Main dealers. The little tinkers!
Discussion
I had a problem with my wife's Leon Cupra, the bonnet catch was jammed and I couldn't open the bonnet.
Took it to the dealer, when I went to pick it up the technician said he couldn't open the bonnet either and I would have to book it in for a day as they would need more time and to order some parts. As I went to leave the service receptionist passed me a checklist saying "we check every car over for free as part of our service. Yours was low on oil and brake fluid so we topped these up, the charge is £40 for the fluids."
I pointed out that as the couldn't open the bonnet that both the checklist and the invoice were bulls
t. I copied the service note that said they couldn't open the bonnet and the checklist and invoice and advised trading standards.
The dealer (in Cheltenham) was a main dealer for Honda and Seat - it went bust - shame
Took it to the dealer, when I went to pick it up the technician said he couldn't open the bonnet either and I would have to book it in for a day as they would need more time and to order some parts. As I went to leave the service receptionist passed me a checklist saying "we check every car over for free as part of our service. Yours was low on oil and brake fluid so we topped these up, the charge is £40 for the fluids."
I pointed out that as the couldn't open the bonnet that both the checklist and the invoice were bulls
t. I copied the service note that said they couldn't open the bonnet and the checklist and invoice and advised trading standards.The dealer (in Cheltenham) was a main dealer for Honda and Seat - it went bust - shame
Its not just dealers that do this, I put my car in for an MOT at a friendly local garage, a garage my mum had been using for year.
He serviced my car (id just done this myself earlier in the week), new wiper blades, 6 new indicator bulbs as they where showing the wrong shade of orange or some such nonsense. He didnt even ring me to ask if the work can be done. A £300 bill for a simple MOT, it didnt even fail the MOT.
I walked out without paying never went back, I avoid using garages now, some are OK but most just lie too much for my taste.
He serviced my car (id just done this myself earlier in the week), new wiper blades, 6 new indicator bulbs as they where showing the wrong shade of orange or some such nonsense. He didnt even ring me to ask if the work can be done. A £300 bill for a simple MOT, it didnt even fail the MOT.
I walked out without paying never went back, I avoid using garages now, some are OK but most just lie too much for my taste.
mph999 said:
I took my 3 month old car, pre-booked to get a 'noise' looked at. I get there 8.00am and of course it doesn't do it.
Mechanic is fine, says come back later if it happens, cars booked in all day.
Lunchtime i pop back and get some lunch from Tescos next door, on driving off the noise appears so I drive across to the dealer and pull up by the workshop.
Can't turn car off as the noise won;t necessarily reoccur on startup, so am about to phone them when the mechanic sees me and comes out.
After a couple of mins the 'workshop' manager comes out and without introducing himself, says there is a phone call for the mechanic, he gets 'insistent and the mechanic goes off (for what I expect was a non-existent call)' .
Workshop manager then accuses me of walking straight into the workshop, which I didn't do, and then says they can't spend anymore time on the car, and walks away leaving me in mid-sentence., and quite frankly, shocked.
I call the service department guy (top chap) and he gets the workshop manager to come back out to me - I get him, very reluctantly to take the car in, and I wander off back to Tescos to calm down a bit.
On return, he states that the noise is probably normal - ok, I say, what is it then. He doesn't know, well then i say, it's not normal is it. I leave as I'm getting nowhere.
I complain loudly to Volvo uk, and receive a phone call from the dealer principle. At that point I explain my background - Mechanical Engineer who used to work for Ford as a Noise/ Vibration and Harshness Engineer.
Unbelievably he still tried it on, saying again I had just 'walked into the workshop' , I put him straight on this and then he went on to say the noise hasn't sounded 'expensive'.
Shocking service (or lack of) - took it to another dealer who bent over backwards to help.
That reminds me of my Volvo dealer converstaionMechanic is fine, says come back later if it happens, cars booked in all day.
Lunchtime i pop back and get some lunch from Tescos next door, on driving off the noise appears so I drive across to the dealer and pull up by the workshop.
Can't turn car off as the noise won;t necessarily reoccur on startup, so am about to phone them when the mechanic sees me and comes out.
After a couple of mins the 'workshop' manager comes out and without introducing himself, says there is a phone call for the mechanic, he gets 'insistent and the mechanic goes off (for what I expect was a non-existent call)' .
Workshop manager then accuses me of walking straight into the workshop, which I didn't do, and then says they can't spend anymore time on the car, and walks away leaving me in mid-sentence., and quite frankly, shocked.
I call the service department guy (top chap) and he gets the workshop manager to come back out to me - I get him, very reluctantly to take the car in, and I wander off back to Tescos to calm down a bit.
On return, he states that the noise is probably normal - ok, I say, what is it then. He doesn't know, well then i say, it's not normal is it. I leave as I'm getting nowhere.
I complain loudly to Volvo uk, and receive a phone call from the dealer principle. At that point I explain my background - Mechanical Engineer who used to work for Ford as a Noise/ Vibration and Harshness Engineer.
Unbelievably he still tried it on, saying again I had just 'walked into the workshop' , I put him straight on this and then he went on to say the noise hasn't sounded 'expensive'.
Shocking service (or lack of) - took it to another dealer who bent over backwards to help.
Edited by mph999 on Wednesday 11th September 13:37
me The car has a whining noise I think its the nearside front wheel bearing
dealer Nah the car is too new and wheel bearings dont just fail
we test drive it
dealer it is a wheel bearing, its the off side rear
me no, its coming from the nearside front
dealer no, definately the offside rear
me ok if you say so
dealer changes offside rear, and I go collect the car, the noise is still there, so I take the technician for a drive,
dealer oh yes the noise is still there must be the nearside front
me no s
t?dealer we will change it tomorrow, so that £xxx for the work we did today and will be £xxx for the new front wheel bearing
me f
k offAt the time I was responsible for choosing where our company cars were serviced. That dealer lost the work on about 7 V70's and didnt get paid for the rear bearing.
Took my Megane into my local dealers (who I've never had a problem with before) for a service the other week. It's on the 4 year service plan, so the service cost is incorporated into the cost of the car. Anyway, I got a phone call telling me that my brake pads were down to 12mm all round and that I needed new ones. How fortuitous that the dealers should have some of the Renault approved pads in for my car, and that they had the time to fit them. How much you say? Well, #130 for rear pads and #220 for fronts...... I told them no thanks, that 12mm was plenty etc. THen spoke to a mate who works in a different dealers in the parts dept - Renault don't sell pads at those prices. Although I don't want to go back to them, I need to to get the servicing done / book stamped. Needless to say I won't be accepting any work recommendations from them in future.....
Some years ago the rain sensing wiper control unit in my E39 M5 went bang on the M1 driving back to London from seeing family oop north. Had to be recovered on a flatbed and brought home.
The next morning I took it into the BMW dealer in Bromley where they said they'd sort it by the end of the day. Great stuff.
Later that afternoon I was back in Blackheath (around 10 miles from Bromley) having a coffee waiting for the call to come and collect.
It was pissing it down. Properly raining sideways.
I heard the sound of a glorious V8 being revved hard and glanced out of the coffee shop window to see my own car belting the fk up towards the heath. Wipers going like the clappers, obviously.
I called the dealer to see when I could collect.
"Sorry sir, the unit hasn't come in as expected, we'll have to keep the car here and have it done by the end of tomorrow."
Guess who got a cab back to Bromley that instant and had rather strong words...
Never, ever used them again.
The next morning I took it into the BMW dealer in Bromley where they said they'd sort it by the end of the day. Great stuff.
Later that afternoon I was back in Blackheath (around 10 miles from Bromley) having a coffee waiting for the call to come and collect.
It was pissing it down. Properly raining sideways.
I heard the sound of a glorious V8 being revved hard and glanced out of the coffee shop window to see my own car belting the f
k up towards the heath. Wipers going like the clappers, obviously.I called the dealer to see when I could collect.
"Sorry sir, the unit hasn't come in as expected, we'll have to keep the car here and have it done by the end of tomorrow."
Guess who got a cab back to Bromley that instant and had rather strong words...
Never, ever used them again.
benjj said:
Some years ago the rain sensing wiper control unit in my E39 M5 went bang on the M1 driving back to London from seeing family oop north. Had to be recovered on a flatbed and brought home.
