Main dealers. The little tinkers!
Discussion
I was quoted many thousands by a Porsche dealer for a full set of new wheels and tyres, following my service, as they claimed the wheels had corroded and they couldnt get the bolts off.
I know nothing of mechanicary so went to see my dad, rather concerned that my wheels about to fall off and the large bill that was looming. Dad, somewhat sceptical at the diagnosis, broke out the wheel spanners for a lookski. A bit of grunting time later and he had checked them all and confirmed wheels all fine, just need new bolts which were corroded and hard to get off.
Cheeky monkeys!
I know nothing of mechanicary so went to see my dad, rather concerned that my wheels about to fall off and the large bill that was looming. Dad, somewhat sceptical at the diagnosis, broke out the wheel spanners for a lookski. A bit of grunting time later and he had checked them all and confirmed wheels all fine, just need new bolts which were corroded and hard to get off.
Cheeky monkeys!
I've not had much main dealer experience, though I have owned 2 cars now that still had manufacturer warranty and so to be safe, had them done at the main dealer.
First was a Honda. Always did a good job and never seemed to do anything that didn't need doing. The only real qualm was when they rang up and said all the discs need replacing. I said I will come have a look, and they let me. They did need doing, but they wanted £650. Local company did it for half. But Honda didn't quibble, just let me get on with it.
Second, Mazda. Sandicliffe is the dealer franchise and I am naming them because they are actually very good. Last time I took it there I got a text message with a link in it to an inspection report and within that, a link to a video file where the mechanic actually films whilst he walks round the vehicle and shows you the issues they have picked up.
And again, they are quite happy to quote you for fixes and for you to decide if you want them to do it or not. Of course, as a main dealer the servicing cost and cost for work is higher than a good independent... but at the same time, they do give you confidence that they know what they're on about and aren't trying to mug you.
First was a Honda. Always did a good job and never seemed to do anything that didn't need doing. The only real qualm was when they rang up and said all the discs need replacing. I said I will come have a look, and they let me. They did need doing, but they wanted £650. Local company did it for half. But Honda didn't quibble, just let me get on with it.
Second, Mazda. Sandicliffe is the dealer franchise and I am naming them because they are actually very good. Last time I took it there I got a text message with a link in it to an inspection report and within that, a link to a video file where the mechanic actually films whilst he walks round the vehicle and shows you the issues they have picked up.
And again, they are quite happy to quote you for fixes and for you to decide if you want them to do it or not. Of course, as a main dealer the servicing cost and cost for work is higher than a good independent... but at the same time, they do give you confidence that they know what they're on about and aren't trying to mug you.
In my experience:
-buy stuff out of warranty
-find a trusted local independant garage
-get them to do the work
-if it’s not urgent, tell ‘em they can take their time
-drop in a case of beer at EVERY service.
Marcel’s wife (he’s the owner) gets a bottle of decent Sekt too.
Net result: unbelievably good service.
-buy stuff out of warranty
-find a trusted local independant garage
-get them to do the work
-if it’s not urgent, tell ‘em they can take their time
-drop in a case of beer at EVERY service.
Marcel’s wife (he’s the owner) gets a bottle of decent Sekt too.
Net result: unbelievably good service.
Took my Audi A4 to the main dealer for a routine service, new pads f + r and a few other bits. They called to say that all was done except that they didn't have a particular part for a piece of broken trim that needed replacing, so as they didn't have a courtesy car, would I drive the car home, then bring it back in the morning to sort out? Fine, no problem. Anyway next day I get a call
"Your rear pads are low, should we go ahead and change them?"
"You replaced them yesterday you cheeky buggers"
"Oh, right, er, yes, obviously, yes, er fine....."
"Your rear pads are low, should we go ahead and change them?"
"You replaced them yesterday you cheeky buggers"
"Oh, right, er, yes, obviously, yes, er fine....."
My Dad bought a new van from mercedes and always begrudged paying the £500 or so to get it serviced from the dealer to maintain the warranty.
This was then compounded by the fact that when he checked one of his filters - don't recall which (air or fuel) it hadn't been changed.
He then went up there and had a go at them. Don't recall how it was resolved. May have been vouchers or a free service.
But how much time/money is actually saved by not changing a paper element filter?
Pure greed
This was then compounded by the fact that when he checked one of his filters - don't recall which (air or fuel) it hadn't been changed.
He then went up there and had a go at them. Don't recall how it was resolved. May have been vouchers or a free service.
But how much time/money is actually saved by not changing a paper element filter?
Pure greed
It's simple isn't it ?
If you're paying main dealer prices you should get excellent work.
At the very least you should get what you've paid for - if you don't, some would call that fraud.
Sadly, some main dealers don't seem to understand that.
My opinion - 75% of them (across all brands) are shysters and try to cut corners/ are incompetent.
If you're paying main dealer prices you should get excellent work.
At the very least you should get what you've paid for - if you don't, some would call that fraud.
Sadly, some main dealers don't seem to understand that.
