Why I hate dealersh*ts

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Bonnewagon

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
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Sep 18, 2009
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So I get a letter that my '05 Cobalt has ANOTHER recall, for the ignition switch. Yes, the keys turn off the ignition when you hit a bump. My solution: start car, remove keys, place in cupholder. :blam: Anyway the letter says we will let you know when parts are available. Next letter says parts are available, make an appointment. Then a postcard reminding me to come in for the fix. Make appointment, show up, they take car in. Guy says come here and sit and let me write you up. I do, he does, then he says,"OK, we'll order the parts and call you when they come in." Huh? I'm here to get it fixed. The parts should be here. "Oh no, the parts are VIN specific." Um, you have my VIN, you know I have an '05 Cobalt. I'm in your files. "Yes, but the parts are VIN specific." I was about to reach into my pocket for the postcard they sent THAT HAS MY VIN PRINTED ON IT, but then I caught on. This just dealershit bullcrap. The kind they subject customers to day after day. I'll bet they hope I'll leave and not come back. So I smiled and said-OH! VIN specific parts. So I can go? "Yup, we'll call you when they get in." So I left and was glad to get my day back. Good thing I'm retired and didn't lose a day's work for this sh*t. But as I left I overheard a young guy with a new Camaro say he had an appointment for an oil change and servicing. Girl says,"When did you make the appointment?" Yesterday, online. "Oh, well do you have a CONFIRMATION number?" Yes, I do, here it is. "Well, it didn't go through. Would you like to make an appointment?" That's when I left. The young guy was about to go Postal and I walked away fast. I'm thinking GM SHOULD have gone bankrupt, they learned nothing.
 

t01blaze

Master Mechanic
Oct 4, 2011
281
11
18
South New Jersey
Every dealership is independently owned and operated. Some are better than others. A lot of times it depends on just the person you are dealing with.
 

rustyroger

G-Body Guru
Mar 14, 2007
502
6
18
Margate, UK>
It's the customers buy the cars and who have their cars serviced and repaired who fund the dealership.
I can't see that one staying in business long if that is typical of their service.

Roger.
 

86 Grand prix

Master Mechanic
Nov 13, 2012
305
11
18
Chocowinity NC
I could go on for ever on this. I have had several run ins with the local Ford/Toyota dealer. They prey on people by writing up a $1000.00 list of stuff that must be done to their vehicles right away or something terrible may happen to it. My mom has a 2007 Prius with less that 30,000 miles on it and they give her a huge list every time she takes it in for service. I have to go through the list every time and debunk it so she feels ok driving the car again. Finally she lost one of her smart keys and they wanted $160.00 for the key and $180.00 to program it. She called Toyota and complained and they actually admitted that the dealers used these tactics as a money maker. Long story but she started going to a dealer one town over and got the key and programmed for less that $200.00 and no crazy lists.

I carried my F250 to the same dealer for a CPS recall and told them in advance that I have to have my truck by a certain time. When I showed up at that time they had an $800.00 list of needed services that could not wait. The first was changing and flushing the transmission fluid. I had just changed it the month before and used high dollar synthetic fluid. Same with the brake fluid. The best part was they had used all that time coming up with a list, the recall work had not even been done. I showed my @$$ so bad they carried me in the managers office so all of the others customers would not hear me calling them crooks.

Last but not least I carried my F250 back up there to see about trading up to a new truck. I knew exactly what my truck is worth and they offered me half that. I sent the little salesman back to the sales manager to let him know that and he said that I didn't know what the hell I was talking about. Loud enough for me and my wife to hear. My wife pulled out of there steaming. I carried my truck to the other dealer that evening and got more for my truck than I even thought it was worth.

Not all are crooks but the ones that are will stick you good if you let them. They especially prey on the older folks that can be scared into this crap.
 