The next morning I took it into the BMW dealer in Bromley where they said they'd sort it by the end of the day. Great stuff.
Later that afternoon I was back in Blackheath (around 10 miles from Bromley) having a coffee waiting for the call to come and collect.
It was pissing it down. Properly raining sideways.
I heard the sound of a glorious V8 being revved hard and glanced out of the coffee shop window to see my own car belting the fk up towards the heath. Wipers going like the clappers, obviously.
I called the dealer to see when I could collect.
"Sorry sir, the unit hasn't come in as expected, we'll have to keep the car here and have it done by the end of tomorrow."
Guess who got a cab back to Bromley that instant and had rather strong words...
Never, ever used them again.
Thats not good. I would have been speaking to the dealer principle. Must cost £100's to hire an M3 for the dayThe next morning I took it into the BMW dealer in Bromley where they said they'd sort it by the end of the day. Great stuff.
Later that afternoon I was back in Blackheath (around 10 miles from Bromley) having a coffee waiting for the call to come and collect.
It was pissing it down. Properly raining sideways.
I heard the sound of a glorious V8 being revved hard and glanced out of the coffee shop window to see my own car belting the f
k up towards the heath. Wipers going like the clappers, obviously.I called the dealer to see when I could collect.
"Sorry sir, the unit hasn't come in as expected, we'll have to keep the car here and have it done by the end of tomorrow."
Guess who got a cab back to Bromley that instant and had rather strong words...
Never, ever used them again.
blueg33 said:
Thats not good. I would have been speaking to the dealer principle. Must cost £100's to hire an M3 for the day
M5.It was 'resolved'. I walked away with £500+ worth of rain sensing wiper gubbins fitted and fixed without paying a penny. I also called the man who had lied to me on the phone a '
' in front of half of his staff and he was still apologising to me as I left.Idiots.
toppstuff said:
I'm surprised the resident PH car sales people are'nt here defending their noble industry and telling us how wrong we all are.
But they only deal with the sales side of things, they leave the servicing to other people 
In my own experience three of my coil packs failed on my A4 (2003 model, that I had 'imported' from Bristol). The Edinburgh main dealer replaced them free of charge and no extras were added. Although the coil packs had been recalled...
benjj said:
M5.
It was 'resolved'. I walked away with £500+ worth of rain sensing wiper gubbins fitted and fixed without paying a penny. I also called the man who had lied to me on the phone a '' in front of half of his staff and he was still apologising to me as I left.
Idiots.
sorry M5 It was 'resolved'. I walked away with £500+ worth of rain sensing wiper gubbins fitted and fixed without paying a penny. I also called the man who had lied to me on the phone a '
' in front of half of his staff and he was still apologising to me as I left.Idiots.
Whilst I have been shafted by dealers in the past I recently took my M3 for a service at a main dealer for discs and pads, they replaced just the pads saying a had too many miles left on discs to justify replacing them, they replaced some broken trim for free as gesture of good will (car now out of warranty). Car washed very nicely and good service throughout.
May not happen every time but sometimes they are pretty decent indeed. (Sytner Notts, in case anyone is wandering)
May not happen every time but sometimes they are pretty decent indeed. (Sytner Notts, in case anyone is wandering)
edo said:
panholio said:
I reckon the vast majority of people they deal with just let them get on with it. I'm sure your average Cayenne owner isn't going to be arsed about £80 on wipers.
Just because people buy a relatively expensive car doesn't mean they are mugs. We also have a Cayenne, and would not spend £80 on wipers, and I know plenty of people with nice cars who wouldnt either..I'm surprised no-one has mentioned screenwash. You can fill the reservoir to the brim and they will still claim to have topped it up and added £1.50 or so to the bill for the privilege. Insignificant? Not if they get away with it 100x per week. And what do they use as screenwash, liquid bleedin' gold? I can buy 5 litres of the stuff for about £3.
I think this all started with the "your brake pads are worn to the metal" scam and has mushroomed from there.
I think this all started with the "your brake pads are worn to the metal" scam and has mushroomed from there.
9mm said:
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned screenwash. You can fill the reservoir to the brim and they will still claim to have topped it up and added £1.50 or so to the bill for the privilege. Insignificant? Not if they get away with it 100x per week. And what do they use as screenwash, liquid bleedin' gold? I can buy 5 litres of the stuff for about £3.
I think this all started with the "your brake pads are worn to the metal" scam and has mushroomed from there.
It was only mentioned 2 or 3 times on the earlier pages I think this all started with the "your brake pads are worn to the metal" scam and has mushroomed from there.
benjj said:
Some years ago the rain sensing wiper control unit in my E39 M5 went bang on the M1 driving back to London from seeing family oop north. Had to be recovered on a flatbed and brought home.
The next morning I took it into the BMW dealer in Bromley where they said they'd sort it by the end of the day. Great stuff.
Later that afternoon I was back in Blackheath (around 10 miles from Bromley) having a coffee waiting for the call to come and collect.
It was pissing it down. Properly raining sideways.
I heard the sound of a glorious V8 being revved hard and glanced out of the coffee shop window to see my own car belting the fk up towards the heath. Wipers going like the clappers, obviously.
I called the dealer to see when I could collect.
"Sorry sir, the unit hasn't come in as expected, we'll have to keep the car here and have it done by the end of tomorrow."
Guess who got a cab back to Bromley that instant and had rather strong words...
Never, ever used them again.
A family friend had his Range Rover in for some work when it was spotted in a gym car park, he rang the police and reported it TWOC, the guy who had taken it got the shock of his life when the razz arrived...The next morning I took it into the BMW dealer in Bromley where they said they'd sort it by the end of the day. Great stuff.
Later that afternoon I was back in Blackheath (around 10 miles from Bromley) having a coffee waiting for the call to come and collect.
It was pissing it down. Properly raining sideways.
I heard the sound of a glorious V8 being revved hard and glanced out of the coffee shop window to see my own car belting the f
k up towards the heath. Wipers going like the clappers, obviously.I called the dealer to see when I could collect.
"Sorry sir, the unit hasn't come in as expected, we'll have to keep the car here and have it done by the end of tomorrow."
Guess who got a cab back to Bromley that instant and had rather strong words...
Never, ever used them again.
I've seen both sides of this coin. My Range Rover has year on year come back from MOTs with advisory lists as long as my petrol receipts. Virtually every one relating to a ball joint or a bush requiring Immediate Attention, but not quite bad enough to fail an MOT and none have been replaced yet...
However, my daughter's little Suzuki has been in and out of the workshop while they chase an elusive intermittent "Check Engine" light. It's been on the ramp many times and various components stripped down and inspected. They've even substituted parts on a trial basis in an attempt to locate the troublesome bit. In conjunction with Suzuki UK, they've run various diagnostics and repair protocols including importing specialist kit to inspect the cat on the bench, rather than just replace it.
It's caused many scratched heads, but now seems to be fixed. I'd estimate a final bill would be in the region of 30 hours labour.
However, we were invoiced for the hour's labour it took to replace the (hopefully) errant sensor and the cost of that one individual part. Good customer service, but I wonder for their bottom line!
However, my daughter's little Suzuki has been in and out of the workshop while they chase an elusive intermittent "Check Engine" light. It's been on the ramp many times and various components stripped down and inspected. They've even substituted parts on a trial basis in an attempt to locate the troublesome bit. In conjunction with Suzuki UK, they've run various diagnostics and repair protocols including importing specialist kit to inspect the cat on the bench, rather than just replace it.
It's caused many scratched heads, but now seems to be fixed. I'd estimate a final bill would be in the region of 30 hours labour.
However, we were invoiced for the hour's labour it took to replace the (hopefully) errant sensor and the cost of that one individual part. Good customer service, but I wonder for their bottom line!
steve singh said:
9mm said:
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned screenwash. You can fill the reservoir to the brim and they will still claim to have topped it up and added £1.50 or so to the bill for the privilege. Insignificant? Not if they get away with it 100x per week. And what do they use as screenwash, liquid bleedin' gold? I can buy 5 litres of the stuff for about £3.
I think this all started with the "your brake pads are worn to the metal" scam and has mushroomed from there.
It was only mentioned 2 or 3 times on the earlier pages I think this all started with the "your brake pads are worn to the metal" scam and has mushroomed from there.
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