My opinion - 75% of them (across all brands) are shysters and try to cut corners/ are incompetent.
Edited by Red 4 on Sunday 4th March 21:48
I had a rattle coming from the Supercharger on my XFR - the coupling is spring loaded and makes a noise like a rattling marble - a well known issue with the 5L V8.
I phoned the local dealership for a quote; they said they would need the car in to confirm the problem - it would take half an hour. In addition to this the lady on the phone said on top of that it would cost £100+ for them to "plug the car in." I questioned the need for this, as the rattle was surely a mechanical issue....... didn't take it there in the end!
I phoned the local dealership for a quote; they said they would need the car in to confirm the problem - it would take half an hour. In addition to this the lady on the phone said on top of that it would cost £100+ for them to "plug the car in." I questioned the need for this, as the rattle was surely a mechanical issue....... didn't take it there in the end!
Panda 100HP I bought. After bloody ages of them abandoning me while they fannied about doing ‘stuff’, I finally got to see the car (bought from the net). It had been ‘fully serviced’. Opened the bonnet, and while the monkey had managed to change the air filter (result) they had somehow not noticed there was no hose between the air intake and the air filter intake. Previous owner had obviously had an aftermarket air intake, removed before sale, and they’d simply plopped in a new air filter. Took 3 months for them to supply new hoses. In retrospect, I’d should’ve rejected it.
I took my e46 in for an airbag recall. They let me drive a few new vehicles and gave me coffee. They offered me a free courtesy car but I was content to wait 3 hours and try the new cars out.
They gave me the car back with the interior hoovered.
The service manager went through some prices with me for interior trim pieces, which was at my request.
Good customer service and friendly staff happy to entertain me.
Realised afterwards they'd topped up the washer fluid and did a health check, noting down some advisories. (Which certainly do exist
)
When I do buy a new bmw to accompany my aging e46, I'll go back to them. That's how business should be conducted, not by trying it on at every corner.
They gave me the car back with the interior hoovered.
The service manager went through some prices with me for interior trim pieces, which was at my request.
Good customer service and friendly staff happy to entertain me.
Realised afterwards they'd topped up the washer fluid and did a health check, noting down some advisories. (Which certainly do exist
)When I do buy a new bmw to accompany my aging e46, I'll go back to them. That's how business should be conducted, not by trying it on at every corner.
2354519y said:
But how much time/money is actually saved by not changing a paper element filter?
Pure greed
Not greed, just the technicians don't have enough time to do all the work they have scheduled to them. It's a very common problem in dealerships, where the work schedule and job times are worked out by the service manager (often used to be a salesman), who has probably never so much as lifted a spanner in his life and who is more concerned with producing fictitious performance graphs for the boardroom to impress the MD.Pure greed
Job times in these cases are based on ideal circumstances, where nut/bolts don't get stuck or cross-threaded, where all the parts and consumables are in stock, where tools are not broken, where nobody takes a p*ss break, etc etc etc..........
matthias73 said:
Realised afterwards they'd topped up the washer fluid
The BMW dealer kindly did that when servicing a friend's 530d too. And charged him £7.20 for the privilege. Plus VAT.He only had to kick up a minor stink at a busy service desk afterwards to get it taken off the bill though.
I forgot to post this when the thread started all those years ago.
Took my wife’s Leon Cuprs into the main dealer. The bonnet catch was inoperable. I needed them to gox the catch and do a basic oil change service.
When I went to collect the car, they told me that they had been unable to open the bonnet at all, but they had changed the oil and topped up the screen wash.
Took my wife’s Leon Cuprs into the main dealer. The bonnet catch was inoperable. I needed them to gox the catch and do a basic oil change service.
When I went to collect the car, they told me that they had been unable to open the bonnet at all, but they had changed the oil and topped up the screen wash.
Bumblebee7 said:
Stuff about Honda oil change
You’ll probably find the drained the oil using a suction tube down the dipstick port, but whilst they put 5.5 litres back didn’t check how much they actually got out. There will still have been old oil in the sump hence the over reading. No need to remove the sump plug in that scenario. Not dishonest as such, just inept. edo said:
Pothole said:
edo said:
A good friend started his own service and repair centre locally. His staff are on strict instructions that if they try to charge for work not required they will be sacked.
Is he still in business?He managed 8 years. Just shut up shop in Jan.
AlmostUseful said:
You’ll probably find the drained the oil using a suction tube down the dipstick port, but whilst they put 5.5 litres back didn’t check how much they actually got out. There will still have been old oil in the sump hence the over reading. No need to remove the sump plug in that scenario. Not dishonest as such, just inept.
That was my thinking as well but the overall effect of their actions is that the oil wasn't changed, merely topped up. All the debris and other crap in the oil would sink to the bottom of the sump so to be done properly the plug needs to be removed. I didn't mention this previously but the manager was insistent they didn't use suction tubes to extract oil (when I asked directly) plus I did actually pay for a new plug on my invoice. Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff