do you take care of your car?

[Steve_Mack_CT]

I would add that most of my issues around the dealership thing stems from upsell strategy that the mechanics (or technicians as we say today) do not control at all. In fact, most places do their darndest to keep you from actually interacting with the tech who actually worked on the car, instead using an intermediary who invariably does not understand what you try to explain... Totally respect you guys who are dealing with some of the complex issues that rise on those occasions when something does actually break these days!

[Guest]

I would add that most of my issues around the dealership thing stems from upsell strategy that the mechanics (or technicians as we say today) do not control at all. In fact, most places do their darndest to keep you from actually interacting with the tech who actually worked on the car, instead using an intermediary who invariably does not understand what you try to explain... Totally respect you guys who are dealing with some of the complex issues that rise on those occasions when something does actually break these days!

Oh yes, the ubiquitous service adviser. The only good advisers are the ones who were former Technicians. That goes for Service managers too.

Don

[mastertech]

Service advisors are not the greatest when writing work orders a lot ot times inportant info is left out like: the car is hard to start........ so you go ask and he/she says ahhhhhh dont know now I am working on your time wasting your money looking for a problem for a starting condition after you have driven the car 20 miles to get to the shop so the car is now hot when you have a cold start problem which may just be a bad battery, loose connection somewhere.

As far as the techs not in control of the up-sell, well yes and no to that if i change the oil in your car i check the air filter all the fluids air in tires including the spare and lube the doors and do a basic check over if i do find that maybe you need a tire rotation wiper blades or maybe an air filter i tell the advisor; if he sells it fine if he dont fine now if i work flat rate (which i dont) he had beter up-sell cause that goes toward my check, so yeah the tech does have an influince in the up-sell, I my self will not push anything that is not saftey related if the person is somewhat able todo the work them self buy your wiper blades at walmart a lot cheaper then 20.00 for one blade at the shop. I get mine at walmart.

We have a lot people that come to us for service never say anything about the price just I want it done right we have some that we only see for warrenty work and sone only for free state inspections ( we give free life time state insp if you by the car from us) I do have a lot of respect for the independent guys they need to all makes and models of cars where I only need to know chrysler and that is all i know as have been working on them since 1974.

Edited July 24, 2011 by Rawja (see edit history)

[Steve Braverman]

I have all of the work I can't handle done by my local Chrysler store, Mullen Motors in Southold, NY. They are a family-owned dealership that's been there since 1927.

This week the check engine light came on in my Dakota. I called, they said drop by any time. They know my name. The tech checked the code, repaired a rotten evap hose, and cleared the light. He spent at least 30 min on the truck, and used some hose, clamps and a fitting. I watched and chatted with the mechanic, who is a nice guy, as are all of them there.

The service advisor (Mr. Mullen also), gave me a smile and said, "Get out of here." In other words, no charge. I didn't buy the truck from them, but I did buy a mini-van there that we no longer own (wife traded it for a Hyundai). Because of these guys, I always want to drive a Chrysler product. Most dealers are not like them.

[rocketraider]

Long-term family owned dealers are going to be different from corporate-owned ones. They are a dying breed though. The manufacturers want big consolidated dealers in an exclusive sales territory, with the resulting impersonal service that entails.

Lot of difference when the business has your name on the front.

[Guest]

Wonder if ( I do all my work ) what I hear about "you can't go into the service department because of insurance purposes is true" Although when I was wrenching a long long time ago we used to say 20 bucks a hour, 30 bucks if you watch and 50 bucks if you helped.

Don

[Dandy Dave]

Ever hear that quote, "A mechanic fixes his stuff last." I try to be dilligent about mantainance, but sometimes something gets away for a bit too long. Like the sparkplugs in my old 93 Ford Explorer. Sometime around late spring, while driving home, I heard a pop, and the bugger started running like an old B&S Lawn Mower. I nurse the old Ford home and popped the hood open and there it was. Driver side front sparkplug had rusted off to the point that the porcelain blew out of it. About a week ago, I got around to removing it and replacing the complete set which was badly needed. Yup, that quote... It's true. Dandy Dave!

[Durant Mike]

tcuda, I just had work done at a Dodge deealership on my '09 Caravan. At 22,000 miles, the right rear brake shoe went sideways and mucked up everything. The dealer said the slides weren't lubricated. They covered the parts (pads and two rotors) under warranty (what warranty wasn't specified) and 'only' charged me for labor - to the tune of $194! We both know Chrysler has had a lot of trouble with minivan brakes in '08 and '09. There's a baisc design or parts problem they should address, but don't seem willing to. Anyway, do you honestly thing $194 in labor for putting on two rotors and pads is competitive? Second, if the parts were covered by warranty, why wasn't the labor?

