic. I asked what diagnostic and was told the one he'd performed in front of me. Needless to say after I'd spoken to him, and his manager I called the owner of my company and had him yell at the manager and call the owner of the dealership (we did work for them and they know each other very well) to have him yell at the manager. All the shop would do is waive the "diagnostic" fee.

I searched around for used and new parts and looked up the part costs and labour time at my work. Using my friend's mechanic discount I bought the tranny new and had it put in by another shop for $800 as well as my A/C looked at as it was acting up. (That's pretty good up here).

On the other hand my Girlfriend was in an accident (rear ended at a red light). Her dealer did the repair job for less than their own estimate despite the fact that there was no cost to their customer. They also touched up some rough spots on her paint at the front end for free (those were her fault) & hooked her up with a great car from the rental company. By that I mean the girl in the office at the dealer asked the girl at the rental company to make sure my GF got a nice rental to make up for the stuff she was going through. Most companies would have gouged once they saw that the claim was going through insurance but the bill from this dealer was reasonable. They constantly win awards for customer service and I've never seen them be deceptive in any invoices for repairs my company has reviewed from them. On top of that the salespeople and repair staff remember my girlfriend's name when she goes in for service. You can't beat that service.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Theres a good reason automotive dealers are the #1 defendants in small claim court.

 

[zipper]

One of my co-workers has a Dodge Durango with (at the time) about 30K miles on it. He noticed a fluid leak so he took it in to the dealer. Turns out it was a freeze plug that had corroded ( at 30k?) So he told them to take care of it...........only to be told that it's not covered under Dodges wonderful 7-year, 70k bumper-to-bumper warranty. To make matters worse, we talked to a mechanic who works on a lot of Dodges & he was able to explain to us that Dodge, in their infinite wisdom, sometimes leaves little rods, similar to ones on a little locate flag that is stuck in the ground to mark a utility, in the water jackets of their engines. Couldn't explain why they do that but said it corrodes & causes other corrosion.

Of course the dealership only replaced the faulty plug...............

So much for the warm,fuzzy feeling of having a warranty.

 

[claudermilk]

I've taken my car to an independant mechanic since it was purchased new (10 years ago) & is the second car I've taken there. It's sure nice to be able to build a relationship with a competent, reliable, and most importantly honest mechanic. Any time I take the car in I know that whatever needs to be done gets done, no shady shenanigans will happen; even better, since we have such a long-standing business relationship any expensive repairs are not a problem, we just work out payment & neither stresses over it.

One thing to remember is dealerships make their money in the service department, not sales.

 

[philh]

I work for an OEM mfg and have access to the dealership employees forum. It's amazing reading how many of them think all customers are trying to rip them off. I would love to blow off steam, but I'm absolutely forbidden to post on the board

Neighbor / acquaintence owns a local dealership. I have his home phone and cell phone numbers, which I've only used once for dealership business. His @#^% mechanic and #@$$@#$#@...#@$@#@#$ service manager decided to cut a critical part and then had the nerve to tell me I had to spend $1200 to replace it! They ended up fixing the part and funny thing, it was fixed with a $100 repair kit. I was happy with the final repair.

Fast forward few years later, after the owner in jest, harrassed me about buying a new car, the old one was 10 years old. Especially since he saw my new boat He was right, 195,000 miles on my car and 140,000 on my wifes car. So we buy two new cars. From day one her trunk latch doesn't work correctly. We kind of live with it even after being in service twice. It finally gets bad enough and we take it in. Knowing that I'm friends with the owner, the service manager tells my wife she had an accident and we're trying to get warranty repairs for something insurance should pay for. Don't mess with the Mrs, she grabbed our salesman, literally, and dragged him out to the service area demanding the car be repaired! I called my friend and suggested he sold me a car that had been involved in an accident and wanted it replaced immediately, with one that wasn't fraudulantely represented. Repairs were attempted, although rewelding the striker pin to the body seems less obvious then replacing the "still" defective latch, <sigh>. Sometimes you just get tired of fighting. My lease expires in about a year, and I don't have any idea what I'm going to do Hate losing the dealership a mile away, but they sure don't deserve my business.

Dealerships are independent businesses, but they sure have hurt OEM sales. I saw a report showing how much customer dissatisfaction hurts future sales, and it's phenominal. If it's produced properly, it has no reason to go to a dealer. If the dealer fixes it right, customer may be a little less happy, but they come back. F* up a repair on something that should have never broken, customer is gone. And GM, Ford, and Chrysler wonder why their sales are lower.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Some people have figured it out. Buy a Honda. If you don't like Honda, buy a Toyota. If you like taking your cars to the shop, buy American or German. If you want good job security, go work for a GM or Ford service department.

I will admit, our Honda Pilot's fuel latch was sticking, but a little cleansing off, and some WD40 cured the problem. We've owned Honda's since we were out of college, and my folks owned an older '82 Accord hatchback. Best darn cars you can buy. I've got a '98 F150 XLT for work, and it just reiterates how you should not buy American. American car companies cannot afford the R&D the Japs can because they are too busy paying retirement/health care benefits. It's a snowball effect in the US car market industry.

 

[zipper]

I hate to go away from buying "American" but I've owned 7 cars over the last
25 years............my current one for the last 8. A '95 Nissan Maxima. It's been the best car I've ever owned. Front to back & top to bottom, it's solid,reliable, & performs better than most brand new American cars with V6's. I didn't mind working on cars years ago but I'm at the age where I just want to jump in & go...............no surprises please. Ever notice how many newer American vehicles you see with headlights or taillights out? I've replaced each headlight once in 8 years & no other lights. I know it seems like a petty thing but it's a nckel/dime hassle.

I will give Ford kudos for it's trucks. My ex has a '00 F-150 4X4 Offroad XLT & it's been wonderful. Rides very well for a 4X4 & has pulled some tough duty.............& has never missed a beat. Have friends who have the same model (different years) & have had the same "luck".

But the crap I've seen & heard people go through with newer American vehicles just makes me want to drive my Maxima til it dies.

 

[philh]

Some people have figured it out. Buy a Honda. If you don't like Honda, buy a Toyota. If you like taking your cars to the shop, buy American or German. If you want good job security, go work for a GM or Ford service department.

I will admit, our Honda Pilot's fuel latch was sticking, but a little cleansing off, and some WD40 cured the problem. We've owned Honda's since we were out of college, and my folks owned an older '82 Accord hatchback. Best darn cars you can buy. I've got a '98 F150 XLT for work, and it just reiterates how you should not buy American. American car companies cannot afford the R&D the Japs can because they are too busy paying retirement/health care benefits. It's a snowball effect in the US car market industry.

I was picking apart a friends new honda, all the things my employer focuses on. She politely listened for about 15 minutes and then reminded me of another mutual friend who's transmission failed on the way home from the dealer. Shut me right up!

 

[geo75]

No Cadillac

My wife has an older El Dorado in the States. Parts are only available through Cadillac dealership. Two years ago we paid $2,300.00 for stock shocks and struts, parts only I installed.

IMO go with Japanese cars. Here in Okinawa we have a Nissan Skyline GTR and a Toyota Lucida Van, we have never had any prolems with either.

 

[jaxvon]

Skyline...omg...the ultimate tweak car. I've seen some insane jobs with those..twin turbos....*drooooool*

 

[rikmeister]

only bad thing with japanese cars they are very staid. Do not have much personality

Granted there are exceptions like the NSX and so on. but the accord and camry are the buicks of long ago. Your grandfathers car. where as some euro cars are more dynamic. if you have a lexus ES330 how many people turn their heads to look at it but drive a jag and as people walk buy they turn around to look again. they are eye catchers. So i own a car from europe. Never had better service.. and have had no problems and a great warranty including all service for 4 yrs. Chrylser has made some attempts are building personal cars. like the viper and PT cruiser and the cross fire amongst others. Hopefully ford will be doing the same more often. us cars have improved in quality and could do more. But japanese cars have had problems lately acura and honda had severe tranny failures in 2002 and camry had the sludge engine issue which only with a class actions law suit did they bend and agree to extend the waranty. Unfortunetly i buy what i like driving and looking at . if it is very reliable and ugly you will not see me behind the wheel . I have not been burned yet but there is always a first time. do you home work buy what you like and can afford and yes take into account reliability.

 

[claudermilk]

IMHO the NSX is a perfect example of your title statement. In any case you cannot judge the car's quality from where the corporation is based any more. Examples: the Camaro amonst others was built in Canada. Accords are US, the BMW stupid-uselsss-vehicles are US. Remember the Cadillac Allante? The worst of all possible worlds at the time, Italy & Detroit. These days some companies are shooting themselves in the foot, the premium German makers are having reliability trouble as they have WAY too many electronic extras on them; I read an articl where they were boasting to the author that a new model reliability will be better because they removed 600 functions! When & why did they add all that in the first place?

As I pointed out earlier my US-made Forzda (Ford car, Mazda drivetrain) is now 10 yr/130k miles old & going like new. I fully expect it's at most halfway through its life. You just cannot judge quality by the manufacturer's home country.