Who all gets screwed by the dealerships?

Ok, well looking at a different post, I thought I would just post this one because i'm bored. Well who all takes their vehicles into the dealership? I never had so I'm not going to flame on the dealerships too bad but I know of a couple people who take them in to the dealerships and get screwed worse than an autoshop. Well, my girlfriends mom has a crown vic and she only brings it to the dealership. She said she's been in 3 times for her horn not working and its always the same problem. So why can't they just fix that problem? And for her door locks and such, they work for about a month or 2 then break again and she has to take it back into the dealership and pay them more to fix it for another month or 2. Could this be on purpose? And a buddy of mine had his break pad wear down on the front left and it grinded for almost a day of normal driving. He took it in and they replaced all the rotors! And they said he needed a new motor mount?!? Its a 2000 with 85k on it. How could he need a new motor mount?! And they said his exhaust was rattling so they replaced a hanger for the exhaust. Then they replaced all the fluids because they said they were back even though they were replaced regularly. Could dealerships be out there to screw you over? Just thought I would post to see some feedback. Please no negative feedback because again, I don't know that much of dealerships.

There are definitely some dealerships that are out to screw the unsuspecting. Like the dealership that I take my bonneville to for instance. I have a full warranty. My bonnie needed a new fuel level sending unit. The dealership tells my warranty company that it requires the tank to be dropped and it'll be 9hrs labor @$80/hr - YIKES!!. Funny thing is... I could do the job in about 1.5hrs complete if I had the parts (man I wish my warranty company would pay me to do it!). See there is an access panel in the trunk for removal of the pump and sending unit. 5 bolts and you're there! Disconnect the lines and electrical connections, loosen a slide ring, and the thing'll lift right out!

Thing is, they aren't screwing me...just my warranty company.

For any of my other vehicles, I do all of the work unless I am in a pinch, then it's a trusted shop. Very rarely will I go to the dealership for something unless I have a quote in hand to control them with. Now, that was before I moved back near my home town. Now I have full use of my dad's garage with all the tools to do pretty much any job necessary so I'll be using those other guys even less.

So, Kyle what you're saying is that we should all bring our trucks up to NY and have you work on them?? Sound good, I have a random cylinder misfire that I owuld appreciate if you would take a look at.


But back on topic, All my enperiences with dealerships is that they overcharge for minor things, and really try to get you to have to come back multiple times.

Hey guys just keep in mind when you say that Dealers are out to screw peolpe, that inside those dealerships are PEOPLE, just like you and I. Some of those people have a little thing called ethics, some don't. If you take your car to a Dealer and your repair order ends up in the hands of one of these people without ethics, then chances are you're gonna get screwed (the same thing happens at the independent shops too just not nearly as often because the owner of the shop is a mechanic too and he is much more involved with the ins-and-outs of the business). If it goes to a person who does have ethics, like myself, then your car is going to get fixed at an industry specified price (which is more expensive at a dealer). People take their cars to dealerships for service because they want it repaired to manufacturers specifications by the people who know their car better than anybody. The problem with this is that dealers will hire anyone who is "qualified" for the job. I personally have an Associates Degree in Automotive Technology, I am ASE certified in 6 different areas, I've taken over 100 General Motors Training courses and I have achieved a Platinum level (perfect scores) certification in the G.M. Mark Of Excelence certification program for 4 years straight. In the 10 years or so that I've worked for a single dealer, Ive seen at least 70...yes 70! different "Technicians" come and go, and with every one I've seen it all, from one guy charging 1.5 hours labor to replace a gas cap to another idiot replacing an entire transmission because it had a bad 1-2 shift solenoid! Anyway, the point of this story is that dealership employees are only people, some of those people are good and some are not, but the ones that jump from shop-to-shop and stay for 2,3 or 12 months are typically the ones that give us good technicians (AND DEALERS) a bad name! When you go to a Dealer for service, ask the service writer about how long the technicians each have worked there, If he says one guy's been there for more than 5 years, tell him that you want that guy to work on your car. We're not ALL BAD!

Yes, coupe is definitely right. The dealership I went to with me Bonneville when I lived out in western NY was excellent. Never did have a problem with them and in fact, I purchased my Bravada from them. It's hard to let a dealership like that go, but I'm 2+ hrs away now and it just isn't worth it.

Now I have not been let down by the dealership I go to here with my Bonneville either, but it just tweaked me a bit to see that they had such a high amount of time quoted for the warranty company to pay for the replacement of my sending unit. So much so that if its not a warranty issue, I'll never take it back to them. It's the little things that you catch that'll tell you how honest a service department is anywhere, dealership or independant.

One of my closest friends is a shop forman for a dealership... and he always tells me you just cant make everyone happy. he's got a few very good mechanics who can touch my truck and i'll never question and then there are a few that are sloppy and dont pay attention to detail. i could tell stories about that place that would make your head spin...

i guess its luck of the draw?

this is why I have a certified mechanic (boyfriend) teaching me about my Blazer.

yeah i cant blame ya there... lol!!

Well... Last week I took my bonneville in to get the fuel level sender replaced. Access hole in the trunk... Easy right... Well... Wrong. I picked up the car Friday. It sat in the garage all weekend long not moving. Drove it yesterday and today to work. Tonight I walked past the door to the garage and smelt a strong odor of gasoline! Open up the door and it's even stronger. I quickly open the garage door and pulled the bonneville out into the driveway. Once back in the garage, I see a puddle of about a half gallon of gasoline!

Took me about 5 minutes to get to the top of the tank. Come to find that the main feed line was not locked in. In fact, it was about 1/2" from being locked in. I don't know how the car could run with it like that, but it obviously wasn't locked in from the get-go and it just finally started to leak today...

The lack of attention of 1 technician could have cost me my car, my house and everything in it if I had not of caught it! They will definitely be hearing back from me! There is NO excuse for something like this to happen.

Sorry... Just had to vent and since this was a thread about dealerships... Thought it appropriate.

That sucks. That should not have happened. I hope you go there and let them know what happened and maybe have them give you your money back and maybe a free "touch up" or somthing. Good luck

Thing is I didn't pay for it... My warranty did. But still...

wouldnt mind being a fly on the wall for THAT conversation....

lol me too....

Kyle that flatout sucks! You should put it back the way it was....take a few pics for evidence.....call them...tell them you have a fuel leak on the floor and have them tow it in..just to see what their explanation is. If they are not honest with you, THAT THEY SCREWED UP, show the Dealership owner the pics, and ask him why you should EVER bring your car back to them!

Oh I have pictures of what was done as well as pictures of the fuel on the floor of my garage. I'm waiting to see if the sales guy I talked to last night actually delivers the message he took down. I haven't gotten a call back by the service department yet though...