Bonnewagon

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Supporting Member
Sep 18, 2009
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True story: my friend worked at a Toyota dealershit in Florida. They demanded that the techs complete a 120 point checklist for every vehicle that passed through there. When my friend asked why we are doing this to vehicles with less then 10K on the clock, he was fired for "insubordination".
 

bygddy

Apprentice
Mar 8, 2014
87
0
0
Lots of hate for dealerships here lol.
To clarify some of these complaints....
Dealers are many times handcuffed by the manufacturer. Certain maint intervals must be followed according to said manufacturer.
Someone mentions a "long list" of things needed, including a trans service that may have just been done and thinks the dealer is ripping them off.
OK.... let's look at it differently, you take your vehicle to billy bobs garage, or better yet do it yourself, oil changes, trans fluid changes etc etc.... so the dealer see's you for warranty only. Let's say your transmission eats itself, you bring it in to your dealer for warranty. Guess what, they have no records of it being serviced, they know they told you to do a service at 48k, you got mad and accused them of being crooks because it was just done elsewhere. Let's hope billy bobs had a work order, with Vin#, mileage, fluid type and quantity. Better yet....you serviced it yourself to save a few bucks. Good luck getting warranty on it now.
The bottom line is, most of the time the dealer is protecting your best interest, sure, not always, some can be money hungry but that's no different then any place. There always someone crooked, dealer or an independant shop.
As for someone getting fired for questioning a 120 point inspection, its called process, who makes the judgment call on what should be inspected and what shouldn't, 10k too soon? What about 15k? What if its 2 years old and has 12k? What if its 6months old but has 35k? You see what I'm getting at here? The process is a multi point inspection on everything, if that is followed, nothing is missed.
Rant over
 

86 Grand prix

Master Mechanic
Nov 13, 2012
305
11
18
Chocowinity NC
Ok, but I do keep records when I do it myself and them telling old ladies that their 25,000 mile engine needs to be de-carboned or it will croak or telling her that every time she comes in they need to change a $50.00 cabin air filter on a new car. There is definitely a crook at this place.
 

bygddy

Apprentice
Mar 8, 2014
87
0
0
86 Grand prix said:
Ok, but I do keep records when I do it myself and them telling old ladies that their 25,000 mile engine needs to be de-carboned or it will croak or telling her that every time she comes in they need to change a $50.00 cabin air filter on a new car. There is definitely a crook at this place.
I'm not saying your wrong, my point here is that even tho you keep records, for the most part they are meaningless.
Nobody see's the guy at the counter or what he contends with.
If you lose a motor, and bring the car in with your file folder full of invoices from pep boys or wherever you bought your oil and filter.
The service advisor will contact his DPSM and attempt to get auth. The FIRST question they get asked is for records. Records mean something with a VIN#, mileage, date, fluid type, fluid quantity. The service advisor KNOWS the manufacturer isn't going to pay a claim without that info. This goes for motors, transmissions, diff's, transfer cases, in some cases radiators, power steering pumps etc etc.....
My suggestion to anyone servicing at a dealer is to educate themselves. Phone cust service for whatever vehicle manufacturer your with, ask them for service intervals for your make and model, be sure to tell them you want the "severe duty" schedule as most will fall under that category.
As a rule the advisor is simply covering his or her *ss as well as the customers.
The "decarbon" deal is another issue, for a long time GM had issue with certain models and tech line was reccomending the decarb process often. Oil consumption being the primary complaint, especially on low mileage vehicles that didn't get driven "hard" or often. Kinda like a little old ladies car with 25k on the odometer. Again, this was a service guy following the manufacturers advice.....
On every work order there should be a section for reccomendations, and that should be filled out. If you, the customer declines, that should be included on the repair order as well. This protects both of you in the long run.
The cabin air filter deal...... unfortunately the flat rate tech usually gets a .5 to change them, they always look dirty, so its easy money. The advisor knows there is no real interval for them, and sees what looks to be a dirty filter so he tries to sell......your right, is not "honest" but most times its done unintentionally.
 

G-Body_Vet

Comic Book Super Hero
Oct 15, 2010
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The thing I've always hated about any service based business is them trying to blow smoke up my *ss and wasting my time (which I don't have much of already). I'm more inclined to spend money with someone that's honest.
 
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Clone TIE Pilot

Comic Book Super Hero
Aug 14, 2011
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Galaxy far far away
The thing I've always hated about any service based business is them trying to blow smoke up my *ss and wasting my time (which I don't have much of already). I'm more inclined to spend money with someone that's honest.

I really hate that too no matter if it is at a service counter, over the phone, or online.
 
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