I sometimes do some mechanic things on my cars myself but now with all these computerized cars, it's hard to work on them. I recently had two issues that came up with a Volkswagon Jetta I had. The first one was severe and caused some real gray hairs on the ole head. Had an issue with a small electrical part on my car. First I looked at the fuses and found one that was blown. I bought a new fuse for for almost nothing and noticed that from the diagram that was in the owners manual some of the fuse spaces were empty when they should have had a fuse in there and some had the wrong size fuse. Thought maybe the last time I had it serviced the mechanic at the dealership had messed with the fuses. Car worked fine for a day, then wouldn't start. Had to have it towed to the dealership. The Service Person, said upon checking that the fuses were wrong and someone had messed up the fuse block. I told him that I had replaced a fuse and that the diagram in the Owners Manual was used as a go by. They wanted to charge me $300 labor to put it back the right way, but since I was a good customer he would cut the labor bill to $165.00. The more I thought about it the madder I got so when I went to the dealership I argued with this guy that I should not have to pay anything since I used the diagram in the owners manual to replace the fuses. Had to go to the main Service Manager who finally admitted that there were 5 different fuse diagrams for my car and the one in my book was wrong. We negotiated the bill down to $50 which I thought was fair for their time. Then the young Service Person said to me that the next time I need to replace a fuse I should bring it to them before tackling that myself. Yeah right I'm gonna take my car to a dealership and pay $100 to replace a $.25 fuse. On another not I had the dealership price out some things that needed to be done. It just so happened that on the way up to the dealership one of my daylight running lights went out. They wanted, get this $45 to change a bulb. I stopped at the Autozone store and bought the bulb there for $12 and in the parking lot in 5 minutes I had it changed out and fixed. I do believe that many times the dealership uses the time books for their mechanic to price the work time for the mechanic when they should use actual time. I know that many times the mechanic may take only 15 minutes but the customer is charged say an hour or more or whatever the book says.

[LARRYCAROL]

I am lead tech at a large VW dealer & agree with mastertech that people do not do maint. I am required to go to school & maintain my training(ase & factory & state), some paid some not. We check over every car & top up fluids for free. Yes we may be expensive($111 @ hour)but I dont get that. we get little respect & work very hard for our pay. Many times I clock off a job but keep working so as not to run up the bill. Many times I speak with customers myself to ensure I get correct info. I test drive with customers with phantom noises & have to smile. 37yrs with VW & getting tired. Sorry if I ranted on. Not all dealers are crooks but we all take the blame & yes I try to upsell maint items but only as recommended by VW.

[Guest]

I am lead tech at a large VW dealer & agree with mastertech that people do not do maint. I am required to go to school & maintain my training(ase & factory & state), some paid some not. We check over every car & top up fluids for free. Yes we may be expensive($111 @ hour)but I dont get that. we get little respect & work very hard for our pay. Many times I clock off a job but keep working so as not to run up the bill. Many times I speak with customers myself to ensure I get correct info. I test drive with customers with phantom noises & have to smile. 37yrs with VW & getting tired. Sorry if I ranted on. Not all dealers are crooks but we all take the blame & yes I try to upsell maint items but only as recommended by VW.

__________________________________________________________________

The last dealership (VW) I worked in was in Dec.1972. In Feb. of 1973 I started work in the engineering department of a importer/manufacturer. The reason I left was the technician commission kept going down. When I started in the business it was 50%, then 45% then 35%. Now just think of that, the store gets 65% labor, they get 100% markup on parts. At that point I figured what's the point. I can't do a quality job and make any money. If I did make money I was running at 90MPH. Believe me when your running at 90MPH you make mistakes. How would you like your doctor doing a operation under the gun on that kind of commission?? The way I saw it was the tech gets screwed, the customer gets screwed and guess who takes it all in.

I feel for ya Larry, people seem to think we're the bad guys...they just don't know.

Don

[Guest Dick Whittington]

And my neighbors cannot understand why I routinely drive a vehicle 175,000 to 250,000 miles before I buy a new one. My riding mower is a '71 Cub Cadet, still mows as good as the $5,000 John Deeres that my neighbors buy and wear them out in about 4-5 years.

I was raised in a dealership, spent the first 30 or so years of my working career in fleet maintenance and purchasing. I am well aware of the value of maintenance, but cannot convince most of my friends of the value of it. Friend has a 2004 Bentley Arnage he bought new. It has had ONE oil change.